As kids, we used to have little tournaments, where the best footballers of grade 3A would play against the best of grade 3B.
We would pick classmates who we think are truly good. Back then, like most kids, I wanted to be picked, and thankfully, I was picked a few times, but I wanna talk about the times I wasn't picked.
As kids, we were brutally honest. They would never pick me to make me feel good: they would only pick me if I were truly good.
It stings, but now I miss that honesty. That childhood honesty. We grow up and we learn "manners".
And one manner that seems to be very popular among us is this tolerance of mediocrity—so not to hurt people's feelings, so not to lose favor in people's eyes.
We train word-bending, the art of protecting people's feelings, so not to offend them.
I hate that because I don't want people to tell me I'm good at it, unless I'm really good at it. It's misleading.
And I don't wanna tell you you're doing good, when you're really doing bad.
How far do I have to go to protect your feelings? You're clearly bad, or mediocre, at what you do. Why am I obligated to tell you otherwise? And why do you expect me to tell you otherwise?
One good principle I've learned from Jesus is By their fruits you'll know them.
He was warning us against false prophets (meaning liars). And the way to tell them apart, he teaches, is by looking at the results they caused.
He was teaching us to see the results that came from their actions, ignoring the words they tell us.
This is a perfect principle to live by because it achieves two things:
1. It helps us see who's
a liar and who's honest.
Hearing her say "I love you" is cute, but what has she done to show for it?
2. It makes us become
more honest.
This past year I have been trying to develop one habit. And it goes like this:
• Whenever I feel like giving an advice to somebody, I pause.
• Then I see if I myself have practiced my own advice for over a month.
• If I haven't practiced that advice, I refrain from giving the advice, and instead I start practicing the advice.
I was surprised at the sheer amount of advice my mind generates, when in truth, I have practiced only 5 or 10 percent of those.
I mean, we all notice how people who aren't in a relationship has the best-sounding relationship advice, right?
But in truth, it's never applicable. They're just saying ideas that sound good, but it can't be applied. Their advice is not practical.
People who aren't doing the thing always seem to know how to best do the thing.
Very strange, because I am the same. I seem to have more to say on things I'm not good at than things I am good at.
In reality, life is best when practiced, not when talked about.
#small_words
#justwords
We would pick classmates who we think are truly good. Back then, like most kids, I wanted to be picked, and thankfully, I was picked a few times, but I wanna talk about the times I wasn't picked.
As kids, we were brutally honest. They would never pick me to make me feel good: they would only pick me if I were truly good.
It stings, but now I miss that honesty. That childhood honesty. We grow up and we learn "manners".
And one manner that seems to be very popular among us is this tolerance of mediocrity—so not to hurt people's feelings, so not to lose favor in people's eyes.
We train word-bending, the art of protecting people's feelings, so not to offend them.
I hate that because I don't want people to tell me I'm good at it, unless I'm really good at it. It's misleading.
And I don't wanna tell you you're doing good, when you're really doing bad.
How far do I have to go to protect your feelings? You're clearly bad, or mediocre, at what you do. Why am I obligated to tell you otherwise? And why do you expect me to tell you otherwise?
One good principle I've learned from Jesus is By their fruits you'll know them.
He was warning us against false prophets (meaning liars). And the way to tell them apart, he teaches, is by looking at the results they caused.
He was teaching us to see the results that came from their actions, ignoring the words they tell us.
This is a perfect principle to live by because it achieves two things:
1. It helps us see who's
a liar and who's honest.
Hearing her say "I love you" is cute, but what has she done to show for it?
2. It makes us become
more honest.
This past year I have been trying to develop one habit. And it goes like this:
• Whenever I feel like giving an advice to somebody, I pause.
• Then I see if I myself have practiced my own advice for over a month.
• If I haven't practiced that advice, I refrain from giving the advice, and instead I start practicing the advice.
I was surprised at the sheer amount of advice my mind generates, when in truth, I have practiced only 5 or 10 percent of those.
I mean, we all notice how people who aren't in a relationship has the best-sounding relationship advice, right?
But in truth, it's never applicable. They're just saying ideas that sound good, but it can't be applied. Their advice is not practical.
People who aren't doing the thing always seem to know how to best do the thing.
Very strange, because I am the same. I seem to have more to say on things I'm not good at than things I am good at.
In reality, life is best when practiced, not when talked about.
#small_words
#justwords