I was thinking the other day and came up with a quote. I am pretty sure it has been around as I am not smart enough to think of this on my own. I came up with it after having a lengthy conversation with someone over the weekend.Do your beliefs justify your behavior or does your behavior represent your beliefs?
What I mean by this is do you do some things that would be frowned upon by society or your mother, yet you tell some people that is okay because you believe it is okay to do those things. You represent yourself and if you aren't hurting anyone but yourself, then so be it. Unfortunately, when living for ourselves, we aren't hurting just ourselves. We may not see the ripples of our choices immediately, but they are there.
Or do your behaviors represent your beliefs? Probably constraining one's self, limiting what you do, and actually having some self-discipline is a hard thing to do. If you believe in "right" and you try to do what is "right", you will be attacked. Now I am not naieve to think that not everyone has done something in the past whether it be 20 years ago or one week ago of which they are not proud, and it doesn't represent their beliefs. Does that make them a hypocrite? I don't believe so, I think it makes them human.
However, if you continually use behavior contradictory of your beliefs then self-reflection and genuine honesty must occur. Trust me, I fall short often behaving congruent to what my beliefs are, but I continually strive to be better. Am I a failure? Am I a hypocrite? I think not, life is a continuous journey to be better.....but I may just be justifying my behavior with my beliefs.
