Intentions, Action, and Sea Guils

As I was reading Andy Andrew's The Noticer, he gave a a great analogy about intentions...

There are five sea guils perched on a dock. One decides to fly away. How many are left? (Paraphrased)

If you said four, think again. The sea guil decides to fly away. He has an intention to fly away but it never said that he flew away.

There's a big difference between intentions and  action.

You can have the best intentions in the world to lose weight, but without progressive action your results are no different from someone who never even thought about losing weight.

There are 4 basic stages of decision making:

1.) Pre-contemplation
2.) Contemplaion
3.) Preparation
4.) Action

A Quick Rundown

 

Pre-contemplation is when someone isn't even aware or considering making a change. Contemplation is when someone is thinking about or considering making a change. Preparation is the stage when someone has a desired goal and is starting to make small changes or is getting ready to make a change. Action is when someone is taking noticeable action to change their outcome.

Most people are stuck in the contemplation and preparation stages. They have the best intentions but they never dive in and take action.

Long story short, there are many reasons why we may not take action. Just don't stay stuck in the contemplation and preparation stages.

You may think that the action you need to take is too difficult. It takes too much work or time. My response to that is:

1.) How much more emotional energy are you spending contemplating when you could be happy and getting results?

2.) How do you know what it will take if you don't actually take action?

Start where you are comfortable and progress from there. 

It's the same with our relationships with God. We can intend to "check it out" or to spend time with God. We can intend to go to church and grow. We can intend to ask for forgiveness of our sins. But if we never take action, all our intentions will get us is judgement from God because we never took the steps to accept the gift Christ gave us.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

Your bail is paid. Accept that Christ died on the cross to save us from the judgement that our sin would otherwise bring on us. Follow Him.

Love God. Love people.

-Chris Finley