We do, We are

The other day a coworker, rather carelessly stated that what we do isn't who we are. This comment had been brought out by our conversation in which it was suggested that I should take some pictures that would be more profitable then the average weddings and senior portraits that I am marketing for. While it is true that there is an overwhelming market for such kind of filth, my coworker's comment wasn't correct.

What we do is who we are. Consider for a moment that our brain is like a machine. It tells the rest of our body what to do and when to do it. Action is therefore a result of thought. From actions we form habits and our habits become our character. No action is performed without first having been thought either consciously or subconsciously.

President David O McKay once said, “As nothing reveals character like the company we like and keep, so nothing foretells futurity like the thoughts over which we brood.” If the above is true then what we spend our time thinking of is of the utmost importance; for it is our thoughts that is the programing for the machine. If we do not have the programing required before a crisis happens then we do not have the proper responses to deal with the crisis. We cannot say that when faced with a crisis like losing a job that we will be able to stop eating out and conserve the little money we do have if we have never practiced or thought of such a practice before. No what will happen is that we will spend the little resources we have left failing to see what tomorrow will bring and end up worse off then before.

So that brings us to work. Correcting thoughts or actions requires vigilance and work. Consider for a moment that human brain has around 60,000 thoughts per day and as much as 95% of those thoughts are exact ones that has been thought the day before and of the thoughts 80% are negative. That means that most people everyday have around 45,000 negative thoughts. Correcting a thought or a behavioral pattern is therefore extremely difficult as we set ourselves up for failure the the knowledge that we have done wrong or that we shouldn't think this or that.

Now I have touched on how our thoughts are translated into action. My coworker's argument was, however, that I would be just fine taking questionable pictures for a time and that it wouldn't define who I am. It is true that we often judge the acts of a man without knowing his motives behind the acts. But I must point out how then are we to judge character if not on the actions of the man? Furthermore, I maintain that “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he,” (Prov 27:3). If the mind has been properly programed, looking at the actions of a man is a good way to judge his character.

Let's say that I did take those pictures for a time, not that I would mind you, but for argument's sake. The first flaw that I can see is that no one separates themselves from work at the end of the day. We always take it home. We brood on what had happened, the mistakes made, the arguments one or lost. We share it with others around us.

And while some would see that these actions wouldn't define me, they would most certainly change me. How many of us actually look at the movies we watch or what is allowed in the television shows and commercials. It used to be that the parents slept in separate rooms, now we have the gay couples trying to raise a child. And don't even get me started on the sex that is shown and glamorized. If you were to watch only classics and musicals for three months and then put in your favorite PG-13 movie you would be shocked and appalled.

My point being that I would come out changed as I would be doing a sort of reverse programing in myself. It is far better and easier to stick with a strong character and make it stronger.