Okay, so I am still thinking about yesterdays post. As a writer, this is not uncommon. I obsess over every single word I type. Then, I read, re-read, and read them again until the flow of my sentence is etched into my mind...all so I can rewrite it just one more time. Once I publish a post, I always go back a few times to edit my editing, until finally, I write something else and become excessively preoccupied with it. So the thinking about the actual post isn't what has my mind captivated. It is the subject of the post that's bothering me. Okay, not so much bothering, as, it's left me wanting to say more. Me? Wanting to say more? Shocker I know. But I really wanted to touch on the 'view' aspect again.
What I left out of my 'Thanking Dreams' post was that after I watched that show, I caught another episode the next night. Again, there was a couple who wanted nothing more than a place with a fantastic view. Only this time, when they were weighing their options and drooling over the custom-tiled, walk-in shower with modern fixtures and admiring the huge floor plan, the husband said something that stuck with me. He said, "You can change a house, but you can't change the view." And they got the house with a view! Once again I was yelling at a screen to people I don't know, "YES!! I love that house! I knew that's the one you should get!" Sure they heard and accepted my congratulatory cheers. And the happy ending I wanted so desperately for the initial couple, came when it showed the new couple eating breakfast from their towering balcony while they watched the ocean sway back and forth in front of an amazing sunrise.
"You can change a house, but you can't change the view." I think this is true for people as well. We can cosmetically change our appearance, but we are still rooted in the same mindset. We can plaster on a fake smile, when in reality we don't even remember what a sincere one feels like. We can lose weight, pump up our muscles, get hair implants, breast implants, lip implants, butt implants (I really want that one), but we are really only inflating our deep fear that we are not enough. That we will never find our 'house with a view'. So we settle for what looks more appealing in the moment.
I've done that. I daydream about a nose job and chin-chisel all the time. It would be awesome to see a picture of myself I didn't absolutely hate. But it would be even better if I could look at myself, just the way I am, and love what I see. Love what God uniquely gave me. If we could look at ourselves, and instead of seeing the lust, constant desire for more, and see past our addictions, we could see the power, love, and sound minds we already posses. We accessorize ourselves with shame, fear, hurt, anger, and even misplaced love, instead of the grace of God. If we only see our faults and pain, we can't see anything else. We have to get out of our current situation in order to see what God and life have to offer. Turn away from our distractions and look for the picture window that overlooks our faults and only sees our beauty.
Don't settle for the house with closet space, go for the house with a view! Don't be content living your life just like you always have, doing the same things, saying the same words and seeing yourself through the same mirrors. Surround yourself with people who see you as the gem God created you to be. See yourself from their view...from your maker's original blueprints and not the ones you've revised to make room for all your mental and emotional junk.
4.08.2009
4.07.2009
Thanking Dreams
I was watching HGTV the other night, and a couple on the show was looking for a house with an ocean front view. The places they saw had great indoor spaces with tons of space, open floor plans, enough guest rooms, but no significant view. No breathtaking glimpse of the glorious ocean nearby. Now, they wanted a place with a view. That was their only requirement. A home for relaxation. A home where they could enjoy the sounds of waves and see the sun reflect off the shimmering water. Then, they finally saw a place with spectacular balconies, offering picturesque views of the waterfront and surrounding nature. But when they got inside they didn't see all the indoor amenities the other homes offered. Now they were second guessing their dream of outdoor luxury to consider closet space.
Ocean front access, the sounds of water dancing across the pristine beach, huge upper and lower balconies to partake in the wondrous scenery of trees swaying in the wind, or an extra room with a closet for Aunt Gerdie when she comes to visit once a year. Tough choice, eh? Well guess what they chose? The most expensive home with a bathroom for every bedroom and a kitchen with an island. They could have had a view of an actual island, but they chose counter space and toilets over their dream of a home with a view. I was outraged! I yelled at the TV, to people who couldn't appreciate the passion in my voice, "Listen to the ocean!! How can you give up the sounds of the ocean!?" But they did. The show ended with them in their new living room, sitting on the couch with some family, Aunt Gerdie no doubt, and everyone was just sitting there eating food served off their majestic island. No, not the real kind, but the kind with drawers and granite counter tops. I didn't understand how they could have given up so easily on their only dream of a house with a view.
I was stumped, pathetic I know to contemplate the choices of complete strangers who were on a TV show, but the decision really made me wonder what dreams I've quickly given up because something else seemed grand in comparison. I see the house the couple chose as just more toilets to clean and more money spent on junk to cram in all those closets. They saw it as a chance to spread their wings and their hospitality. But at the end of the day, after the guests leave and all the extra rooms are cleaned, their left with a view of the TV and the sounds of announcers, broadcasters, and actors, filling the minds of their already cluttered lives. I don't want to do that; give up one dream because I was taunted by another. I don't want to be sitting, with my new dream in hand, still wondering if my old dream is out there.
So I turned off the TV, got up, and sat down in front of my own view from the large windows in my living room. I scanned the horizon and saw birds swooping down into the trees and a plane flying across the pale Royal sky. I heard leaves rustle in the wind and felt the sun warm my skin. To have a view. This was my dream too. So why do I sit and enjoy its beauty less each day? Why do I close the shades at sunset when the lowering sun glides through my windows and illuminates the whole apartment? Because it puts a glare on the TV, that's why. What a way to enjoy my tiny dream come true. When my next dream forms, how will I thank it for coming to me? How do we thank our dreams? By enjoying them. By living them each day and not forgetting what life was like when we only had the dream, of our dream.
Ocean front access, the sounds of water dancing across the pristine beach, huge upper and lower balconies to partake in the wondrous scenery of trees swaying in the wind, or an extra room with a closet for Aunt Gerdie when she comes to visit once a year. Tough choice, eh? Well guess what they chose? The most expensive home with a bathroom for every bedroom and a kitchen with an island. They could have had a view of an actual island, but they chose counter space and toilets over their dream of a home with a view. I was outraged! I yelled at the TV, to people who couldn't appreciate the passion in my voice, "Listen to the ocean!! How can you give up the sounds of the ocean!?" But they did. The show ended with them in their new living room, sitting on the couch with some family, Aunt Gerdie no doubt, and everyone was just sitting there eating food served off their majestic island. No, not the real kind, but the kind with drawers and granite counter tops. I didn't understand how they could have given up so easily on their only dream of a house with a view.
I was stumped, pathetic I know to contemplate the choices of complete strangers who were on a TV show, but the decision really made me wonder what dreams I've quickly given up because something else seemed grand in comparison. I see the house the couple chose as just more toilets to clean and more money spent on junk to cram in all those closets. They saw it as a chance to spread their wings and their hospitality. But at the end of the day, after the guests leave and all the extra rooms are cleaned, their left with a view of the TV and the sounds of announcers, broadcasters, and actors, filling the minds of their already cluttered lives. I don't want to do that; give up one dream because I was taunted by another. I don't want to be sitting, with my new dream in hand, still wondering if my old dream is out there.
So I turned off the TV, got up, and sat down in front of my own view from the large windows in my living room. I scanned the horizon and saw birds swooping down into the trees and a plane flying across the pale Royal sky. I heard leaves rustle in the wind and felt the sun warm my skin. To have a view. This was my dream too. So why do I sit and enjoy its beauty less each day? Why do I close the shades at sunset when the lowering sun glides through my windows and illuminates the whole apartment? Because it puts a glare on the TV, that's why. What a way to enjoy my tiny dream come true. When my next dream forms, how will I thank it for coming to me? How do we thank our dreams? By enjoying them. By living them each day and not forgetting what life was like when we only had the dream, of our dream.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
