From intention to action

Following our good intentions often causes a choice between our need to care and ignoring that need. Placing our intention into action requires a decision of the will, often in spite of a fear of failure or misunderstanding.

Consider military leaders who know well the need of preparation for war and fully intend to place into action the efforts to attain that goal.

They intend to build up our military but without action. They intend to fully train our military in combat methods without implementation. The list goes on.

The inevitable war arrives, and they intend to win, but the lack of preparatory action relegates the outcome to a devastating loss.

This example is only one way to illustrate the personal importance of placing our intentions into actions in our daily lives. We may intend to stop at a stop sign, but if we do not follow through by stopping immediately, a crash is a possibility.

We are living in a time when kindness, compassion, and even verbal communication are desperately needed. An example of placing intentions into actions occurred last winter while I was leaving a Sunday morning church service.

I do not like to wear a dress hat, but I must in winter. As I was walking to my car, I saw a man and woman some distance from me. I did not know them, but as they started walking toward me, I paused.

To my astonishment, the woman said she just wanted to tell me she so enjoyed seeing a man in a dress hat. Her father had worn one, and it brought back fond memories.

A thought entered her mind, skipped to her emotions, and eventually entered her heart’s room of action.

In our fast-paced speed of life, we may not take time to place our good intentions into actions. Hopefully, there remains deep within us the ability to heed the call to well-intentioned deeds.

When good intentions are placed into action, they become like pebbles tossed into a pond, causing ripples to spread in all directions. By their actions toward me, the man and woman walking past my church threw their pebble into the pond, and you, the readers, are recipients of the produced waves of their actions.

We all need to contemplate our ability to place good intentions into actions. A hungry and waiting society around us waits for our decision.