Setting The Tone

Your alarm sounds in the early morning hours and you rouse from your slumber to turn it off. 

That’s your first action of the day—to make the incessant beeping stop. 

But what’s your next move?

Rolling back over to for a little extra rest? 

Telling yourself, “Just ten more minutes?” 

Or do you spring to action? 

Do you climb out of bed and start your day? 

Truth be told, there’s nothing inherently wrong with sleeping in. 

No one is going to look down on you because you choose to get up at the last possible moment before having to leave for work. 

So why do it? 

If sleeping in isn’t wrong, why give up the extra sleep?

You give up the comfort and warmth of your bed because among other things it sets the tone for your day. 

How you respond to that first test sets you on a path. A path towards strength, action, and victory. Or a path towards timidity, reaction, and weakness. 

There are two paths and the one you choose determines a great deal. 

Inconsistency is an opportunity

You’re inconsistent. 

You think and act in ways that fail to mesh with your values in principles. 

Not just you, but all of us are walking and talking hypocrites. 

But that’s not the whole story. 

The rest of the story is that each time you catch yourself living inconsistently with your values is an opportunity. 

An opportunity to:

• change,
• correct course,
• confess,
• ask forgiveness, and
• begin again. 

Of course, it’s also an opportunity to:

• bow up,
• double down,
• give up,
• quit, and
• blame.

Hypocrisy isn’t the end of your story. It’s an intimate and defining part of it. 

How you respond to your inconsistencies will go a long long way towards determining what happens in your life. 

Choose the first set of responses rather than the second. 

They are hard and uncomfortable steps to take but lead to healing, hope, and happiness in the end. 

Most of all, they lead to growth and your best self.