It's very aggravating when someone who gives you advice or a new outlook from which to operate turns a complete 180 to it in his or her own life. Just before the new year, a person very close to me uttered three words which have become my mantra in 2012. Keep it Positive. That's it...three simple words, that when fully understood together and applied,can change your course and direction.
It wasn't that I'd never thought to take this approach previously, or never tried for that matter. It was more about hearing those words at the right time from the right person. Fast forward four months and another visit with this friend. All that positive energy and encouragement once oozing from him vanished. All that this medicine man had previously prescribed to me was no longer sitting in his own pillbox.
Concerned and troubled by the situation, I told him he should revert to the person I saw a few months earlier and practice what he preached. In life, we look up to certain people. They are the ones who are unrelenting in their care for our well-being and growth. They are the ones who have the unique ability to really get through to us. They are the ones who when talking, we listen. When they aren't utilizing or applying the same guidance they offer, it's disappointing. How can they sell us the same advice they ignore?
My perception of the anonymous friend I'm speaking of hasn't changed. He's still amazing and will no doubt get back on track. However, he forced me to rekindle the flame with a concept we need to think about more often. Actions always speak louder than words. Those of us who are charged with being a point of light for someone (and most of us are to at least one person) must lead by example. It may not always be easy, but it must always be conscious in our minds. Pitching proverb comes with great responsibility. Without the responsibility, it just becomes rhetoric.
