How come birds, bees, and apple trees don't suffer from low self-esteem?
Why is it just that adults do?
One difference between a man and a bee is that a bee does what it's supposed to do. Unlike a human who might be predestined to be a painter, but who decides to go ahead and get a 9 to 5 behind a desk selling insurance, a bee only does what it was meant to do.
Some of the most miserable people I know are people who are doing jobs they weren't meant for. Imagine if Michelangelo had been a physical trainer. Imagine if Beethoven had chosen to be a doctor. What if Maya Angelou was only a door-to-door saleswoman? Something tells me they'd all be miserable to an extent. I think that's the case because God had so many plans for these three people to be amazing artists in their own field in their lifetimes and also for their work to carry on in the future after their deaths. I've found myself in their predicament at times. I like to sketch, design, write, and counsel people. If I knew that my whole life I'd only get to be a telemarketer, I'd be so sad! I don't think I'll be as well-known as the three aforementioned artists, but I know what I'm good at and what I like.
Imagine a bee trying to be fish. The bee would fail miserably. The bee wouldn't be able to swim in the sea because of its buoyant body. The bee would be eaten quickly by other fish. The bee would drown because it has lungs with no gills. The bee could not move under water because it's not designed by God to swim. Bees are most happiest when they're doing what bees are made to do. Hanging with other bees, getting pollen from pretty flowers, taking the pollen to a beehive, and making sweet honey in the honeycomb. They'd be happy doing nothing else. Yeah, their life looks pretty dull and monotonous, but they don't mind. Bees die soon after they sting someone, and most know that they'll never be the Queen Bee. But they dpn't mind doing just what God made bees to do. Be bees!
A crocodile that would try to be a bird would also be sadly disappointed. All the other birds would run from it. It couldn't retrieve worms from the ground because its pointy snout isn't made for digging in the dirt. It couldn't fly. It would move so slowly. Crocodiles move better and faster in water. It would be so sad to be perpetrating life as a bird because it loves water and loves being with other crocodiles. God made it for such a purpose, and it would be miserable anywhere or as anyone else.
I never met Michelangelo or Beethoven, but something tells me they were so very content with their careers. Even if they had terrible love lives and personal lives, they loved their careers. Beethoven loved nothing more than being a composer. He could probably sit for hours and write music for an entire orchestra full of different instruments. Michelangelo could spend hours upside-down on his back facing a ceiling while painting. I hear he actually went blind from the paint falling into his eyes after it dropped from the ceiling, but I bet that once he found his talent of painting, he wanted nothing more than to do that. He also loved to sculpt. He painted the very popular statue of David.
Maya Angelou was sexually abused and raped by her mother's boyfriend at age eight. She confessed it to her brother, who told the rest of their family, and then her uncle killed the man. Afterwards, Angelou became mute. She said it was because, "I thought, my voice killed him; I killed that man, because I told his name. And then I thought I would never speak again, because my voice would kill anyone..." She remained nearly mute for five years. Even though the devil tried to utterly destroy her life through this abuse and her mutism at a young age, God had a plan for her. She is a poet, dancer, film producer, television producer, playwright, film director, author, and actress. At least some of these things were things that were in predestined for her to do. The devil tried to steal her destiny and joy with those early traumatic experiences, but when she found out what she was supposed to do in life, she did it. When she came to UTK to speak a few years ago, she said she had 50 Ph.D.'s! (I'm sure most were honorary, but nonetheless, a great success.)
I don't believe that everyone has an artistic ability like these three aforementioned artists do, but I believe that others get great joy from helping others, volunteering, preaching, being stay-at-home mothers, being housekeepers, acting in movies or on stage, being comedians, or being carpenters. Some men love working on cars. Being a mechanic would get old and dull for me because I'm not made by God to be a mechanic. But those men on "Pimp My Ride" seem very fulfilled working on those cars the way they do. They were made to do that. They're not aspiring to be presidents and rappers. They found their niche, and they thoroughly enjoy it.
