5 Things I Care Enough About To Stand On

What do I care about enough, to stand on it? And I mean, to really stand on it!

In fact:

What matters so much to me that I am not only willing to stand on it – and to trust that it has enough substance to hold me up – but to take a stand on it?

What point of view will I willingly stand up and risk being noticed to defend – despite its detractors?

What issues matter enough to me that I would not for an instant question making my views known on them, even in the face of opposition?

Even more:

What is important enough to me that I am willing to move beyond taking a stand on its behalf to the point where I will get up and actually do something about it?

For what cause or causes do I willingly donate my time and money, even if my time or my money is in seriously short supply?

What fight am I willing to lead from the front lines rather than the back? And for which of my decisions and actions on that fight’s behalf am I willing to take responsibility?

And even more:

Am I doing all this standing I’m so fond of mentioning . . from a standing position? Or am I merely sitting here, holding court in the comfort of my own thoughts?

And if the latter is the case – as I suspect it might be – do my hifaluten perspectives have anything to stand on other than thin air?!

What really does matter to me?

Am I willing and able to stand on anything other than words?

And if there is more, what of it? Do you care? Does it matter to you as much as it does to me?

Then again, what’s so wrong with standing on words? Words have done far more good – and bad – over the years than any pile of half-baked actions!

And still more:

If whatever it is is this important to me, why has it taken me so long to recognize it and commit to some sort of “action” on its behalf?
Ah, yes. The fact of the matter is that talk is ridiculously cheap when it comes the hot button issues on which everyone has an opinion – many different from and at odds with my own.

(What does everyone else care of my exceptional understanding or years of experience when theirs is equally vast and rich? Wrong, but sometimes just as vast and rich.)

Why do I seem to care so much what everyone else thinks about the things that matter most to me? After all, I really don’t know what anyone else thinks till they tell me . . and I don’t recall having asked.

Is this seeming need for outside validation a genetic flaw I can blame on my mother and father (blame is always fun)? Or is it perhaps just some need to feel I’m still part of some group – whatever group that might be?

(And what group’s membership could possibly be so important to me that I would risk my sense of priority in favor of theirs? Truth be told: None. Yet I’ve done it over and over again over the years, haven’t I? Maybe you have as well.)

What – or who – is it that’s really in my way when the call to action (my call to action) feels too overwhelming for me to raise my hand and straggle up out of my seat?

Then again, why me? Why should I commit to something – even something that matters a great deal to me – if you aren’t going to join me in laying your ideals and beliefs on the line? I’m just one person, after all. How can anything I do make a difference?

Several pretty good questions, don’t you think?

Or maybe all they are is excuses for inaction . . excuses for remaining numb. I hate numb!

(Hey you over there: I see you over there trying to hide behind the computer screen while you’re shaking your head up and down. And as long as you agree with me that these questions are so good and that numb is so bad, let’s see what you’re going to do about answering them in a way that fits you.)

The Trouble With Standing

Actually, the way I see it, it’s a bit hard to take a stand if you have nothing to stand on. Then again, maybe it’s easy . . particularly if you really don’t want to stand at all.

Saying there’s just too much need can be an overwhelmingly uncomfortable if not total cop out. And we – each of us, me included – use it to cover our proverbials far more than we’d like to openly admit.

But that doesn’t really describe you – or me, does it? Most of the time, we just don’t know how or where to take that first step.

Let’s knock that hurdle out of the way right now.

It’s true that there are way too many worthy issues knocking on our conscious minds. How does one choose where to start?

How can anyone decide what is more worthy of their time, energy, and money than anything else? Most of us don’t carry a surplus of any of these resources in our pockets, particularly in these recessive times.

Well, from my perspective:

♦ You start where you are.

♦ You start where your heart is.

♦ You start where your passion has held your focus all these years – even when other things got in the way and forced you to ignore it.

♦ You step up, and you start. And then you keep moving, one foot in front of the other, till it feels natural . . or at least less clumsy.

♦ And when you feel you can’t stand any more, you lean on someone whose passion is just as strong as your own – or stronger – till you’re strong enough to return the favor.

What I Stand On

When I started this short discussion, I did it with a question: What do I care about enough, to stand on it?

Not only that, but what matters so much to me that I’m willing to risk just about everything to take a stand on it?

Those are two mega-type questions, aren’t they?

I figure it’s about time I answer them for you. Actually, I figure it’s about time I answer them for myself.

Let me say before I do, though, that this is not the be all and end all answer. No such beast exists. What I have to share here are a start, however.

Here is what I stand on:

1.  I stand on Family. (Actually, I just as often step on mine, though not intentionally.) Even when it’s a ragtag bunch of whozlewhats who may seem more thrown together than divinely blessed: If it’s family, it’s worth standing. That does not mean I will necessarily agree with everything mine might say, do, or believe. It does, however, mean that genetics count for something.

2.  I stand on Friendship. The deep connections we make by choice have a power all their own. My friends ARE family to me. Some have two feet. Some have four. Some I’ve known forever, and some I’ve yet to meet. Should any of them need my help, however, I will damn to hell any who might try to get in my way.

3.  I stand on Stepping Up To the Plate and being fully involved in each day we have. Curses to any who would rather moan and whine their lives away than risk their principles on what matters most to them!

4.  I stand on Social Responsibility – My social responsibility to the people, community, environment that nurture and support me. Sure, there’s a lot bigger world out there. But if I do what I can to make my little world better, it can’t help but improve on its bigger image.

5.  I stand on Making My Voice Heard on the issues I best understand, and about which I have the greatest stake. That’s what I do every day here, and that’s what I look forward to doing far more in the days, weeks, month, and years to come.

See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?

Then again, saying something to myself and putting it up there for all of you to see was a major leap for me.

What if you disagreed?

What if you weren’t impressed?

What if you lay your own priorities on the line instead of carping about mine? (Aha! Caught you!)

.   .   .   .   .

And that, my friend, is my challenge to you:

What do you value enough to stand on it? What matters so much to you that you’re willing to take a stand on its behalf?

Share your thoughts on what matters most to you. Don’t second-guess. Don’t judge. Just give yourself permission to say what matters enough for you to stand.

Remember, it’s all good – if totally mind-blowing challenging – stuff.

Keep growing my friend,
Gail

Tagged as: defend, issues, meaning, social responsibility, take a stand, what I stand on