How to get them to Listen
There is quite a bit of talking going on these days. I have never been more bombarded with words, exaggerations, and bold declarations in my life. People assume that they can speak things right into existence. They truly believe that there is a direct correlation between the grandiose statements they make, and the reality they so desperately want. While there is a place for this, it will not be in this post - and it will be critiqued severely in this post. If you are a person who likes to talk "big" then you may feel "small" after I'm done. Perhaps the shrinking of yourself will allow you to fit in the smaller realms of where you really are, so that you can grow into the "bigness" that you have always wanted.
Endangered Species are committed to truth. If you align yourself with truth, you will find yourself scratching your head to 75% of the things people say. There are only 9 or 10 people on this earth that I do not do this with - so the chances of me thinking you are wrong when you are speaking are severely high. For those of you reading this, you may not be in that 9 or 10 - I hope you don't think of me differently. If you do think of me differently, then may I suggest that everything I am talking about is being confirmed into existence - kind of like the way you like to speak things into existence - like a sorcerer.
When people talk to me about something, they love to use words like best, amazing, brilliant, etc. These same people are the ones that change their minds every 5 seconds. This is corny. This is extremely uncool. This is not acceptable. Where are the people who have liked the same things all their life? Where are the people who don't worship being eclectic as if it was a pre-requesite to heaven? Where are the people who admit that they don't know that much about everything, and just stick to what they know? Leave it up to people in their 20s and early 30s to want to come off as being more well-rounded than they really are. If you know me, you know a few things - I'm Christian. I'm into music. I've said Kobe Bryant is the best athlete since 1998. I enjoy desserts. I love my family and frieds. The musicians I like - I only like them. I don't like all kinds of music. In fact, I seem to always play the same 3 cd's in my car. How is that for a well-rounded young man? Seems a bit boring to me now that I think of it.
I firmly believe that our generation needs to alleviate itself of the pressure to have an opinion. People will lisen to you if what you believe takes form in your whole soul. Your opinions are loudest when it is who you are, whether you say it or not. People know your style based on what you wear consistently - not because you tell them one day that you like Ralph Lauren. People know your desires because it is what you do when no one is watching.
If you come up to me and tell me that something is your favorite - I will hold you to that for the rest of your life. Maybe the rest of the world will tolerate you switching things up. I will not. Smallville is my favorite TV show. It will always be. You may think I am being closed-minded. I think I'm being open-minded. Many of you struggle with using words to manipulate others to do something. You don't have to tell someone that a song is beyond incredible for them to hear it. In fact it will diminish the song for that person if they hear it with tarnished opinions.
I can understand our desire for others to listen to us. I can understand wanting to have an impact. We cannot become wolf-criers because when it is really time to scream wolf, the world will not listen to you. They will keep living the way they live, and you will not have impact. This has less to do with us having to be overly cautious about our words, and more to do with us being our opinion rather than speaking it. Think about the things that people truly know about you - they are things that are consistent. Things that you do in your sleep. People are blessed by these things about you. They will research these things because they are TRULY important to you - not because you exaggerated how amazing these things are - b/c they embody you - they are a genuine piece of your being.
I want us to be genuine people of objective impact. I am blessed by the sincere parts of my friends, family, and mentors. I see God in who they really are - not in what they highlight necessarily, but what their being highlights. At the end of the day, the world needs so badly for you to be this - your most genuine and truest form. Do not cheat the world of your brilliance. Do not take away the gift that you are. Do not cheapen your value. Do not throw away pearls to swine. I realize that most people are not worthy of my opinion. Before you judge the arrogance of that statement, think about it. Save your words and deepest thoughts for an audience that will hear it. Your impact will be triple-fold.
For the risk of not being what I so adamantly dislike, I shall not beat a dead horse to death. When the rest of the world speaks, stay quiet. Wait your turn. When your time comes, let the fire flame into a raging bull.
