A Plate…

At first glance, it may look a little worn…scratches in the center…maybe you think it’s pretty, or was…and maybe you don’t.  But isn’t the joy of a plate that you simply love to treasure the times of shared meals or the glory of food that  the plate represents?

This particular plate, has been in the possession of someone dear to me…I just happen to be visiting and when I first saw all the scratches…I was not a very happy camper.  I wanted to say how dare you not take good care of MY plate(s).  But as my blood pressure started to rise, I stopped myself and in that moment of breath and pause I began to rearrange my thinking…

As in all moments of new discoveries, we can choose to deny, accept, fight, get angry…the list is long and in this moment, though I wanted to get mad, I had an epiphany about The Plate…if I may…

As I began to recover, and looked at the markings carved into the plate I saw a beautiful correlation to life in general.  When we show up into the world, all shiny and new with the future so bright, ready to serve our purpose, we aren’t really thinking about the knicks or cuts or bruises that will be coming our way.  We simply shine and in so doing…it feels so good doesn’t it?  But as life is, those knicks and chips and bruises do come.  And though we’ve heard it a million times ‘we can choose how we handle them’ it certainly doesn’t always seem like we have a choice when something painful ‘bowls’ us over.  Yet, whether we realize the choice in the moment or much later…we are constantly choosing…conscious or not.

So as I looked at my marred plate and then looked inside myself at the knicks and bruises that have helped me to become who I am today I thought….hmmm I love this plate even more.  It has been used and abused, yet still brought nourishment to the user.  It is still beautiful even if it needs a little polishing.  After all, I like to think I have no rough edges, but I am sure my friends and family might have a slightly different story to tell…ha!!  And oh how I want to serve even with those rough edges.

How is it we continue to shine even when when we have been hurt, or knicked and bruised?  There is really no one right answer, but I think perhaps if we distance ourselves from the pain and look from the outside in, we might see how we can grow and use that experience to offer others who find themselves in a similar place. Sometimes we just need some perspective and that doesn’t always come over night.  Yet, when we find it, we can discover the growth it has created to better us.  In turn, taking us back to our purpose  with deeper wisdom and ability and letting our light shine…knicks, bruises, warts and all…and in so doing ‘Our Plate’ of purpose and passion finds a new and higher equilibrium bringing nourishment once again…to ourselves and those whose lives we are meant to touch!