Sympathy, Honesty, & Happiness

WEEKEND Up in Manitowish with the Bertagnolis...
Was Awesome~  30mi bike.  First time out water skiing.  And some great time with great people!!

Something to ponder....

A few of us have been told throughout our lives, at one point or another that we may lack sympathy.  I was actually told that a few days ago, not the first time and this isn't a surprise to me, believe it or not this character trait (or lack of) runs in my family.

I am not sympathetic towards others in a fashion that is obvious and in a way that occurs often.  (sympathetic by means of feeling compassionate for another which is also situation specific)

I keep my sympathy private, share it with them when I am able to see them and most of the time only occurs in a simple action; such as a hug.  (I value my hugs, they are real, I mean them more than any words I could say.)

It is hard to express sympathy and sometimes, I feel we mistake sympathy for the opportunity to be honest with another.

We do lots of awesome things... this is some of what we get to hear:  

It looked like you all had a lot of fun, I don't think I could ever do that.  I just can't run though and don't you have to do that.  You all make it look so easy, I don't think I would make it.  I really think I would like doing something like that.....(this is where the sentence stops at every conversation dealing with being active).  I don't know how you get up in the morning and go do those workouts, isn't it hard?  It looks like you have a lot of people involved, do they all do what you guys do?  Is it like a 'secret' club?  I just don't have the time.  That's just the 'big' thing right now... something new will come along and you guys will probably jump on that too... (nice)

These are a lot of the HAPPY things that come up in conversation from time to time.  (darn debbie downers)  

This is what also seems to make my lacking trait of sympathy shine from within.  

I have no sympathy for these individuals.  Most of the time after conversations with these types of comments I stop talking completely about what is going on in life outside of the needed conversations unless they bring it up... and then try to dodge the conversation of meaningless crap.
You are who you surround yourself with AND this kind of talk is not good for your surroundings.

It takes a LOT of willpower on my behalf to not say what I feel they need to hear.... something honest.

Like:

If you keep thinking that you aren't able to do things, you will never do them.... so when you are ready to do something about that, let me know.

You can run... You just can't run right now but walking is the first step.

It isn't easy and you may not make it but there will be others there to pick you up when you fall or pat your back when you puke.

Thinking and acting are two things that when kept separate from the other they are worthless.

I set an alarm... some days I value my sleep.. most days I value my morning family.

It isn't a secret club... and it isn't our 'big' thing.... it's what makes us work.

Time is just an excuse.... when you start to make time you start to lose excuses.

OR...  

At the end of the day, this is about you and your choices. 

 I don't judge your choices.... I just find more HAPPINESS in mine.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.  ~Ghandi

He is right.. and as long as we work to keep those three in mind our honesty is in our thoughts, words, and actions.

I want to do this for a day!