“I have not wanted syllables where actions have spoken so plainly,” Jane Austen writes in Sense and Sensibility. I’ve been referring back to this quote for some time now, and each remembrance brings with it a tremendous sense of peace.
We’ve all heard it before, and we all know it to be true: actions really do speak louder than words. This is one of those things which I instinctively know, understand, and believe in, and yet I so often find myself forgetting it.
For whatever reason, it is incredibly easy for us to be strung along by the image of what a situation could look like, or what it used to look like, and, in doing so, lose sight of what it actually looks like. Often times, we’ll even entirely avoid listening to what someone’s actions are telling us if that behaviour doesn’t quite align with the story we have in place. We’ll hold onto that story so tightly, in fact, that we’ll forget that it’s just a story.
What I love about Austen’s quote is that it makes it all so clear. Why, indeed, would we even think to bother with the elaborate stories we’ve created when a person’s actions can very plainly tell us all that we need to know?
Jana Marie is a Croatian-born writer living amidst the restorative embrace of the Canadian Prairies.
Through her writing, she examines the interplay between self and society as she works to both illuminate and explore the power of contemplative thinking. Her recently completed two-year project, 100 Mindful Days, which combines teachings from the worlds of personal development, self-care, and wellness, will soon be her first book.
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