Picture Yourself

I can recall one morning when I woke up and it dawned on me that my driver’s license was about to expire the next week.  As I looked at my calendar, I realized it was going to be best for me to go in and renew it that day.  Initially, I got frustrated with myself because two months prior I had received a renewal form in the mail that would have allowed me to expedite the process by renewing my license either online or through the mail rather than waiting in the dreaded line at the driver’s license bureau.  But, the more I thought about it, I realized I wouldn’t have renewed it online or through the mail anyway because that would’ve meant I’d have to live with the same picture on my driver’s license for another four years.  (Not that my picture was bad or anything. I just wanted a new one.)  So with that in mind, I began to do what just about any woman would do… I started looking for the perfect driver’s license photo outfit!

It needed to be something not too dressy and not too casual.  It needed to be not too plain yet not too flashy.  It needed to be not too colorful but not too dull.  It needed to have some level of interest around the neckline yet not cover my neck completely.  With all these different criteria to meet, finding the right driver’s license outfit seemed nearly impossible.  There was nothing in my overstuffed closet that I felt met all of these criteria.  For over an hour, I searched and I searched and I searched.  I tried on this outfit and I tried on that outfit.  I tried on this accessory and that accessory.  I envisioned what I would look like in certain outfits when I was fully made up and envisioned how my picture would turn out on my driver’s license.  Finally, I made a decision and decided to end my search.  But even then, I still got the sense that my search wasn’t really over.  Something in me knew I would probably need to invest just a little more time in continuing my search so that my vision could be fulfilled.

Why is it that so many of us are willing to invest so much of our time searching for the things necessary to bring our vision to pass yet so few of us are willing to invest the time that it takes to search for the right pieces to our life’s puzzle that would manifest the vision that God has for us.  Too often we don’t envision ourselves as God sees us and therefore we have no idea when we need to keep searching.  We have no idea that something is missing.  We have no idea that we don’t look the way we’re supposed to look.  Even sadder, too often we get satisfied with the good we had in our lives years ago and we don’t even attempt to envision anything better.  We just continue to coast through our lives holding on to our past victories and all the good that we’ve previously accomplished – all while failing to see that God has new victories and even greater things that He desires for us to accomplish.

When I looked at my old driver’s license photo, I was reminded of everything I had to go through four years ago to get that license.  If I had kept that same photo, eight years later I would have still been reflecting on those same old victories.  I’m glad I took the time that was necessary to envision something new and something even better.  I’m grateful I took the time to search for all the right pieces that were required for the vision to be manifested.  Taking the extra time to go in to take a new picture rather than trying to expedite the process, has encouraged me to have new vision so I can experience new victories.  Not only that, but I have a visual reminder of how far I’ve come.  I’m encouraged to continue to have fresh vision for my future.  It’s a reminder to not be satisfied with good and to continuously strive for great.  As I continue to grow, I’ll recognize that what was great in my past may only be good in my present. This means I must continuously strive for new levels of greatness in my future.

Even if my driver’s license photo hadn’t turned out how I wanted it to, I could have still walked away from that experience knowing the time I invested in the process was not in vain because the lessons that I learned from it will impact me for the rest of my life.Vision must remain fresh. Who wants to invest a lot of time working towards a stale vision? We need to envision the picture of ourselves four years from now being even better than the picture of ourselves today.We need to remember that God has a vision for us and we have to be willing to invest the time necessary to bring His vision for our lives to pass.

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Keidra HobleyComment