The Nothings

As you will learn I can make an analogy out of anything and will try to do so.  I am very visual so I like to give people a visual by using connections to anything absorbed by the five senses. 

I have come to learn that I love sci fi/fantasy movies...yes Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings along with Chronicles of Narnia.  Let us not forget Superman or X-Men (there are others but you get the point).  I am not a die hard, buy all the paraphernalia type (no knock against those of you who are) but I love movies I can analyze (it all comes back to my love of analysis).  I also think I love these movies because of their play (much of which I think is intentionally done) on spiritual elements of Good vs Evil, a greater purpose and/or a Higher Power.

One of my FAVORITES as a child was The NeverEnding Story.  I LOVED (OK LOVE) that movie.  It came out in 1984 and I know I have seen that movie over 100 times (probably more).  The movie is about a young boy who is being bullied and "escapes" by reading a book about a mythical land called Fantasia.  The land is being destroyed by "the nothing" and the young boy must discover his inner hero (strength) to save Fantasia.

Recently I was working with a friend regarding his career and his fears around his future. He had started his undergraduate degree years ago but stopped after he received his associates degree, due to starting a family.  He was working an hourly job and had been doing so for fourteen years and admittedly became complacent in his situation.  Well as the Uni-verse would have it, that was not going to be his purposed position.  He was fired from his job and forced to face the process of thinking about his future.  During our meeting, he began talking about his fears, how he didn't have time, didn't have confidence, needed to focus on getting a job - however felt this still small voice saying he should go back to school.  You would think he came to me to find a way to make "going to school" happen, however he came to me so that I may talk him OUT of listening to that voice (blank stare *blink* *blink*).  I told him about the NeverEnding Story movie and called all that "noise" he was hearing (I can't because...; I am not good/smart/rich enough; my past says no; I am scared; I don't want to fail) his nothings and his nothings were destroying his future.

Let me make the connection.  In the movie, the lack of people's belief in Fantasia was causing the nothing to destroy the land.  The nothing was symbolized by darkness, leaving "nothing" after the darkness swept over a place.  They needed someone to believe in order for Fantasia to live on.  The analogy is so relevant to our real lives and was specifically relevant to my friend's negative thoughts about his going back to school.  Our nothings/our dark places destroy us - our present and our future. 

We, most often, are our own worst enemy.  Some of us want to blame others for how we feel about ourselves, but we must remember, what matters most is what WE BELIEVE ABOUT OURSELVES.  What others say or do may hurt us once, but whether or not it continues to hurt us...make us fearful...make us stagnant...is totally up to us!  The hurt we feel regarding past situation or what someone said that was hurtful after the initial situation, most often is us replaying the situation and the beliefs about ourselves over and over again in our mind and spirit...allowing the nothings to grow and become stronger in our lives.

All you need to counter your nothings is to BELIEVE!  Believe in yourself, believe in your talents, believe in your worth, believe in your purpose.  God/the Uni-verse already believes in you, however you must also believe for your "fantasia" to exist or come to fruition. 

Think about your dreams, values, what you want to do, what you should be doing, what type of person you want to be.  Then think about your nothings and how they are holding you back, how you are letting them grow stronger and how you may have let/are letting your nothings "destroy" areas of your life.

One of my friend mentioned me in a retweet of a quote that rang so true:

"Our work is to name the darkness for what it is and find what it asks of us" - Jan Richardson.

Our nothings should not be debilitating or stagnating, but a call to action!  When the nothing says no, that means you NEED to get er done!  When it says you can't, time to strategize ways that it WILL go down!  When that dark places brings up fears, put on that Ephesian 6:10-17 armour and GET IT ON!  Identify your nothings and focus on what it has prevented or will prevent you from doing/saying/being and then REFOCUS!

You can assume I didn't talk him out of going to school and he is now finishing up his first semester of the year and half he has left towards his bachelors degree.  He is even considering pursuing a masters degree in sports administration.   

If you have time you must watch the movie especially with your kids, god kids, grand kids, even a friend's kids...not because it is in this post but because it is so darn good and worth it.