Where Do You Stand and Who, Besides You, Knows About it?

I was working on a post for my Recipe and Food Blog when I ran head first into a very inspirational fish.  Not the kind you cook or the kind you eat (although Cracker Barrel’s fried catfish sounds pretty amazing right about now).  This fish was on a page of Country Bob’s Website - the Meet our CEO page.

Actually, it isn’t the fish, itself, that’s inspirational.  It’s the story behind the fish.  I’ll quote the beautiful words on the site because I certainly couldn’t do any better:

Icthus - pronounced ‘ik-thuse’ - is from the Greek for fish. During the Roman Empire, it was prohibited to talk about Jesus without being put to death. The Christians began the practice of drawing the fish symbol in the sand as a way of safely identifying one to another. The word ‘icthus’ is an anagram, with each letter denoting ‘Jesus Christ, God”s Son, Savior.’

The beautiful story, as well as the rest of the words on this special “About” page really touched my heart.  We completely take our freedom of speech for granted.  We’re totally free to say what’s on our minds and in our hearts, yet we hesitate and often hold back.  What will he think….what will she think?  Most people - at leat the ones worth caring about - respect people who give their opinions openly. 

The ones who’d get mad and write you off for feeling a certain way aren’t worth worrying about.  Who would want such a closeminded person around anyway?!  The closeminded crowd are a lot of things but fun, uplifting, encouraging, inspiring are nowhere to be found in their bio.

I guess this post is simply to encourage everyone to be themselves.  Be who you are, not an imitation of somebody else.  If you believe, with all your heart, in something or someone, don’t whisper about it - shout it out loud.

Never let anyone make you feel like you can’t be you.  Take your stand and don’t ever give an inch to or for anyone.  If you’re a proud tree hugger, hug away.  If you want to save every animal on the planet, build your proverbial ark (I’ll see you in the supplies aisle!).  If you’re a Christian, never be shy about saying so!  In that vein, I’ve placed an Icthus graphic in the sidebar.  I’d love to see fellow believers draw their fish in the sand  by downloading the image and placing it on their own blog and website.

Whether it’s your belief in God, your political beliefs, your thoughts about conservation, your views on the economy, your stance on parenting, or even your favorite American Idol ( ahem, mine won last night ), own who you are and what you believe in.

Always stand up for your beliefs and never be afraid to let anyone see you standing.  If you stand, but quickly sit down the minute someone looks your way, you’d have been better off staying in bed…. with the covers of cowardice over your head.