Have you ever driven along a highway and there's a wall of fog across the road ahead of you? What happens when you hit that wall that reflects your headlights back to you and obscures everything beyond it's edge? Is there a feeling of impact? Is there a crumple of car echoing through the murk? Does the vehicle stop or even slow down upon contact? Or is there nothing impeding your forward momentum?
Or do you, the driver, take your foot off the accelerator because you are temporarily blinded by the fog?
There are sometimes moments in life when something can impede forward progress in much the same way as that wall of fog. There are days when we believe what others think about us - how they judge our actions and responses - are in essence the real "me."
I grew up the "outsider" kid in school. No one would talk with me. No one would play with me at recess. No one would eat at the same table with me, unless they were forced to by a teacher who felt sorry for me. When that happened, piles of books and bags would separate me from them, a clear indication they were not really with me. I was rejected. I was something no one wants to be near. I was alone and unloved.
It has taken another two decades to undo what the first twenty years of my life ingrained into my thinking. I realize now that I am loved, that I am someone of great value. Those who do not see it, do not see the true value that I carry within me. I also know that NO voice in this world has the right to counter the Love I receive from my Creator.
God does not make anything worthless, no matter what this world may say. In fact, that which this world values - money, power, prestige and popularity - is of little real value.
With God at my side, I am never alone.
Or do you, the driver, take your foot off the accelerator because you are temporarily blinded by the fog?
There are sometimes moments in life when something can impede forward progress in much the same way as that wall of fog. There are days when we believe what others think about us - how they judge our actions and responses - are in essence the real "me."
I grew up the "outsider" kid in school. No one would talk with me. No one would play with me at recess. No one would eat at the same table with me, unless they were forced to by a teacher who felt sorry for me. When that happened, piles of books and bags would separate me from them, a clear indication they were not really with me. I was rejected. I was something no one wants to be near. I was alone and unloved.
It has taken another two decades to undo what the first twenty years of my life ingrained into my thinking. I realize now that I am loved, that I am someone of great value. Those who do not see it, do not see the true value that I carry within me. I also know that NO voice in this world has the right to counter the Love I receive from my Creator.
God does not make anything worthless, no matter what this world may say. In fact, that which this world values - money, power, prestige and popularity - is of little real value.
With God at my side, I am never alone.
I will admit, though, there are still times when that very valuable lesson gets lost in the fog. There are times when people tell me I am worthless. Someone recently took a poll of his friends to convince me that his assessment of my worthlessness was accurate. Why would I take his words over another? Do I value the words of those who belittle my worth over the words of the One who made me and knows truly what I am?
There are days when I hit that fog and take my foot off the accelerator. I stare with eyes that cannot penetrate the fog. I give substance to that fog when I believe the words of another, even when they are not true.
Elanor Roosevelt once stated, very wisely, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Yet, I can still let myself be convinced that I am worthless from time-to-time. :(
I buy back into the "you are valueless, unwanted and unloved" messages again. I walk into the fog and stop dead on my own. The fog has no power to stop me. It's completely insubstantial. It brings moisture, such as tears to my eyes, but one can walk through it without a scratch. It only stopped me because I allowed it to stop me. I gave the condescending opinions of others the POWER to stop me.
Often we believe that there are only two choices: (1) We either accept the words - acknowledging that we are worthless or (2) we fight them, deny them, argue against them. In either case, we have given power to the lie, making it real and giving it some control over our lives and how we see ourselves. To accept is to make it real to us. To fight it... is ALSO to make it real to us. For would we fight something that is not really there? There is a third choice.
To ignore it completely.
There is a great scene repeated a few times in the Naruto series. One character is a swaggering person of great skill but also great ego. There are times when this character tries to show how much greater he is than another, who is also known for great skill. He will swagger and boast and even try to bait the other into a competition to disprove the words. Then the other will turn to him and ask, "Did you just say something?" This takes the wind out of the other's sails like no amount of boasting or counter-attack. It rendered it completely insubstantial ~ like the fog.
Because I gave it, I can take that power to belittle me away again. I can walk through the fog and realize that the taunting words of others that are meant to cripple me... have no power over me at all.
The next time someone tries to make of me less than I am,
I hope I see the fog for what it truly is
And walk through it without a scratch.
- ESA
Because I gave it, I can take that power to belittle me away again. I can walk through the fog and realize that the taunting words of others that are meant to cripple me... have no power over me at all.
The next time someone tries to make of me less than I am,
I hope I see the fog for what it truly is
And walk through it without a scratch.
- ESA
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