What is your conviction?

I was recently at a gathering of open-minded folk that was organized by Chris Guilabeau called the World Domination Summit. If you have not heard about this gathering of people who want to change the world for the better…you are missing out. At some point during the weekend I heard someone from the stage say, “What’s your conviction?”

What an intriguing question!
What is CONVICTION?
To be convicted of something is to have EVIDENCE that the something is TRUE.
In the case of a convict, they have been convicted of something that is against the law of the land. Sometimes the law of the land does not make sense, like having separate entrances for coloreds and whites. We saw how ridiculous this looked in the movie The Help, when one of the white women instituted residential “colored only” bathrooms. This piece, however, is not about those kinds of convictions.

I am referring to convictions of belief, convictions of spirit and moral convictions.

At this stage of my life, what is my conviction?
Well, I have many. I have strong convictions that children should NOT be beaten!
I have strong convictions that any form of domestic violence is unacceptable.
I think that men and women deserve equal pay for the same work.
Like I said…I have many convictions.

Why are convictions necessary?
Why should you have strong convictions about the issues that are dear to you?

Have you ever seen the TV show with John Quinones called What Would You Do? That is a show about convictions. Some people speak right up when they see an injustice, like someone stealing from the blind or a child being mistreated. Others just observe. The observers are not bad people, not at all. Their conviction about staying out of other people’s business is just stronger than their conviction to get involved.

What do you feel strongly about?
What would you go out of your way to fix?
Who would you stand up to?
What causes get you heated enough to say something out loud?

These are not unnecessary questions.
These questions determine HOW we show up in the world.
It is not enough to do lip service to something that you hold dear…you must back your words with strong convictions to take necessary actions.
Martin Luther King, Jr. took action.
Mahatma Gandhi took action.
Every time someone stands up to a bully, they take action.
Every time an abused woman leaves her abuser, she takes action.

We do not have to have celebrity status to take a stand or to follow through with our convictions. We just have to believe!

What do you believe?
How will you show the world what your convictions are?
One of my strongest convictions is that women should NOT be abused. That is why I do this work.

What work will you do to take a stand for your beliefs?

Love and light,
Indrani