Are You a Hypocritical Blogger?
Today I was talking to a friend who writes a parenting blog. My friend is an amazing parent, who I learn from all the time. On her blog, she shares wonderful insights and advice with her readers.
During our conversation, my friend told me that a few days ago, she told her child to “shut up” in a moment of anger. She was obviously disappointed in herself for descending to this level with her child. She said “I can’t blog. I can’t even do what I am teaching others to do”.
My response to her was “that’s ridiculous. Of course you can still blog. Nobody follows their own advice 100% of the time. It’s impossible”. She said “well, that’s true, even Steve Pavlina couldn’t stick to his polyphasic sleeping forever” 
I really believe what I told my friend to be true. And its not only true of bloggers, its true of everybody. Does the fact that you don’t always eat your own vegetables mean you shouldn’t tell your kids to do it? If road rage occasionally gets the best of you (guilty!), does that mean you shouldn’t teach patience? Of course not!
Nobody is perfect, and I mean nobody. I think I give a lot of good plain advice on this site (pun intended), but I hope nobody is under the impression that I follow my own advice all the time.
For example, this past weekend I was extremely lazy. I washed the laundry but let it pile up to a big wrinkly mess. It wasn’t until Sunday night that I folded it all, and the last load is still sitting in the dryer. Just exactly what I said I was done doing.
I am not always sensitive to the cultural differences between myself and my husband. Sometimes I am extremely selfish and insensitive. Just ask him. Does that mean I was wrong about the advice I have put out there for intercultural couples? Does that mean it isn’t true?
The truth is that if you had to be perfect at something to teach it, nobody could ever be a teacher. So cut yourself, and everybody else, some slack. It’s OK to mess up. It’s expected. The difference between being a hypocrite or not is in the way you live your life most of the time. It is whether or not you sincerely believe the things you teach are true. When you do break your own rules, it is caring, and wanting to do better next time.
So keep writing, my friend. And I will too.
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September 24th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Hellos miss..? Brooke I think your name is Brooke. If someone is not living their preaching they are lying, I am not asking for perfection, I am asking for you to be an example. You are teaching how to be a better person, and you should be first a better person. The Lord said “sin no more”
September 24th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Mandrake,
I disagree… just because someone is not living their own teachings perfectly does not mean they are lying… it simply means they are human. If you are preaching something without sincerity or intentions to live what you preach, then you most certainly are a hypocrite.
Thank you for your comment.
Brooke
September 25th, 2007 at 5:36 am
Thanks for the affirmation, Brooke. I certainly am not perfect, and I don’t expect any other bloggers to be perfect either. I think the real value of blogging is sharing a journey in an honest way. In that way, we can all learn from each other.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
I think it is so tempting to give up on something if we are not perfect at it. But there are so many things that are worth doing even if you have to start over and recommit a hundred times. Discouragement is a roadblock to success.
October 1st, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Maria- We do give value to each other as honestly share our experiences in life. Not only in blogging but in all our interactions with others.
Amber- Usually the things we have to work on over and over again are the most worth it in the end…