I was outdoors in beautiful sunshine getting some exercise. I went out at a time when few others are around. And this was good.
See, I don’t like to do one thing for very long. Sometimes I don’t even like doing the same thing for more than a few minutes or even moments. There are times when I am engrossed in an experience or task and I stay in it and with it for quite a while. But, this is not my natural wiring.
So, after walking, then jogging, I wanted to start doing the funky sidesteps where your feet quickly cross each other in front and behind, like you may see at a football practice or even in a dance. Or I would do large sideways skips, like you might see on a basketball court. Then, I just sprinted. All out. Hard, but only for a minute or less. And, this kind of exercise was WAY more fun for me.
Like I said, I was enjoying this at a time when I hoped nobody would see me. My sense was that it would look a little funny, maybe even a bit strange to anyone else. And then God spoke. “Don’t sweat it, David. This is the way I made you. Have fun.”
“Hmm. Really?” I thought. Then these words came to me, “Oh, and by the way, do you remember that article you read that said this kind of cross-training is the best way to exercise?”
Wow. That made a difference to me, and not in a way that spoke to me about getting in shape. It was freeing for me.
Be who you are, and that’s enough. Who you are and how I’ve made you isn’t something to hide, it’s actually the strength of your life.
Now fast forward to a gathering where I was spending some time with other men who do different types of work with people, but who all have in common the desire to help a person find purpose and direction in their life. I mentioned to some of these men that though I haven’t done much with it, a counselor many years ago did an assessment that indicated I most likely had A.D.D.
Sam, a good friend who was there said, “A.D.D. has a negative stigma many times, but did you know that sections of the military seek out and prefer people with A.D.D.? They have particular abilities to perceive things others struggle to see.” And later, while we were out chatting on the porch, his remarks came up again and I said, “Maybe what you’re talking about could be called being Multi-Perceptive. (Sounds a little cooler than an attention disorder, huh?) He agreed.
When I got home from the gathering, I found an article on a blog site I’d never seen before. It discussed what the author called Hunters and Farmers, and here’s one way he described Hunters: A kid who has innate hunting skills is easily distracted, because noticing small movements in the brush is exactly what you’d need to do if you were hunting. Scan and scan and pounce. That same kid is able to drop everything and focus like a laser–for a while–if it’s urgent.
So, yes, this may be an encouragement to all of you Hunters out there, but my real intention in writing this is to share how God has come to affirm me and to help me embrace who I am and realize this is enough.
I won’t fit everywhere. I don’t have to. I won’t be able to help everywhere. And I don’t have to.
There is a belief that seems to be in some religious circles that is not a good one. It usually goes something like: The more Godly you are, the more you stop being yourself and the more you are like Jesus.
But, what does that mean? What if “being like Jesus” is being the real you, the you that God has intended all along? I don’t think you disappear as you are transformed and restored by God. I think you begin to appear! You begin to show up! You show up more than ever before, and the real you doesn't get smaller, it gets larger, more authentic, and well, a lot less edited.
It makes me think of the great scene in, The Return of the King, where Elrond says to Aragorn, "Put aside the ranger. Become who you were born to be!"
You see, God isn’t in the business of obliterating and starting from scratch. God is in the business of restoring, healing and releasing!
As Søren Kierkegaard said long ago, “Now with God’s Help, I shall become myself.”