Some people have even more specific talents. I've seen wedding cake designers bake and decorate the most amazing cakes! Not everyone could do their job. Beauticians can do the most amazing cuts and colors. Culinary artists and chefs amaze me with their knack for making various foods blend well together and taste mouthwatering. These people are happy at what they do. I even had a manicurist who LOVED her job. She had been doing it for over a decade with no desire to stop. I'm not trying to say that all 9 to 5 jobs are boring and for people who have not discovered their God-given talent because my dad used to do real estate and he really, really enjoyed it. My mom's an attorney, and she loves doing her 9 to 5. I used to feel sorry for them because they were behind a desk for much of the work day, but they enjoyed it. When I would work for them every once in a while, I could not understand how in the world they did it because I hated it! But it's not for me to understand; it's just not for some other people to do.
In middle school, I would draw and design clothes all day when I got a break from schoolwork. I had every intention of studying fashion design when I went to college, but I kept listening to people say, "Art majors don't usually end up with well-paying jobs because fashion and art are purely subjective. It's a risk because people may or may not like your designs." And so I started to doubt my abilities. I was afraid that I would waste four years in school and then design a bunch of clothes people hated. So I went another route with a field I didn't really want to do. I just picked something because I was a sophomore and all my other ambitious friends knew what they were doing with their lives. I didn't want to be aimless or careless so I let one of my friends help to pick a major for me! I wish I hadn't done that. I wish I had went in to study one of my hobbies or talents. I didn't know I could write like this at the time, but I knew I had important things to deliver to help other people through words. So now I have a major in Child Development, and I don't even necessarily like working with children! I want to counsel all ages, but not just children. And with only a four-year degree in my field, you get to do the crappy jobs with the horrible-behaving children. I should have honed my design and writing skills! I guess I could handle that in grad school.
Making money doesn't make you happy long-term. Doing the job God made you for makes you happy. Angelina Jolie is happy acting. She might not be happy in herself because of other issues, but she enjoys acting I'm sure. She also enjoys helping the less fortunate. Imagine her serving fast food all her life. All that talent and service would be wasted. Imagine Beyonce being a high school science teacher! Ask any person who has found their niche, and they'll tell you that there is no greater feeling than to have that thing done or validated. For example, I was called to lead people to Christ. So there is nothing more rewarding to me than to have a reader say, "You just don't know how much that post helped me. Because of your latest writing on your blog, I am going to restore my relationship with Christ. That post is exactly what I needed today!" Nothing more rewarding to me. I'm still waiting for the atheist commentator who will say, "Because of God using you to write this note, I have prayed the prayer of repentance and have given my life to Christ." I've had some say they're going to go back to God, but I'm waiting on the people who have never been saved or who have never known God to feel led to Him. I'm sure some have, but just haven't told me. But just planting those seeds are good enough for me.
So basically what I'm saying is that God made you for a certain reason. He does nothing haphazardly. He didn't just plan for a bunch of humans to make more humans who become miserable at jobs, homeless, unemployed, or hopping from one disappointing job to the next. He made YOU - yes YOU - for a certain reason. Ask Him what it is. Sometimes you kind of already know though. Many Xangan bloggers are supposed to be authors, poets, journalists, preachers, teachers, speakers and comedians from what I have read. Everyone on Xanga is writing to some extent! Some are kind of restrained because they are nervous about exposing their skills in case they're not good enough compared to others, but the constant improvement will come with exposure and practice. If you look at some of my first writings and some of my latter ones, there is a big difference. We Xangan bloggers have some pretty amazing things to say, but we need to let it out.
Find out what you are made for. Discover it. You pretty much know if you have a beautiful voice, if you can dance, if you can play an instrument, and if you can draw. But there are different other things that God makes people for. It is all for His glory. If you have a beautiful voice, sing for Jesus in the choir! If you can dance, do interpretive dance in church! If you can play the drums, play for Jesus and not Jeezy. If you can draw, draw for cartoons for Christian children's books or television cartoons.
I compare it to us being faucets, and God being the beautiful, life-giving water. A faucet is just a faucet no matter how expensive or cute it is. It has no use if it can't be used to pour water for people. Some people use their faucets to pour "dirty water". But some people use their faucets to pour clean, clear water. Let God use your "faucet". Even if you are a beautiful, pricey Behr faucet, you are useless if you can't be used to pour water. You will be miserable if you can't be used. Of course there are many other aspects of feeling bad about oneself, but when it comes to our purpose in life, I feel that when we get our puzzle piece into the right place in the world that is our puzzle, things will start to look up.
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