Today I watched this little boy run around and around the bookshelf at the local coffee house, laughing and thrilled to just be free…Honestly, it was hilarious and one of the cutest things I’ve seen in a long while.
Somewhere along the lines we become bridled and settle for something less than the freedom we were created to run in. I giggled at the thought of myself jumping up, laughing hysterically and running around the bookshelf… and I silently envied the innocence.
Certainly maturity dictates a difference in behavior, but so also does the imposition of social expectations. I’m not necessarily advocating running about like a madman, I just appreciated the expression and being a pastor I see the spiritual parallel through this uninhibited little boy.
We’ve been provided a “freedom” that came at a great price, yet so many of us often sit back sipping our coffee, typing on our computers, watching the rest of the world function around us, while conforming to our own perceptions and restricted by some unspoken expectation.
We were created to run and laugh yet along the lines have settled for something resembling less than this level of freedom…and at what cost? As I’m evaluating “me” today I’m questioning how true I’m being to myself and how much of who I am is manipulated by the opinions of others. (I can honestly say, that ratio is much more in my favor than it used to be but still has some room for growth).
God created you to be a unique individual. Some aren’t going understand why you don’t conform to their expectation and you need to be okay with that. If you feel like a square peg maybe it’s just time reevaluate your perception and realize that maybe you bring something to the whole that would not be there if you were not and that is very valuable!
God created you to be the individual you are…I guess you can watch others run and envy their freedom or you can be free to run yourself…Ultimately you choose, right…?