For more on this topic, listen to "Won't say a Word" on G-Vo's 3rd album :-)..ya dig? Peace and much love to you - John Baptist!
Endangered Species are committed to truth. If you align yourself with truth, you will find yourself scratching your head to 75% of the things people say. There are only 9 or 10 people on this earth that I do not do this with - so the chances of me thinking you are wrong when you are speaking are severely high. For those of you reading this, you may not be in that 9 or 10 - I hope you don't think of me differently. If you do think of me differently, then may I suggest that everything I am talking about is being confirmed into existence - kind of like the way you like to speak things into existence - like a sorcerer.
When people talk to me about something, they love to use words like best, amazing, brilliant, etc. These same people are the ones that change their minds every 5 seconds. This is corny. This is extremely uncool. This is not acceptable. Where are the people who have liked the same things all their life? Where are the people who don't worship being eclectic as if it was a pre-requesite to heaven? Where are the people who admit that they don't know that much about everything, and just stick to what they know? Leave it up to people in their 20s and early 30s to want to come off as being more well-rounded than they really are. If you know me, you know a few things - I'm Christian. I'm into music. I've said Kobe Bryant is the best athlete since 1998. I enjoy desserts. I love my family and frieds. The musicians I like - I only like them. I don't like all kinds of music. In fact, I seem to always play the same 3 cd's in my car. How is that for a well-rounded young man? Seems a bit boring to me now that I think of it.
I firmly believe that our generation needs to alleviate itself of the pressure to have an opinion. People will lisen to you if what you believe takes form in your whole soul. Your opinions are loudest when it is who you are, whether you say it or not. People know your style based on what you wear consistently - not because you tell them one day that you like Ralph Lauren. People know your desires because it is what you do when no one is watching.
If you come up to me and tell me that something is your favorite - I will hold you to that for the rest of your life. Maybe the rest of the world will tolerate you switching things up. I will not. Smallville is my favorite TV show. It will always be. You may think I am being closed-minded. I think I'm being open-minded. Many of you struggle with using words to manipulate others to do something. You don't have to tell someone that a song is beyond incredible for them to hear it. In fact it will diminish the song for that person if they hear it with tarnished opinions.
I can understand our desire for others to listen to us. I can understand wanting to have an impact. We cannot become wolf-criers because when it is really time to scream wolf, the world will not listen to you. They will keep living the way they live, and you will not have impact. This has less to do with us having to be overly cautious about our words, and more to do with us being our opinion rather than speaking it. Think about the things that people truly know about you - they are things that are consistent. Things that you do in your sleep. People are blessed by these things about you. They will research these things because they are TRULY important to you - not because you exaggerated how amazing these things are - b/c they embody you - they are a genuine piece of your being.
I want us to be genuine people of objective impact. I am blessed by the sincere parts of my friends, family, and mentors. I see God in who they really are - not in what they highlight necessarily, but what their being highlights. At the end of the day, the world needs so badly for you to be this - your most genuine and truest form. Do not cheat the world of your brilliance. Do not take away the gift that you are. Do not cheapen your value. Do not throw away pearls to swine. I realize that most people are not worthy of my opinion. Before you judge the arrogance of that statement, think about it. Save your words and deepest thoughts for an audience that will hear it. Your impact will be triple-fold.
For the risk of not being what I so adamantly dislike, I shall not beat a dead horse to death. When the rest of the world speaks, stay quiet. Wait your turn. When your time comes, let the fire flame into a raging bull.
For more on this topic, listen to "Won't say a Word" on G-Vo's 3rd album :-)..ya dig? Peace and much love to you - John Baptist!
See? This is why your blog needed to exist. Because people like me would say a lot of the opposite. The world needs your Truth to balance this awful world. And though in real life I'd probably say something snarky, today I'll say this:
ReplyDeleteI truly respect and admire this post.
Thanks for being one of the most "consistent" people I know. It's nice to know that that's possible.