Walk the Talk

Get up/ get up and do somethin’/ How can you make it/ if you never even try?

– Macy Gray

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

She said, “I just don’t know.  I tell him how I feel. I speak my truth.”

“Does that work?”

“No.”

Of course it doesn’t. If we keep doing the same thing we have always done. we are going to get the same thing we have always gotten.  “Speaking your truth” is a good first step but we have to go farther than that if we really want to continue growing.

The first step is uncovering your truth. What the heck is “your truth” anyway?  It’s what you know to be good for you.  Not for anyone else, but for you.

The next step is to speak it.  Words are powerful things. But we have to go further, we have to live it.

You can notice that you’re sitting in a pile of poo. You can even speak the truth that you don’t deserve to be sitting in a pile of poo. (BTW: No one deserves to sit in a pile of poo). Then what? Do you stay sitting there speaking your truth about not deserving to sit in the shit? Or do you do something?

Of course you do something! You stand up and get out of the poo. Duh.

We do this all the time though.  “This behavior is unacceptable” and yet our actions show our acceptance of the unacceptable. If the behavior is truly unacceptable then you have to take some kind of action.  Maybe it’s as simple as putting your headphones on when your toddler starts yelling at you (“Mommy is not going to listen if you yell at her”). Or maybe it’s more difficult, like leaving a relationship, or staying and working on the relationship.  Or going into therapy or walking into a 12 Step meeting.  Whatever it is, speaking your truth is just part of the way.  We have to walk the talk. We have to take action.

Just for today

Today I will look for ways to walk out my truth. I will get honest with myself and look at where I’ve been talking a lot but not taking much action. And if I find that I’m unwilling to take action, I’ll ask God for help.

Prayer

God, grant me the clarity of mind to see where I need to take action in my life. Direct me in what actions I need to take. Help me to be willing to follow your lead. Take away the blockages of self deception and fear. Help me to walk in your Truth for me,  that you want all of your kids to be happy, and free of the things that hold us back from becoming who you intended us to be.