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| Using my passion....before I even knew I had a passion. Who knew?! |
"What does it mean to live a vibrant and bold life? How can I use my gifts? How can I influence other people's lives with these abilities I've been given?",this is the question that has phased me through a majority of my freshman year as a college student. In order to work through the chaos and endless questions I had regarding the destiny of my life and the lives of my friends, I thought of an analogy that could perhaps help me understand God's plan for our lives a little better. I like to think of life as being a giant art show,and God being our head critique. I want to live life in such a way that one day when I go home to be with the Lord he says, "that painting is beautiful, thank you so much".
Whenever we were old enough to understand the world and our place inside of it, it is as though God gave us a giant canvas along with some paint and said "what are you going to paint for me?". Many of us will find ourselves at times looking at the canvas with a blank stare on our faces and waiting for somebody else to do the painting for us. We start to leave it up to our parents or other people to help us create a beautiful life painting. But, we find ourselves frustrated when it remains blank or it becomes a design that we did not choose for ourselves or create on our own. We glance at the paintings that our peers are composing and we think, "why does everybody else's painting look so good and original?". This is a moment that I have faced at some points in the last few years. But, the truth of the matter is that everybody has the same paints available to them and a clean canvas. It is only up to us to create a magnificent masterpiece for the Lord. There comes a time when we must pick up the paint brush we have been given, grab our paint pallet, and take a step forward by beginning our life artwork.
Many will choose to play it safe and use very neutral colors on their canvas. People will live a simple life. Others will create a painting that is full of curls, zig-zags, and neon colors. Bold and full of genuine mistakes and victories. They will live an endlessly adventurous and crazy life. All of these are beautiful paintings, but some are more bold than others. The neutral colors are definitely easy on the eyes, but shouldn't we all strive to be VIBRANT? In my opinion, we were not meant to live lives that played it safe. We are supposed to be honest and fearless,right? I want to live boldly! Don't you?
Recently I finished reading a book called "Flow"by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (What a name,right?). Mahaly is a positive Psychologist who looked deeper into the benefits of following your passions. He describes flow as being a state in which we are doing something that we are passionate about and can effortlessly excel in it. This book coincided a lot with my thoughts about living a more bold life for the Lord. I think many can agree that in college we learn what it is we want to do with our lives and the gifts that we have been given. We gain direction on what our inspiration will be for our painting. But perhaps by following our TRUE passions, we will be able to create a more colorful piece of art. Although settling for a safe career path or partner can still be beautiful, it will never be as vibrant as a life of taking a chance on the world and the love that comes our way. So, what are your passions? How will you use them for the Lord? And are you going to use neutral or BOLD colors?
Let's paint together.
love,
Jordan leigh