Intention and action come from two different places and as long as we have them confused, we stay in place.

 

I don’t know when it changed, but somewhere in my lifetime the acceptance of wedding vows went from saying,  “I Do” to saying, “I Will.” This is one indication that as a culture we have moved more toward theory and away from activity.

 

Doing can be specifically measured; promises aren’t precise.

 

“I will” is a promise that gets broken with high frequency, and this goes well past wedding vows.

 

Do you say or do you do? That’s the question that requires a specific answer in order to move forward.

 

Saying is easy. We just open our mouth and out it comes. Doing is independent of saying and takes a lot more effort. Part of the problem is conditioning. How often were we presented with this type of maxim when growing up: “Do as I say, not as I do”? It may not have been said aloud but it was communicated by our caregivers’ incongruent behavior - saying one thing but doing another.

 

But like all parental blame, we eventually have to get off that train if we want to go somewhere else.

 

Moving forward is an action, not a theory, and we won’t “will it” to happen. It takes doing.

 

How do you know the difference between willing and doing? Doing takes movement. If you aren’t taking some physical action with your body, you are just a pile of noble but action-less thoughts.

 

If you aren’t moving, you aren’t doing.

 

There must be a reason Nike didn’t come up with, “Just Think It.”

 

Here’s the rub: Thinking tires you out quicker than doing, but we mistakenly think if we put off doing, we won’t tax ourselves.

 

Quoting St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.”

 

Now that you have a finer distinction between “I will” and “I do,” it’s time to divorce inactivity because it will never be faithful to you.

 

All the best,

John