Stage 1: Illumination — Peek
Inside Yourself
Light can be an ally or a nemesis.
Sitting at a vanity with palettes of eye shadow, blush, foundation, and
lip liner, a woman has all the tools for a successful makeover. Use the
wrong light, however, and you can easily end up looking like a clown.
One well-placed fluorescent light can illuminate the intrinsic hues in
the makeup and, more importantly, in your skin tone. The right light
helps you see the true you. Every blemish and imperfection is laid bare
beside every area of smooth complexion. After taking an inventory of
what you have to work with, the artist in you can visualize what you
want the canvas to display and work toward that
goal.
Life is a canvas on which to create and dream.
Each person is designed to be a unique work of art breathed into being
by the Master Creator. However, each person has the same purpose: to
bring glory and praise to the Creator. Art should not be hidden but
displayed for others to experience and enjoy. Have you noticed that fine
art is typically placed under a spotlight? How better to see the fine
details stroked into existence behind the central scene? What better way
to see the signature of the artist on the work, signifying his approval
of the finished product? You are a work in progress that God wants to
illuminate.
Crafted into the details of your personal
story are unique colors of life. The pastels of joy and peace, the
neutral colors of everyday activities, the vivid streaks of past pains
and trials, and the bold accents of triumph and victory. Without these
variations, each life would become a carbon copy of the one before it.
Thankfully, the Master Creator is not out of ideas on how to create
unique masterpieces out of the ups and downs of our lives — masterpieces
that once on display have the potential to convey a message to all who
see them.
As living art forms, we have the ability to
move in and out of the light. We can choose whether to be illuminated
for deeper examination by ourselves and others. Or we can choose to
remain in the shadows where we will only see in part who we were
designed to be, limiting our ability to inspire. You are the number one
observer of your life’s art, and you deserve an illuminated view. If you
look closely enough you will see the Master Creator’s signature of
approval written upon you.
Stage 2: Activation — Change Is Hard Work
and It May Involve Sweat
Living requires energy.
Every aspect of daily life requires a certain degree of energy transfer
from your physical and mental reserves. The law of energy states that
energy cannot be created or destroyed but only transferred. This law is
true physically and spiritually. Like a rechargeable battery, each night
you have the opportunity to physically plug in for seven hours of
rejuvenation. From the time you wake until you re- turn for another
fill-up, you will transfer your newly gained energy into various
activities such as carpooling, working, and
laundry.
It is just as important to recharge
spiritually. Maintaining relationships, supporting family, and uplifting
friends can zap all of last Sunday’s worship high right out of you.
Leave your spiritual battery off the hook for too long and watch how
quickly you begin to see the flashing red warning signs of eventual
shutdown. Depression, anxiety, fear, emotionaleating, ambivalence,
anger, impatience, insomnia, muscle tension, and fatigue are all
indicators of a depleted energy source.
The
emotional ties with the past that we need to cut can be painful, causing
us to resist the discomfort of change and remain in familiar areas. As
long as your life proceeds down a course of least resistance, you
require only a minimum amount of energy due to the forward momentum of
your set course. To change the course you must overcome the momentum,
the barriers that block your source of positive energy.
Mental ties are barriers separating your life into
two pools of energy. On one side is a negative pool of energy that can
cause you to see yourself as a runner-up in life. On the other side is a
positive pool of energy that can reaffirm your soul with a refreshing
bath of confidence. How do you overcome the barrier to get from the
negative pool to the positive?
Activation energy.
Activation energy is the energy that you need for a change to occur. It
is the push that causes you to gravitate toward a new way of thinking, a
new way of living. Activation energy moves you toward the promises of
God. It propels you like an arrow toward the bull’s-eye of God’s best
for your life. It sets in motion a series of events that has the
potential to transfer positive, life-giving energy back into the dying
areas of your life.
Adapted from
Set Free to Live Free, by
Saundra Dalton-Smith MD
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