Thursday, December 15, 2011

David Pelzer's novel "A Child Called It" page 98... "Fearing mother would catch me not sitting at the bottom of the stairs, I cleaned up my mess.....I willed the wound to heal.  Somehow I knew it would.  I felt proud of myself.  I imagined myself like a character in a comic book, who overcame great odds and survived.  Soon my head slumped forward and I fell asleep.  In my dream, I flew through the air in vivid colors.  I wore a cape of red"........ "I was Superman."  To support what I said earlier in my Larger than Life post..... the idea of transforming himself actually saved his life.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

"Larger than Life"

      John Grishner's Pelican Brief is a tantalizing novel.  Now that I am on recess throughout most of January, I will finally have some time to dig deeper into this book!  Thus far, I find most intriguing the character role of  *Darby Shaw*--  She is beautiful, intelligent, determined, and strong, yet has a sense of naivety that makes her  vulnerable.  You see, Darby Shaw is what drew me to this book.  As I previewed this movie I discovered the character Darby Shaw is played by the actress Julia Roberts.  I haven't seen the film yet because I feel it will be much more meaningful to me if I read the book first.  The more I viewed the footage the more I identified myself with this remarkable human being!  I've always believed that holding yourself to the highest level of standards is what one must do if he or she wishes to overcome obstacles.  Many have heard me ask the question, "Do you someday want a quality life along with quality friends and a quality job?" and then they say Yes. I then add, "if you want all these things then you have to make better choices and surround yourself with quality people..."  In this case, I also believe placing myself parallel with Julia Robert's character is equally important, especially on days when you're not feeling yourself, if you know what I mean.  So, you see, for me it's not only the story line that matters, but the actress and her character as well.

      Many of our youth today feel compelled to say, "I just want to be me, and no one else!"  I discovered this to be true when I once designed a personality profile as their acting teacher.  The idea was for me to get to know the students better so one of the questions I typed read, "if you could be anyone other than yourself who would it be?"  But all I got was "I only want to be me!" My point is this....  I think you deserve it to yourself to find a role model, someone you look up to, admire, and respect.  An individual that's so much "larger than life" that they will inspire you.  You owe it to yourself to know that identifying yourself with someone you look up to could only be beneficial to YOU.  Whom better to choose than a character?  In the end, it's really all about YOU!  I've learned that your self-worth and the way you see yourself is what will ultimately get you through a bad day.  

      New Testament: I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children.  Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.  Therefore I urge you to imitate me.  For this reason I am sending you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Jesus Christ, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.  1 Corinthians 3: 14-17