When We Forget Who We Really Are
At the height of summer in Virginia, we had a 97F scorcher yesterday! The humidity was brutal! At home, Sunday is our chill-out day as a family. We stop everything we're doing and spend the day together with no agenda. Typically, I go to Church and then we have lunch, and in the afternoon we just chill. We have learned as a family that it gives us physical and emotional margin, it provides a breather, and a safe space to relax before the week starts.
You might be wondering why we're not at the Mall grabbing all the Summer Sales, or throwing in some loads of laundry, or at least buying groceries! I know but, we try to stay home and rest!
Yesterday was no exception. After Church, we splashed in the pool. Then after lunch, we all took one of those summer naps you cannot remember what year it is when you wake up! Later In the afternoon, we ended up going to the movies to watch The Lion King. -I gotta tell you if you've never watched it, you should go! -It's awesome! The animated characters, the music, the story, and the whole set is spectacular! You'll love it. I'm not going to spoil the movie for you.
After little Simba, through a series of unfortunate events, gets kicked out of the pride land because of a lie his uncle tells him about himself; Simba, knows no better than to believe this lie about himself, and so he chooses to grow up among other animals away from his family.
But because it seems like destiny already has our number, one day this baboon shows up to where Simba is living, and he tells him he's going to show him where his Dad is. So Simba follows him expectantly to the still waters, and the monkey tells him to look at his reflection. Then asks if he can see his Dad. Simba says no. But the second time he looks, he does see his Dad reflected on the water. The baboon tells him that his Dad lives inside of him, and then goes on to remind Simba, of who he is and what his purpose is. I loved this part!
I felt a direct connection with the movie and what sometimes happens to us in real life. When we're confused about who we are or distracted, we might miss our purpose. When we don't rest and take time to check in with ourselves, we could waste time doing other things that are not what our real purpose is. They might be good things, but they are not the important goals we should be pursuing.
I love how Simba is reminded, of who he is and what his purpose is.
-Do you have people like that in your life? I hope you do. But if you don't, you can remind yourself. We know what we want to do in life. It's always been our dream! We just have to remember who we are again!
Unfortunately, Simba had believed this lie his uncle told him. Sometimes we believe a lie about ourselves too. We feel unqualified for the task, undereducated for the position, and too young, or too old for the challenge. Having a good understanding of who we are and what our strengths are, help us uncover what our purpose might be and what we're passionate about in life. We all have something we need to do. Our life is unique, so if we don't do it, it probably will remain undone, untaught, unwritten, unsung, unbuilt, undiscovered or unspoken.
Try not to miss the movie! But most crucial, don't miss your destiny! Don't settle where you are, due to something that happened in the past. You can still move forward into your future with confidence. Knowing who you are and what you're about. For that, we need rest, though. We create calm and a sense of perspective. We cannot heal in chaos. We don't get to fulfill our destiny if our life is so busy and so loud we forget who we are and where we're going.
The next time Sundays rolls around, or on your next day off, make an appointment with yourself to relax, to rest. Rest restores you. Most importantly, it will give you direction to what your next step should be. When we don't have any margin in our week, we are exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally. That's a shame to live like that.
We are living in the good old days with all the home appliances and modern comforts; our grandparents could only dream of, but we're twice as busy! How is that even possible? We've crammed every single minute of our weeks into activities and productivity; and the lack of focus has undermined our results.
What we believe is progress and productivity comes at a very high price: Our relationships and our sense of purpose are in jeopardy.
-Aren't our families or those we love, worth a day off to share and catch up with them? Isn't our purpose essential enough to cut out time to think, be at peace and meditate upon our life? I hope you think so too. Or if not, maybe you'll at least consider it.
It's a good thing to remember who we really are. I think it will give us a brand new perspective on our life!
Maria A. Mansfield
Author: "Life is Worth Getting Better"
