I spent my drive home today mentally railing against my daughter's boyfriend. He's coming over for dinner tonight, about 10 days after I found out that my daughter is pregnant, and about 5 hours after finding out that he has lost his job....again. I was playing the whole conversation that I'm going to have with him in my mind, which was easy, because I don't plan on letting him talk. I had the whole speech typed out for you, but I deleted it, because there is a more important lesson at stake here (for me). The gist of the speech was this, "Actions speak louder than words."
I stopped by the store on the way home to pick up some potatoes to go with dinner. I also grabbed a bag of cookies, because I'm stressed and stuffing my face is what I do when I'm stressed. After the quick stop, I jump in the car and continue to drive the rest of the way home and I continue to rant and rave (in my mind) telling this guy how his actions say he only loves himself, and how my daughter has made all the sacrifices in the relationship and he has never had to suffer the consequences of his actions because she steps up and pays his bills for him. (That was a nice, long, run-on, rant-ish sentence, wasn't it?)
And then it hits me. Actions speak louder than words. How many times have I said I wanted to lose weight? How many times have I said I want to be healthy? How much have I hated being out of breath from the slightest activity? And yet, there it was in the seat next to me. The truth. A bag of cookies. I love cookies (or whatever other junk food strikes my fancy). I love cookies more than my body, more than my health, more than I want to lose weight, more than my sweet family. I prove it every time I choose to shove all those unhealthy calories in my mouth risking that I may shorten my life and not be here for my kids/grandkids/husband. I prove that I love my immediate cravings for junk more than I love every wonderful person in my house over and over again. I just keep on choosing the junk. Well, actions speak louder than words. I told the boyfriend that it's time to step up, time to make sacrifices, time to take responsibility. Yes, it's time, for him and for me.
