Action is very important!
What do the words above mean?
The entire quote is this, “A bell is not a bell until you ring it. A song is not a song until you sing it. Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay. Love isn’t love til you give it away.”
A handwritten note passed to the young actress playing Maria in The Sound of Music is the origin of the quote. The lyrics were in the reprise of the song “Sixteen going on seventeen” that was omitted from the film.
Regardless of the origin of these words, they have power. They are about action, not potential. A bell has the potential to ring, but a bell is just inert metal until you ring it. A song is just notes on paper until you sing it. Similarly, the love in your heart is inert until you take action and give it away.
The action is very important. Love is just a pleasant idea in your heart until you take the action of giving it away. When you act on love, it can be seen and known by others. Sometimes someone else returns it to you, but it can only be returned to you if you first give it away.
Ideas without action are just thoughts. At work, you must take action of some type to produce actual products or services. You would not be alive if your parents had not acted on their love. And when you were a baby, you had to think about crawling and walking, and then take action to make these things happen.
The most important part of an action occurs when you begin to take it. This sounds obvious so I will explain. I like to plan and think things through. When I plan, I plan the first steps to be small enough so I am not intimated. Then I have a “Plan B” for the difficult parts, and then I follow through. I take one of the first small steps as soon as I decide to act.
Putting these words into action!
For example, yesterday I wrote that my husband and I would give each other the joy of giving this year for Christmas. Last night I took the first small step and contacted the family I had been thinking about. This morning I got a money order and mailed the money order to the family to help with their immediate need and also shopped. Now I just need to wrap the gifts and mail them and I am done.
Where is your bell at the moment? Is it just sitting there, waiting for you to take action? Find a small step and act. Ring your bell even if it is just a quiet little tap.
Turn your thoughts about love into love by acting on them!
Let the encouraging words in these near a river posts help you
soar like an eagle above life’s storms.
Everything in life has a purpose…
How to survive what you are going through.
A great way to invest in your own well-being…
Remember– kindness solves problems peacefully.
If you enjoyed this post, remember that BJ writes children’s books.
Her encouraging children’s eagle
near a river common core reading book
is available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.
Buy BJ’s near a river encouraging eagle reading book
for a child you care about today!
View Comments (1)
Thanks B J for these very valuable encouragements! I to am a planner and rarely do I initiate actions without first planning. Your words today have stimulated me and I sure that is true for many others. Thanks for doing so.