You See Yourself By What You Are, and From Where You Are

You see yourself by what you are, and from where you are. You are who you are by how you think and see. It’s really that simple. We often say something like, “Well, that’s just who I am.” Right. Put it into perspective like this:

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.”
~Henry Ford

The Apostle Paul put it into a different perspective from maybe those who negatively thought the impossible.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 NKJV

Why The Difficulty?

It’s difficult seeing things hiding in plain view when you have no background of experiences to help you comprehend. Have you ever looked into crystal globes and seen yourself upside down? That’s not the same as looking at yourself in a mirror, right?

We have self-fulfilling ideas of how we are, our success, and the outcome. We limit ourselves by our outlook on life.

Remember those fancy posters back in the last century. If you stared at the image long enough, another figure, hiding in the pixels, reveals itself as you let your eyes glaze over. Presto bingo! It’s there!

Not everyone could see what others could see. Something was lacking in their technique, or their brain was not wired to see what everyone else could eventually see.

Remember that dress image that went around in this century? One person said it was one color, and someone else said it was another color. There was no middle ground. It’s seeing it one way or the other.

There may be some physiological reason why the difficulty exists, but I suspect it’s often because of who we are, and how we see the world around us.

Complexity

We are a very complex individuals and it’s often difficult to comprehend the “real you.”

There are many biological reasons this may be the case. But I also believe there are internal reasons why you lean one way or another. What you see is what you get. See negativity, and everything coming back at you will be negative. The same works with conspiracies, politics, crime, or anything else you focus on.

You see what you are. You get what you see.

To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
~Abraham Maslow

That says a lot about how we solve problems or address life’s quirks if you think about it. We only come at a solution from one angle. We struggle to see all angles. I’ve taught for decades there are 40 sides to every story, when, in fact, there are many more than that.

Give someone a blank canvas. Allow them to choose from whatever paints, pencils, or markers they want. Someone will produce a magnificent production. Me? I’m no artist. I like blank walls!

Can you move forward? Perhaps.

Draw A Line

Think of a place you will not go or a set of actions you refuse to get involved in – that’s your boundary. A fence, or even a container. Maybe it’s almost invisible, but it’s your reality to you. With this line drawn in the sand, suddenly, you are in a new camp of existence. Your world is limited. Everyone else is going their merry way without you. Perhaps you’re happy with it because you don’t want to change. Or grow. It shouldn’t matter. But it does.

Imagine 100 years ago when many refused to leave their horse and buggy behind as we move to a new transportation model that includes fewer combustion engines! Or refuse to get a new fangled communicating device. Life can hardly be lived without an email address in this modern world!

We are facing challenges every day. As we try to move the world forward, many want to stay where they are. Stay where you are, and you become outdated, stale, and immaterial to the modern world. What you’ve always enjoyed is not valid, safe, or acceptable in the new world. It’s meaningful to you, but not anyone else.

Lines and boundaries are necessary. But imagine a shopping experience of 100 years ago. Is it anything like what we are used to today? No. Have we adapted? On many fronts, we’ve been forced to change!

At times our boundaries are no longer valid. At other times they change too late. Sometimes, they should never have changed!

Pot Calling The Kettle Black

I am thinking of a conversation from several weeks ago about setting expectations and boundaries. Someone thought I should look at the world a little differently. At the same time, they were refusing to make adjustments in their world. Kettle? Pot? Meet black!

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, right? Not so quick. It depends. Really? Is everything we see situational? Do we narrow down the specs to minute detail before deciding what we can or cannot do?

Our world is legislated by laws. Some are voted on, and others are thrust upon us. We may try to force certain results, but until the inside of people changes and lines up to the outside desired effect, we will never get to where we think we want to be.

The edges are affected, but the middle changes very little.

Here’s what I’m looking for, and thus I’ll probably find it – a core that changes very little, or not at all. That center ballbearing barely reacts to the pressure. The Apostle Paul understood this in his day and time, but his words speak loudly to my spirit today.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed;
we are perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed—
2 Corinthians 4:7-9 NKJV

Technological marvels and scientific breakthroughs will always move us one way or the other. But the core of who I am, what I believe, and how I choose to live? That’s not changing.

We come to our view of the world by who and what we are. Values. Culture. Heritage. Genetics. Generational times. Wealth, poverty, or somewhere in between. Our education has not been equal to everyone around us.

How do we see the world? By what and who we are! We are affected by what we sense, feel, and how our emotions move us this way and that way. Our diversity of life sets up our foundation for seeing everything around us.

Grow up in a limited environment, then all you can see is the boundary that never changes. You may feel the force of change sweeping through your life, but you are unchanged. Peek over the mountains, around the bend of the river, or get exposed to something new and spectacular? Suddenly, the world opens up. Broader than you ever thought. Magical!

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
~Arthur C Clarke

Just Thinking It Through

Why am I on this bent of thought? Life is making major shifts around us. People are getting sucked into the quagmire without realizing where they are being led. We are afraid of standing up to the “cancel culture” that is getting louder by the minute.

We don’t know what to do. Thus we turtle into our corner of the world and emphasize our uniqueness.

Life is changing, and the weirder the options the more easily some want it to be accepted and celebrated. Must I change? No. Will the pendulum swing back to normal? Perhaps. I don’t think we’ve seen the end of how far culture is willing to go. You either change, they say. Or else? Who knows. I think I know, but I’m not saying what just yet.

Someone asked me a few years ago, “What if we put all Christians into some boundary-locked states? That’s their world and they can do what they want.” Whoa! Would you even think that if we were talking about any of the ethnic-cultural diversity of life today? What if you replace the word “Christian” with ___________ [you fill in the blank]?

Yet, we are drawing similar lines from all sorts of places of life. The “Alamo” line in the sand scene comes to mind.