ARE OUR GOOD INTENTIONS ALWAYS GOOD?

“I've always found that anything worth achieving will always have obstacles in the way and you've got to have that drive and determination to overcome those obstacles on route to whatever it is that you want to accomplish.” - Chuck Norris 

In the past, I've often entertained the philosophy that if you were a good person with good intentions that things would just work themselves out.  I applied this philosophy to obstacles that I needed to overcome, situations with colleagues and friends, and general day to day things.  While this view may work or do no harm in some situations (some misunderstandings do blow over and it's better not to make a big deal over it), there are some times when it certainly does not!   

I'm not saying don't stop being a good person with good intentions, I'm saying stop being a passive person.  Educate yourself on what needs to be done and do it - don't always wait for things to "work themselves out".  Maybe this was part of my upbringing which praised low conflict and not rocking the boat, but I also think this philosophy has been counter intuitive and has held me back in matter of things.  


Take for instance, school.  You can't just sit back without studying and hope for an osmosis of knowledge.  Of course, we know this but I'm oversimplifying it to make an example.  If you want a healthy body, you need to plan your meals and workouts.  One of my biggest challenges with this right now is parenting.  Some things will work themselves out or are just a stage that your child is going through.  Others, though, will take a lot of perseverance on your part.  And you will feel like you are making mistakes every day, but it's important to keep your eye on the goal and power through.  Yes, I may have good intentions to keep my child happy and not have conflict, but am I holding them back in the long run?  In some instances, yes.  For me, my desire to have low conflict has won the battle in some of my parenting and I've learned that though my intentions are good, they are not always right.  


Don't let your good intentions hold you back from what needs to get done.  Sometimes hard work and hard choices need to happen to make an impact or to facilitate change.  And sometimes things do work themselves out; we need to develop the wisdom to know when to sit back and when to take action.