I am closer to 60 than 50 and have seen and experienced a lot.
I try hard to roll with the punches as culture changes with each year, but I draw the line with the whole "shaming" movement.
Fat shaming, food shaming, slut shaming, and on and on the list goes. No one is allowed to call out anyone else or hold anyone else accountable anymore.
I love that clothing adds now have normal sized people and that the professional dancers in Hamilton had real thighs and behinds, but when I see social media posts about accepting yourself just the way you are and the photos are of a morbidly obese person, I have to think that when I have gone through periods of my own weight problems, I wish someone had "shamed" me.
At one time I was breathing hard just doing one flight of stairs. Accepting myself in this unhealthy state was detrimental to my life expectancy and many of the dreams I had.
Shame on me!
I remember a phase where I would eat chocolate so close to bed time, that when I brushed my teeth and spit out the toothpaste, the water was brown. What was that about? No one needs to eat chocolate right before trying to get a restful slumber.
Shame on me!
Every leadership book I have ever read, every conference I have ever attended and many of the books in the Bible all talk about accountability.
Luke 17:3
Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
Hebrews 4:13
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
James 4:17
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Matthew 12:36
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.
My passion is helping relationships and that includes the relationship I have with God, and the relationship I have with my family.
I cannot be of any help to my clients or my friends if I am simply accepting my flaws and weaknesses or if I have lost my true North.
I don't want to cop out.
I don't want to make excuses.
I don't want to settle.
So, today and every day, if you see me being lazy, using excuses, not practicing what I preach or veering off of the straight and narrow, PLEASE SHAME ME!!!
Call me out.
Hurt my feelings.
Tell me I can do better.
Encourage me to set new goals. I will promise to do the same for you.
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