Value Your Unique Life Journey
Updated: Nov 4, 2021
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. -Psalm 16:11
Life tells that it’s usually the bad thing happened to us to bring us on the right path to live out of our best.
Each person has a unique DNA code that decides his/her unique color and personality. People are born by different parents at different places and times; we carry on different traits and walk on different paths in life; eventually we end up differently. Though we are born by our parents, our personality is not decided by them, instead it’s formed by God. The psalmist, David said, "you alone (God) created my inner being. you knitted me together inside my mother." (Psalm 139:13). Have you thought about why we are made so unique and different?
I believe God loves us and He wants each of us stand out and be a masterpiece so we can experience life's richness instead of scarcity or monotonousness. And most importantly he wants to team us together to do His will and experience the love from him through our interactions and supporting each other.
However, in life, so many people ignore or devalue their uniqueness but constantly want to admire others. Some people do not like their physical appearance; some do not like their personality; some do not like their existing situation or fate so they become so distressed or depressed and they lose their confidence. In order to live a life of victory, you have to stop constantly comparing your misfortunate with others’ good fate and whining your fate but instead, you should recognize your unique scenic views on your path, find your strength and perform them out to your best. Life is fair when viewing every misfortunate as a unique opportunity to build you up and bring out your best hidden gems behind a lucky ordinary life.
Roger Crawford was born with shortened arms and legs, and he only had three toes on his shrunken right foot and his withered left leg was amputated later. The doctor said Roger suffered a rare birth defect that affects only one out of 90,000 children and he foretold Roger would never be able to walk and live independently. However, Roger did not take those as good excuses and stop all his dreams. Instead Roger made an opposite choice – he continued to pursue what he loved most, sports. He went to college and played tennis, finishing his tennis career with 22 wins and 11 losses, and became a certified teaching tennis professional. Also he became a great speaker and tells people what it takes to become a winner in life no matter who you are and where you are right now. His path to where he is right now is not smooth but full of obstacles and setbacks. Once in a football game, the ball landed in his arms and off he ran as fast as he could on his artificial leg toward the goal line. But a guy from the other team grabbed Roger’s left ankle. Roger tried to pull his artificial leg but it ended up being pulled off. Roger was still standing up and did not know what else to do so he started to hop towards the goal line. The referee ran over and threw his hands into air. Touchdown!
Roger also knew what he could not do such as typing with fingers on computers. And he said “I learned a very good lesson from my typing class, you cannot do everything – it’s better to focus on what you can do.”
Unexpected tragedies in life can make some people whine their lot, give up dreams, while some exceptional prefer to see their adversity as a new opportunity to blossom by conquering new challenges. Twenty eight-year-old Liao Zhi lost the lower parts of both her legs during the earthquake that struck Wenchuan in May 2008. Despite losing her legs, Liao persisted in dancing and she uses prosthetic legs and performs on a big drum. She also finished the 2013 Shanghai International Marathon and has been a volunteer to help other earthquake survivors. Liao said, "I don't think of myself as a victim of this disaster, that's the real reason I was able to get through this — I didn't have the victim mentality". She turned her misfortune to a great fortune, a Christian speaker, giving witness of God’s love and inspiring people to live out their fullest no matter what life throws at them. I can list much more people who are less fortunate than you and they still bloomed anyway in life.
Adversity is like chilly, piercing winds in the fall that slap tree leaves hardly but they bring out the glory of leaves in turning them into golden colors. Emma Stone once said “What sets you apart can sometimes feel like a burden and it’s not. And a lot of the time, it’s what makes you great.” In each adversity, there is a seed planted by God for a special purpose. If you see God's great will, you will be blooming through it. Apostle Paul, in his suffering, received the message from God, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). As Paul boasted his weakness, we also should boast our adversity in praising God for his good will to show his power and bring out his glory through us in the adversity.
Treat your personal life path as a unique gift or a special opportunity to find your hidden gems within you and granted by God. On your unique life journey, you will see picturesque views prepared only for you and find your own messages from God. It’s your choice to win or lose in the journey. I hope you choose to win because you can if you believe. When you make the winning choice, God will smile on the other side and be a partner with you in your journey for a destined prosperity just as stated in Psalm 16:11, you make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
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May you grow to your fullest!
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