Good Intentions

Earlier tonight, I had a talk with my dad. We were talking about a situation in my life that I'm going through right now. This particular situation involves me not making the right choice and doing something that could cause someone else a lot of hurt. It's something I've been meaning to correct for a while. When having our discussion he said that most people generally want to better themselves and do the right thing, become a better person. However in most cases, this is just something we think about.

We assume that by having these good intentions in our head that we are a good person. But good intentions really don't mean that much. Sure, it's better than having bad intentions but as the saying goes, "actions speak louder than words". These good intentions count for jack if you're not doing anything about them.

If I'm honest, I know that if you were to stack up all of my good intentions against the good intentions that I've actually put into action, one stack would be a lot higher than the other. I'm sick of putting things off and just intending to make the right choice next time. Becoming a better person isn't easy. Procrastination, however, is easy. Developing a character, a character that is good and moral is hard, and is something that you continuously have to work at. It's something I no longer "intend" to do, it's something that I am going to do.

Maybe this only makes sense to myself and that wouldn't surprise me but I'm sure there's someone out there who has felt similarly at some point in their lives.

I leave you with a quote...

"You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one." - James A. Froude (1818 - 1894)