Your Dimples are Important

     I am a person of rituals. Every morning, as I'm sure is not out of the ordinary, I examine my face in the magnifying cosmetic mirror before washing it and meticulously placing on my makeup. After a while, I've grown so accustomed to the sight of my visage that I hardly bat a double-rowed eyelash when gazing upon my tired eyes in the mirror. My reflection is not one I would call shocking. Although I have made the most of the features given to me, I'm not without insecurity by any means. As a detailed oriented person, I scrutinize every detail of myself at nearly every opportunity - which I why I stay away from mirrors as much as possible.
     Occasionally I discover something different about myself, a new freckle, darker dark circles, or eyeliner that refused to budge from the night before that has migrated its way down my face. This time, as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and faked a smile in the mirror (another habitual action, don't judge), I noticed something I seemed to have entirely overlooked for my whole life. I have a dimple. It's on the right side of my face, towards the top of my chin, and if I do say so myself, it's adorable. I could have gone my whole life without knowing that I have this dimple, but if you think about it, we really don't consider our reflections that often.
      To other people with whom we spend a lot of time speaking, they're so used to our faces, the way we crinkle our nose when we don't like something, how our eyebrows shoot up when we're surprised, even easy-to-overlook dimples, that they consider it not little pieces of ourselves - but one of the many variables that compose our appearance on a whole. This one dimple, one that I had never seen in myself, could potentially be the one thing people use to describe me. "Tatiana? Oh yeah, she's the really short girl with brown eyes and a dimple."
     To make you feel entirely unoriginal, here are some statistics about YOU. Yes, you.

     There are approximately 8,000 people named Tatiana (my name) in the United States. 

If 2/23 of them have my same birthday, that means that there about 348 people in the United States named Tatiana with my birthday.

313 of them have some shade of brown hair, and 261 of them have brown eyes

Needless to say, I'm hardly what you could call an original - especially seeing as you, reader, and I, author, share 99.9% of our DNA. 

     

    In a discussion on the TED website, the fascinating subject of whether or not original thoughts are possible is brought to attention. The discussion details the definition of "original thought" and many members of the TED website contribute to the discussion. Though there is no concrete answer to the concept of original thoughts, the article sheds light on the subject in a clear and articulate manner.

      Upon researching all of these statistics and numbers, the probability of running into another you is actually not so far fetched. Oftentimes I find myself wondering how can I make a difference? I am one person. I have approximately 80 years on this earth and over 7 billion people to meet. In short, there is no possible way for one person to make a lasting difference in the world. 

      Getting bogged down with the inadequacy of one's existence is frustratingly simple. Without much quibbling, we can all deduct that a human life can rarely make much of a difference. In every sense of the word, we are plain. Boring. Cliche. What's the purpose in attempting to be an anomaly against this world if everyone is going to forget us anyway? Don't be discouraged, we do not live in futility. 

  Our perception in life is too often like a camera lens. Rather than stepping out from behind the camera, where our awareness is broadened, we favor the comfort of our tunnel vision understanding. We close ourselves off out of fear, and only focus on the minute details of life. The mountains we so often fail to climb would be reduced greatly if our focus shifted from the small details to the big picture. Self-acclamation is a sadly significant part of human nature. Our focus is so narrow minded much of the time that we fail to see the importance of what we are set out to do as Christians. 

       9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:9-11

      In the "big picture" are we - creations of the Lord - to be exalted? No. God has exalted Him (Jesus). Jesus is the name above all names. Our accomplishments such as financial stability, climbing the corporate ladder, renowned talent, or being a successful student all pale in comparison to the common goal all Christians have in common. 
     We do no exist to magnify the power of man. The power of man is empty and fleeting. In Revelation is the rise and triumph of humans amplified? Did man have to die on the cross for their own sins? Of our own accord, is man capable of doing good with not ulterior motives? 
     As Christians, we are not working for the glory of self. Though we all falter and fall short (Romans 3:23) our calling is for the Lord. Our commission is to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). It is not a duty that we plod through life carrying on our shoulders, but a overwhelming blessing and work of God. 
     Our God is omnipotent. He spoke the world into existence and has power over all humanity. His creations and followers are the chosen instruments to carry out His perfect plan. Our distorted, disordered, dysfunctional ideas and judgement have been paid for already so that we may be used as part of the Composer's grand masterpiece. It is truly ineffable. 
     For the next time you find your thoughts led astray to the monotony of life and the pettiness of your existence, think of your job. It's not a job in an office or a home, you aren't relegated to a desk, stage, or computer. This job is the most glorious job imaginable - it can hardly be called inadequate. 

Information from: http://www.photius.com/rankings/languages2.html, "The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead" - David Shields, http://blog.minitab.com/blog/fun-with-statistics/any-chance-we-share-a-birthday, 

Letting Go

    

"Your shadows will always fall behind you if you choose to face the sun." - Shannon L. Alder, Never or Forever

   Letting go; one of those feelings that comes as shock and a loss, a stumbling backwards into the unknown with the disappearance of an irreplaceable being or substance that was so present in one's life. Without a doubt, letting go gracefully is one of the hardest lessons to learn, because neither time nor practice can acclimate a person to the sudden loss of letting go and the necessity to accept it. Letting go is a skill that must be learned and put to use as throughout life situations continually have cause for “stumbling into the unknown”. Whether or not the unknown is better or worse than current situations is a mystery--and that is why letting go is so difficult—there's no guarantee of improved conditions. Letting go doesn't come with a warranty that all the over thinking has been worth it and things will be all right.

     Letting go does not forget the past, it does not write it off into a book of memories left to be unopened for fear of crushing nostalgia. It does not return for a second thought as the completion of letting go is a one time action. It does not consult with your feelings, rather with reason as you assess the best thing in life. It does not forgive you, and does not often provide closure. Letting go slams the door of the past in your face and pushes you down to find your way back up on your own. Letting go is a one way conversation with no responses to answer to, only conclusions to draw on your own. Letting go is sudden and determined, impatient to ease out of a time when things were bleaker and more hopeless. Letting go takes no prisoners, leaves behind only that aftertaste of what was and what could have been. Letting go leaves a world of what if's and conditional arguments within oneself. The fear that accompanies loneliness encompasses the vulnerability of turning off the lights on a previous walk of life.

     Letting go is a clean slate, a blank canvas, a new dawn. It provides a new perspective and a resilient future full of unknowns and possibilities. Letting go frees you from being tied down and afraid. Letting go is the calm after the storm and the rainbow after the rain. It is discovering your wings, finding out that you knew how to fly all along but were just too afraid. It's looking your fears in the face and charging with a rampant intrepidity, releasing the nagging voice in the back of your mind whispering your inadequacies and harnessing the voice of hope that tells you that you don't need the bondage you were in. It's realizing you exist apart from another person, another thing, another idea. It's walking out of a situation and using your intuition and faith to show you where to go.

      Taking a stumble into the dark is terrifying and haunting, the feelings of defeat and valor mix together in a muddy puddle as you collect the remaining pieces of yourself and begin to put them back together. Letting go is looking up from the pit you're in, and deciding that enough is enough. You look around, pick up a rope, and climb. And in that moment when you're fighting for something bigger than your circumstances or emotions, you are victorious and courageous and free. It is believing in something other than the fear you let control your life for too long. Take a step into the unknown, wander through the desert, stumble in the dark, soar across the radiant skies, breathe in the air you live on, and let go.