What would your life look like if you didn’t consider what others thought of you? What clothes would you buy? What food would you eat? How would you raise your children? If you were completely removed, free and unaware of anyone’s opinion?
Last year I bumped into a group of ladies from my church, one of them I had been in a Mom’s group with. One of her friends she was dining with, (who I had never met) asked me a seemingly innocent question: “Where do you live?” She knew we all lived in the same city because of the church we all went to, but when I thought about her question after, I realised she was judging my worth. I say worth because of how she asked and responded to my answer, her eye contact, her body language, her whole being towards me. This very short interaction left me feeling “icky”; you know when you leave a conversation with someone just feeling “not right?” A few weeks later I couldn’t shake how she left me feeling, you see that lady left me feeling “invalid” for a mere moment, however I then realised the true answer to her question:
Where am I from? Where do I live?
Know this
I am cells floating in space
I am a nomad hunting for peace
I know my long term home is no place here. It’s in the kingdom
I am with God. God is with me.
I live on an ultralight beam
When we allow others to shift our perspective and joy and centre of who we are, it’s an uncomfortable feeling. We will always encounter others who live “for the world” and judge others based on their own value set of “worth.”. However what is so beautifully freeing, moving and interesting is that the actual truth is we are all but a mere mist in time. Truly what lasts isn’t what we own, or have, but in how we leave people feeling. The inspiring stories we leave our children and their children, the fond memories a friend has of us and the stories people share about our spirits. The weight of our worth is not in the gold we hoard and enjoy, but in the beauty of our actions and interactions each and every single day we are given another day of life.
Don’t make the mistake of seeking another person’s favour and validation through your net worth. Walk away from individuals who only believe your postal code is what you amount to. Seek people who see beyond, above and into eternity.
