What constitutes action?

A query that has been running in the back of my mind for some time now.

I am a person of action. At least I like to think I am.

I am also a person that enjoys all things relationships, and this means the interactions via the web. With twitter and facebook and blogging leading me to many that I would not have otherwise known, these mediums are a definitive gift to our time.

Except for one thing:

False actions.

It is all too easy to post a picture, write a blog, share a quote, and think we have done something.

But like a video game where battles won give false bravo and false accomplishment, so to does posting online, give an impression that often has little real substance behind the posting.

I have observed that there are those who post amazing pictures and quotes but have a life that in no way reflects what they are posting. And while this is the very few (on my wall), it worries me.

In the wake of Amanda Todd’s death, I am brought face to face once more with this need for action. A need for something tangible and real, in terms of bullying and so much more.

Action, is what i needed. And from where I sit, that means in our own lives first and foremost.

Bullying is insidious. And wearing a pink shirt ‘in memory of’ won’t stop it.

I know, because I’ve lived with bullying.

And I know, because the action required to stop bullying is gargantuan.

I left my marriage in order to remove myself and my children from bullying.

I left my church when their bullying proved no different than what was in my marriage.

I stay out of relationships that in any way smack of bullying.

Where others are made to feel small, it is not okay.

There comes a time when we must break fellowship with those who bully. When words (or wearing pink shirts) makes no difference, we stand up, we take action, we make changes, we say ‘no more’.

Not by words, because when words lose their effect, we go with action.

We take strong stands. We toss our lives and everything we know to the wind to make a statement of ‘no more’.

I’ve lost friends, I’ve lost the respect of others, I’ve been misunderstood and maligned because I simply would not be bullied any longer. Simply because I was not going to allow the insidious patterns of bullying to continue to my grandchildren, to the next generation.

Bullying is rife throughout our entire population and culture. It is not just a teen thing. Where do we, after all, think they learned it?

It is in our churches, it is in our families, it is in our nice little gatherings. It is in our leadership at youth events, it is in our schools, our nice little bible studies, and in our conversations.

And the ONLY way to make a difference, is to take action, to make changes, to order our lives around something that is better and stronger and purer.

Posting nice sayings, beautiful pictures, and wearing pink, won’t do it.

This is all-out war.

So, where will you make a change today? What conversation will you have with the bully in your circle of friends and family? And in light of the result of that conversation, what action are you prepared to take if necessary?

Action, profound life changing, earth rattling action, your and my world upside down action, is the only thing, that will make a difference.

So, are we really ready to eradicate bullying?