If you won’t…they don’t
What matters to you? No…. I mean, what really matters?
What have you done today or this week or this month about those things that you claim really matter to you? If the answer is nothing, then does it REALLY matter?
The actions you take and the things you speak up for inform the world what matters to you. Does it matter what matters? It really doesn’t. What is important is that we do not become silent about what matters to us. The day we do our life ends.
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
What will you put security, your ego, and even your life on the line for? Those are the things that matter. If you won’t…they don’t.
This week I spoke up for an animal that needed help. I could have walked away and hoped someone else would take care of him, but this mattered to me. I spent three entire days working to raise enough money to save his life. I put my business on hold and my ego aside and asked other people to help, to give money.
This mattered to me, and I was the one who had to help him. Sure, maybe someone else would have done it, maybe not. I was going to take care of it, because if someone didn’t—he would die. I wasn’t willing to take that chance.
Charlie, Katie and Shelby
A coach at my Crossfit gym, Charlie G., did the same thing this week. He spoke up for what matters to him. Charlie is an athlete and coach at Bayou City and PinUp Crossfit. Charlie spoke up when the no one else would. He asked a hard question.
If it matters to him—and it clearly does—what choice did he have? Whether you agree with his point or not is not important. You have to respect the fact that he had the courage to ask a question in public, on his blog—a question others were only thinking or whispering in private. His statement was about integrity, and in asking the question he displayed huge integrity. It mattered to him, so he spoke it. Anything else would have been out of integrity.
While most of the comments on his blog are supportive, what matters most in this conversation is: If Crossfit matters so much to so many people, why isn’t everyone asking the question?
If you won’t speak up about the things that matter to you, they don’t really matter at all. Who or what will you speak for today?
Awesome issue that folks don’t talk enough about.
Recently, someone in my Twitter stream asked, ‘What drives capitalism?’ I wrote back, ‘Need & Greed’. Obviously, both come from the ego. They’re not necessarily bad. But that got me thinking, what are the Higher Self counter balances?
‘Service’ was the obvious answer on the greed side. I think a fair number of businesses get the service thing. But I had to think a bit about the need side.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think most consumers have no idea how powerful we are. We drive 70% of the USA’s economy. That makes us the most powerful human force on this planet. What could we do with that power?
I came up with ‘patronage’. Maybe ‘advocacy’ is a better word for it, though. It’s about spending your time, energy and money where it matters, not just getting your needs met using the least time, money and effort.
You became Riley’s advocate this week. You transcended need and greed.
PS: I’m glad you raised enough to keep Riley alive. I hope he gets a forever home soon.
Awesome post. Really got me thinking. Thanks.