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One of my best friends is somewhat of a film critic. He is awesome and has an amazing knowledge of films both new and old. He has seen movies that few people have ever watched, for example the original Beauty and the Beast, which is in French and was made in the forties or somewhere around then. Well a while ago he was reading a book that was talking about the degradation of film quality. The point it was making was that too many films of the time were simply made to make a film, without anything real to say, without breaking any new ground. The book was at least twenty years old… My friend was pointing to me the fact that too often today do we celebrate mediocrity. We celebrate being average…..

I can’t get over how awesome this quote is. I used it several days ago and I just couldn’t get it out of my mind.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. – Maryanne Williamson

There is nothing special about being average. I mean I’m guilty of this too. I used to want nothing more than to get married, have 3.5 little Rusty’s running around, a dog, and a nice house in the suburbs… Now I’m not saying that there is anything inherently wrong with wanting those things. But we forget to ask ourselves one little question… WHY? Why do you want to get married? Because that’s just how things go? I mean for the longest time I was just trying to find a girl to date that I could marry simply because that’s just how things are supposed to happen. But now I’m realizing that I may not get married. I’m really hoping that I do, but I may not… that’s life and God will get me through it. On the other hand if I do get married it has to be for the right reasons, I will know why. Do you want to have kids? This is a tough one. Again, is it just something you want to do because everyone’s SUPPOSED to do it? I’m just sayin that maybe the reason that divorce happens so often is because no one asks why before getting into that kind of relationship. Bad things happen when we lose sight of why we’re doing what we’re doing.

Then that brings up another point. God has created us to live supernatural lives. We are supposed to change the world by spreading the love that He has shown us. We aren’t living up to what we were created to do. I mean so many of us stop following our dreams and settle for “realistic jobs” or “security.” But that just seems so wrong as to what God would have us do. I mean just look at all of the champions of faith, both in the bible and in history since. Abraham, Moses, Noah, Paul, Peter, Timothy, Luther, Kempis, Spurgeon… So on and so forth. These people lead amazing lives for God. They didn’t seek after the average “security” that comes with wealth. They gave everything they had to God. They sacrificed it all, putting everything in God’s Holy Hands. How many adventurers do you know of that “played it safe”? You have to take chances and have faith that God will provide for you.

Now is as good a time as any for us to step out of traffic, out of the crowd, to stop being just a face in the crowd. Let us stop celebrating mediocrity and start living our dreams. There is an awesome quote that I love from U2’s Bono.

The only limitations are the limits of our imaginations. Dream up the world you want to live in. Dream out loud at high volume.

So take a look at your goals, your aspirations. Where are you headed? Are you excited about it? If not, what can you do about it? But I know that there are some people that have no idea what they are supposed to do in life. Especially when you get around to college. Everyone begins asking you all of these questions about what your studying, what degree you’re getting, what you want to do with that degree. If you don’t know, the pressure can be pretty intense. But let me tell you this. You know what you are supposed to do whatever stage of life you are in. You are supposed to live your entire life after God, love uncontrollably, and trust Him to figure out the rest. So no worries. Reach for the stars. Dream of the possibilities. Allow God to take you on the adventure of a lifetime.

Just Sayins All…

Rusty