Monday, February 18, 2008

Facing the Giants

Once again, YouTube has provided me with inspiration for a blog entry. I was wondering how to approach it, as it is labelled as "Christian." I have nothing against it, however, sometimes I find that something with that label can be discounted, or not listened to.

However, as with everything I discuss, this is about perspective. The nice thing about perspective is that everyone has one and, oftentimes, perspectives vary. The whole point of a perspective is to give a person a reference point. By having a perspective, you have a place to come from. For that reason, it's important to be aware of the place that you stand in relation to your thoughts and, therefore,your life. If you discount something based on its label, you may just miss out.

With that in mind, I share this video. Interestingly, you could also label it as "for teens" or "for football fans," and also not watch it. However, with an open mind you may see something in it for yourself.

What I saw was the idea that oftentimes we don't know how far we are from where we're headed, and we get tired, or are hurting from our efforts that seem to be going no where, and we stop. We give up. Sometimes we lose sight of our goal, and it can seem so far away, or perhaps we start with no particular end in sight, so how do we even know where we're are going? Sometimes we may be able to see the end, and that is enough to have us give up. It's too much. It's too far. It's...

Sometimes it's fear of what will be at the other end. What will it mean? In the end of the clip I referenced, the teen is being asked to be a leader. If he knew that what he was doing was going to, in the end, have him stand up and take on a leadership role, would he have done it?

Whatever we do, or don't do, this life is what we've got right here, right now. You can choose whatever you want to choose. That is the beauty of it all. You can choose to stay where you are, you can choose to refrain from stepping up, you can stop anything and everything you are doing. Of course, there will be results that will come from your choices, but you still get to make the choice.

I have found that when I am aware of what I am doing, it helps me to be conscious of the choices I make, and the great thing for me about that is when I am conscious, I am a lot less likely to regret what I have done. The times that I am unconscious of my choices are the times I am likely to be unhappy with myself or the situation.

Sometimes it is difficult being conscious about everything. It is so much easier to be unconscious. It certainly feels like a lot less work. However, I can tell you that the times of being conscious of what I am saying and thinking are getting easier and easier to experience (and more and more frequent).

Just in case I make this all sound so easy, let me tell you that I wouldn't say that it was. For the record, as well, I haven't always looked at things this way, and it certainly isn't perfect now. It is something that I come to see and experience by being open to the things I have found.

I am certain your journey is just as interesting, and even more so. If you're inclined to share, I'd love to hear from you.

Have a great week!

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