A Little Something

 “Hey.” Such a simple phrase, yet it can mean so much depending on who says it and the conversation that ensues. Sometimes someone says “hey” and we don’t take time to respond because we’re busy. Sometimes we say “hey” to someone else hoping to get some attention or to elicit a specific conversation. Sometimes we’re just bored. And sometimes when someone says “hey” to us or we say it to the other person, it sparks a conversation that makes us really question…maybe our motives, our intentions, our problems, possible solutions, our feelings, or how we got to this point in our lives. 

If I tried to look back and remember the first time I had a conversation that shook me to my core, I don’t think I could pinpoint it. However, I can think of a couple times when I’ve had conversations that changed everything. Or that could have. So what am I here to say. What am I really getting at? I’m starting to feel like I might need to go back and delete this and just start the post over. But I think I feel like there’s something that’s trying to be said here. 

News flash:

None of it matters. And it all matters—at the same time. Everything is important. No conversation, no words are meaningless because they all point back to our need to communicate with others and to be in relationship with other people. And that is how it is meant to be. We are not meant to live this life alone. That’s not what we were created for—isolation that is. God made us to be living, breathing embodiments of who He is. After all, we were created “…in His image.” By Him, for Him, and because of Him…we exist for relationships. With God, and with each other. Otherwise, He would have only made one. 

So that explains why it all matters. But also—nothing does. Because, we can have all the conversations, the feelings, the thoughts, the ideas, the epiphanies in the world. If we don’t act on those sentiments—if we don’t do what we say we will or be who we want to be or live our lives based on more than just mere feelings and beliefs but on the actual reality of our lives…than what are we doing. What is all this for? Who is it for? What are we living for? 

If we’re living for ideas, beliefs, notions, and feelings…then we may as well keep on doing what we do best—nothing. And see what comes of that. Because doing nothing is a sure fire way to ensure we never get anything done and change never happens. 

But if we’re living for something real. If we’re living for a purpose and an awareness that life is about more than mere ideas and notions. Then we might need to start making intentional efforts in our lives. Because the key to change is action. And if we are living our lives in action rather than on autopilot, it seems like there’s going to be a much better chance that something will happen—anything. 

There’s a lot of things I’m scared of in this life, and everything brings challenges. But the possibility of anything different is much more encouraging than the promise of nothing more than the same old thing. 

A wise English teacher once said, “If you always do what you always did, then you’ll always get what you always got.” 

That kind of nothing is scarier than anything and everything. Isn’t it?