You and I are constantly forming habits. Through our daily actions and decisions, we reveal our priorities. We construct our patterns of life. We become that to which we give our attention.
So it's important to build our habits with intentionality.
I read a profound statement distinguishing between "active" and "passive" habits. "Active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened... The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel" (C.S. Lewis).
Here's how I see it playing out in our lives:
If you apologize and make tangible amends, you may preserve and perhaps strengthen your bond. If you apologize but do not change, your words are empty, and it gets easier to say sorry each time.
If you mourn a situation and take appropriate measures, you will see progress slowly but surely. If you mourn a situation but offer mere "thoughts and prayers," you will grow ever more desensitized.
If you plan a career move and put in the work, you will build skills and connections to help you get there. If you plan a career move but take no initiative, years will pass and your ambitions will wither.
If you make a commitment and follow through, your presence and influence will be welcomed and felt. If you make a commitment but bail last minute, your lack of integrity will become a way of life.
Our words and intentions must be backed by concrete action. Otherwise, not only will we fail to advance, but we will also gradually regress - we will act less, feel less, become less.
May that be a reminder to some, a wake-up call to others, an exhortation for all of us.