A Kick in our Life: How our life metaphors define us

Life Lessons for Daily Living No.5

       One of  the most interesting gift God has bestowed each one of us whatever race we belong, is the beauty of life. How one defines  and perceives  his life, is really a matter of  perspective. Our lenses  with life  will determine  how  we invest  our time, how we spend our money, how we use our talents, how we value our relationships  with family and friends.

       It is indeed  interesting  to know and comprehend  how  others  see their life. There might be varied  points of  view as to how one defines his  life. One might perceive it as a roller coaster ride, a circus, a puzzle, a dance, a song, a symphony and most of  all  a journey. As Rick Warren, the famous author of  the Purpose Driven Life, simply puts it, the way  you see your life shapes your life. Life has concretely been exemplified  through his concept of  “ life metaphors “.

       From a psychological framework, each one of  us has an image of  the kind of  life we dreamt of having and the kind of  life  we  live now. How we picture our  life, how we personally define and puts meaning to our life is the kind of  image  which  tend  to “ shape” us.

       Looking at  my life  in this stand point, made me realize now, that  I have gone so far to how I have defined and perceived  my “own”  life  metaphor. As a young child, I was so innocent, I just live  life as it comes, without a view what would happen tomorrow  or  the next day or  the next  year. The new year usually brings me good memories as to the opportune  time to make my resolution for the  year  to come, which our  culture  has molded  us. This has “ shaped “ me as I traverse my adolescence, and now my adulthood years  as a person as well as a professional.

       Reflecting  how  life had been, how life  would be in the future, is  usually the main ingredients of  our new year  resolution. Contemplating the mistakes, the missed opportunities, the treasured  relationships, the new friendships, the new people which had become a part of  your life. Our family relationships and significant moments  which either positively  or negatively test  our  view of  life and how “ deeply”  grounded are we as to our values.

       Life can be considered as a test. A lot of  tests for that matter. With the ebbs and flows of  life, sometimes you wonder, is this really the kind of  life that you want? With the varied shapes and forms, you will end up evaluating, what has life offered  you this past year. Has life really been so good, so smooth, fun, loving and full of positive memories, or  life has been on the opposite stance, quite tough, a bit painful, a bit exciting and a bit thrilling?

       Whatever the answer will depend on how you personally perceive  it to be. You are and will always be the one entitled  to your own “ definition “ of  life. Life is a season, varied seasons. Life can be exemplified through the  four seasons of the year - spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Sometimes, you will be caught unaware that you are headed for a “winter”, but that is perhaps  God’s  way of  shaping your character. One significant season happened to me just recently, which I basically  considered  an ”autumn”. It made me realize, that my comfort zone  might just be crushed in a matter of seconds, minute and a matter of  day

Slowly, I began to back off, and to contemplate, that indeed  life  has its way of  testing me. Being so cool and comfortable for quite some time as well as relax for so many years, without me realizing that, I might be caught in a cycle wherein  it will really test  my values, my priorities and my goals in life. It was an instance which pave the way for me to assess  what really matters  most, what makes me happy and contented in life.

          How I perceive  my life presently  so far,  is in one way or another had been  shaped  by my  love for the material- the essential which I perceive to be the most significant. Which our  highly  technological  world  had  tried  to inculcate in us consciously and unconsciously – our materialistic tendencies. But, indeed God has a way of  pruning us, in times that we have not thought of. Sometimes, being human we tend to define and put everything in a “ box”  that  we have  a control of, but still there is an omnipotent God who is the author of  everything, even our  duration on earth. Who basically knows  better  than us, more than our minds  can comprehend.

       The way I think and the way I perceive  my life  has change due to a lot of  circumstances. The significant moments, which happened to me in a year-round, all added to how I perceive my life and the essence of my existence  as a human being and as a Christian. Life is fun, full of fun for a moment, life is also full of love in varied  shapes and forms  but life is also full of tests  every seconds, every minute.

        God does see everything, our word or deed, or even just a thought. He constantly  gives us the opportunity to prove our  worth to Him. Sometimes, we fail to realize that every moment that we are engage in, every person or people that we come in contact with are His means for  us  to prove to Him that we are truly His children. We are His “ channel “ of  blessings to others  even to strangers, more  so to  our  own families, relatives, friends  as well as our constituents.

       Another significant life metaphor  anchored on Rick Warren’s  Purpose Driven Life is  that “ life on earth is a trust “. I would  like to quote his exact words “ our time on earth, our energy, our talents, our intelligence, our opportunities, our relationships, and all the resources “  that  we  have  are all gifts from  God  which He entrusted to us.

      In essence, whatever  we do with all these gifts  is  up to our own making and accountability  with the  kind of  life  that we have. Indeed, everything that we have, the riches on earth which we enjoy- the fruits of  our labor which  has  slowly become  our  “comfort zones”,  the friends so dear to us who had been a part of  us for so many years, our family who continuously accepts and loves us as we are, our  work, our community, our  religious affiliations, our  active involvement in whatever  cause  or organizations we are passionate about, even our love for learning  are all part of  God’s  plan in our  life.

       It is true  that  we really  “ do not”  own   anything during our  brief stay on earth, but rather  everything  that   we have  is part of  Gods’ ownership. We are  only stewards  of  whatever is entrusted  to us. From time to time we need to be reminded that everything is just momentary and that life is just a cycle. On a final note, as the old  adage  simply puts  it, “ life  is  what  you make it  ”  anchored on His omnipotent  grace  and love.