I taught math to teenagers for thirty-five years.
I enjoyed my teaching career. My students left me with a bald head and a number of valuable lessons. Among them:
Kids may be reluctant to believe what you say, but they’re always ready to believe what you do.
It’s a life principle; talk is cheap. Words matter little until you’re willing to “walk the talk.”
When I share the story of the FREEDOM TOUR, I want to inspire and encourage others to face their fears, live with courage, and follow big dreams. But those are simplistic platitudes unless they’re backed up with behavior. Like my students, people are touched by, and respond to, actions.
We change the world with our actions, not our words.
Here are a few things I learned about “walking the talk” with students.
Walking the talk requires time. It’s about things like persistence and commitment. You can’t do it once—that’s an act. You are what you habitually do, in the little things, day after day, even when you don’t realize anyone’s watching. That’s what others believe. That’s what changes hearts.
Walking the talk requires honesty. You have to share the stumbles, setbacks, and failures. People don’t want the illusion of perfection. They want to know it’s possible to face and overcome life’s inevitable challenges.
Walking the talk requires intentionality. You have to consciously consider important principles and be aware of opportunities to practice and share the story.
Walking the talk requires humility. Sharing the story can seem like “look at how great we are,” but that’s not the point at all. We do have a lot of fun, but I want to share the struggles, and hopefully some victories, as a real community strives to live out a dream.
We’ve got plenty of fancy words. The world’s over-run with teachers, parents, spouses, leaders, pastors, politicians–especially politicians–equipped with just the right words. Anyone can say what we want to hear in a desperate moment. We want so badly to believe, that sometimes we forget that it’s foolish to place our trust in slick-sounding words.
Anyone can celebrate and say the right words when the sun shines. That’s easy. We change the world by showing up, day after day, in all kinds of weather, to continue doing what we can, where we are, with what we have.
We change the world with our actions, not our words.
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FRONT RANGE FREEDOM TOUR is a community of friends who are changing the world for a group of kids rescued from human trafficking. We would love to have you join us.
Check out our website (www.frontrangefreedomtour.org) and discover all the ways to join the fun.