Looking Underneath It All

As we face the last few days of the year, we tend to think about what has been, what we want and what we are looking forward to for the next year. It’s like shining a light behind the scenes and reviewing the hidden portions of our lives. Some of what we see may be exciting, or sad, confusing, or maybe even something that we would rather not remember. Taking an inventory of your life and your world takes guts. It means facing up to who you REALLY are and what you want to become.

This shot shows the back lit leaf of a large succulent. I saw it at night, and the back lighting effect reminded me of all the things that go on behind reality to make it all work. The colors, the veins, the textures. They all work together to make the big picture. In this case it wasn’t until I saw the plant at night and highlighted from behind that I could truly see what was going on. If not for the different light I would have walked by this one and simply have seen the same old plant as before.

Sometimes we need to change our perspective or see our world through a different lens in order to truly understand what’s going on. We get busy and scheduled and programmed, and forget that amongst all those activities and ‘things’ we are simply trying to become a better version of ourselves. The day to day world we have created keeps things going yet all too often allows us to forget that what really matters is who you are when no one is looking.

So who are you when the light shines from behind? What do people see when they pass you in the hall? Do they experience the character you want or simply the to do items you accomplish. Accomplishment is a wonderful thing, yet it does not define our character. What we do needs to be an outpouring from who we are. How we choose to use our time and energy needs to show what we value most in this life, not just that we can get things done in an effective manner. Lots of people can do that. It’s the joy we bring and the values we live by that makes a task something more than just an item to cross off on our to do list.