Day dreaming is pretty fascinating. We often think of a future that could be amazing or a past that could have been better. We relive moments that inspired us or bring us back to a memory that we would love to preserve forever. I am sure you are thinking of one now! It is much more difficult to live in the moment we are in now and then be present enough make the most of it. We all have break throughs of brilliance where we achieve, but for many of us we do not stay there long.
I recently heard a radio article about a performance artist who spent years taking on the persona of an upper class business woman. She would go to the right restaurants, meet the right people and dress in the appropriate clothing. She could fool her pretend world by just assuming the role in front of her and mimicking her unsuspecting mentors. She would later take on the role of a tattoo artist. She would even go as far as tattooing people herself, one person interviewed claimed to have gotten a tattoo in childish script that read “rock and roll”.
Of course for the artist she was living her art. She was conquering her moment and taking on the day. For myself I can get caught in between a day dream of what life could be and trying to be someone else. We are told what a healthy Christian life looks like, one who contributes to society and fits a perfect mould. We take most advice as gospel, assuming that we need to be coached on how to be ourselves. I was told about a preacher who claimed that skateboards and tattoos would hold you back from God. I hope no one with tattoos or a skateboard realize that they need Jesus in their lives, because they will be out of luck.
The point is this, day dreaming is cool if it pushes you further in life than you have ever gone before. But make sure that you are being yourself going forward. Be who God created you to be. Your interests, obsessions, likes, dislikes and ideas are part of who you are. They make you unique and awesome. Consider your past, it has formed you into who you are so that you can be a better person tomorrow. I have spent many years trying to write my past off as a useless ball of teenage angst. The problem is, years after leaving my punk rock world… I still love the stuff. I still like wearing doc Martens, black t shirts, drumming as loud and fast as possible and now teaching my kids the classics of my world. Embrace the past, future and present and when they meet you will find that you have more great conversations with people that all need to find hope in Jesus and friendship in you. People that you would not meet if you did not have a past.
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