Shine On

 

The world is a loud place. 

Lots of people shouting, yelling and screaming these days. I guess a lot of people are angry. 

I wonder how long all that racket is truly effective? I don’t have the studies or time to look, but if I’m the average person (I’m pretty average) I’ve already blocked out a lot of that noise. 

I paid attention at first, but then started blocking it out. I didn’t think twice when some fool threw spaghetti on a Van Gogh and glued themselves to a wall. Didn’t even take a second to look at their cause. It’s not uncommon anymore, it’s not effective. 

On the other side, when I see a story about someone who is trying to implement something different, start a company to make a change or give a strategy to make things better, I’m intrigued. I might even admire their idea. 

The way we live our life and the actions we take are what is more important than what we are yelling. Politicians and media all throw out great sound bites and talk, talk talk…but they are not living the life they talk about. 

Our actions are what makes the difference. I can tell you I'm a leader. I can tell you I’m successful, I can tell you I’m a Christian, but if I don’t act that way, I’m nothing but a phony baloney. 

We should be a light on how we live our life. I wish all of you who read this would want to grow your faith in God with me, but I know that as soon as you see me write that you’ll roll your eyes or stop reading. If I thought preaching at you would work, I would try it, but it won’t. It would be like forcing food down a dog's throat. 

But if I live my life in a godly way and blessings come to me, you might stop and think. If you see that I can be a faith-based person and still be fun, still be easy to hang out with, still have a beer with, you might think about it and how it can change your life like it’s changed mine.  

I want to shine, not shout. If you’re not attracted to the light, then I can’t change that. The more good we bring into this world, the better. Doing good, living with values, respect and love is infectious, but we have to allow it to shine.  Learn how to shine instead of shout.