You Create Yourself...and So Do I

I find myself fixated upon drawn to a message of empowerment this week, probably motivated by personal need. It seems one of my favorite purposes for this blog is reminding myself of things I already know but haven't been putting into practice (or at least, shoving them from the back to the front of my mind).

I have a nasty habit when I'm busy or preoccupied of going on automatic pilot and running myself right out of gas. What's worse, I never seem to notice the problem until I'm on dead empty...or maybe a little beyond. The signs are always the same: low energy, pesky little health issues, loss of enthusiasm, spiritual lethargy, and a kind of overeating but undernourishing that fails to satisfy. I'm sorry to say that I generally don't slow down and stop for a refill until I literally have no other choice. (Being still has never been my strong suit.) And being stuck is a poor substitute.

For most of us, being stuck is a failure of imagination...and staying stuck is offering that failure a chair. "Come on in and sit a spell," our passive selves beckon...and not because we're feeling hospitable, but because we aren't feeling much of anything at all. Since lack of feeling is death to imagination, the problem winds up holding the cure hostage, with the end result being the very inertia of which I'm speaking.

The good news is that the deadlock is self-imposed, which means we have the power to break it. When our level of dysfunction/disengagement becomes intolerable (or long before, if we have any sense), we can do what I've been doing this week: remember that we have the power to create in ourselves all the joy, fulfillment, and possibility we are willing to embrace. How? By actively engaging with and taking ownership of our lives...mindfully choosing every line, shape, and color therein.

The power is ours, God-given. We create ourselves moment by moment, actively or passively, for good or for ill. In every way imaginable and by divine intent, we are the artists of our own lives, but we must pick up the brush, pen, mallet, or chisel before we can draw, write, pound, or sculpt our way to the happiness we are seeking. It's all on us, and where much is given, much is expected.

Thankfully, art is Art, and God is in it. No matter what materials we are handed...whether our hearts feel like fresh canvas, scrapped paper, or cracked stone...our creative spirits still have what it takes to mark ourselves with beauty and grace.

Of course, we do need to remember from Whom that grace flows.

=)

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