I once thought I had a friend. That friend turned out to be not a friend at all, but someone I didn’t really know, just thought I did. I found this out through that person’s actions towards one of the horses I raised from a baby.

 

I saw hunger in that horse’s eyes when I brought him home from that person’s care. Not just a “hungry for the next meal” look, but the look of starvation.  I spent two days crying after I brought him home. It’s been five days now, and he is on the road to recovery. He is starting to perk up when he sees me, but I still get tears in my eyes when I think about what he must have endured.

 

A person can have all of the knowledge in the world, and be the smartest person in the world, but unless that person has compassion and really cares about what happens to others, I will not listen to anything he/she has to say. In other words,  if you are abusive, nothing you say means anything to me. I think this is the way most people are. We want to know that the people we associate with care. My horses are my children, and I love them dearly. Starve them and you starve me.

 

So here is my message to anyone who feels that what they say takes precedence over what they do:

 

I don’t need your knowledge. Knowledge comes and goes, and what one person knows, another will know. Therefore, I can choose my sources for things I need or want to know. Don’t expect me to forget your actions and listen to your words. Don’t try to talk to me about “important things” when you’ve just committed an act of extreme callousness and cruelty. In fact, don’t talk to me at all. When you can prove that you have grown a heart and care, then I might begin to listen. But I will always remember your actions with every word you speak. And actions speak much louder than words.

 

Barb