Tuesday, July 27, 2010

You are what you do...ain't that true

Okay I apologize for the terrible rhyme, but it was irresistible. I have been doing a lot of thinking recently, after quite a long time it must be said, and I was thinking about what makes us who we are. In the past I used to think that our thoughts and intentions are a bigger part of that picture. But using myself as an example I have come to realize that the sum of all the actions you do in a day, not even a lifetime, just a day, build up to who who become. It is a constant evolution dictated by our daily actions so I might think I am a reader, or a thinker, or a writer but until I do those things regularly, my claim means nothing.
Just doing an action regularly slowly becomes part of who you are, what you think and your intentions are like fuel but no matter how much fuel you have in a car it will be useless until you turn on the ignition and actually drive.
So if you want to call yourself a charitable person just thinking good thoughts of others won't make you one you must be charitable on a regular basis.
If you want to become an artist pick up that brush and do something daily then you realize that most things that we want to be require discipline and dedication and a lot of effort and if we put that effort we will get there.
It is easy to hide behind insecurity of not being good enough but what we really lack is the hard work everyone wants it easy, the shortcut, the excuse of not being gifted naturally is the best example of not doing something because there is no easy way.
The only thing in my life that I have put in effort for is my daughter and I see the result of that in myself and can safely say that that when you do put in the immense hard work there is always an output that is tangible.
And similarly not doing something, you slowly chip away parts of yourself, we are not constant fixed being, parts can be taken away and added, we are a work in progress, as long as we put in the effort and constantly evaluate, weed out the unnecessary and cultivate whatever gives us our meaning, contentment naturally follows

9 comments:

Jean-Luc Picard said...

An interesting viewpoint there.

Blur Ting said...

Interesting... while it is true that you're seeing tangible results in the effort put into raising your child, you must accept that your kid will go through the same process in life and develop her own character and values as she grows.

I often find myself wondering why all my past effort in inculcating certain good habits or traits in them are not showing results. On bad days, I question my parenting skills. But that is just part and parcel of parenting. The new show called "parenting' really portrays it so well.

Unknown said...

Like the effort you have put into raising your daughter, I have been putting it into my acting pursuits and overall it has made me a more disciplined and complete person than if I didn't try it at all. I will admit it is hard work and it can be an emotional drain but in the end it is worth it. It's is better to remian a work in progress than to become an unfinished one.

Mark said...

Very true! It is very important that we take action and that we are willing to do the work to master that which we desire. Thanks for this life lesson reminder.

Amel said...

Your post reminds me of some quotation I once read...I don't remember anymore who said it, but it's something similar to the tone of your post. LOVE the post, esp. that "we're a work in progress". :-D

candoor said...

it is so strange to be so curious about a total stranger based on reading words they write, so i laugh and keep reading, because i still want to be a reader, even as i've slacked off on reading of late... and i still wanted to get to know people through words, even though i've been socializing offline and just being an audience online for some time as well...

thanks for the reminder :)

Unknown said...

Somehow I can connect to people more through the written word I am quite inept at socializing otherwise often scrambling for what to say

printandradio said...

Very nice blog, I agree with most of what you are saying here. Thanks a lot for sharing such an informative and interesting post with us. Keep blogging.

Unknown said...

Very interesting view points.
Thanks for sharing with us.