Today I'd like to talk about the aspirational versus operational ways we view our lives. Today as I cleaned out our crisper, I found my aspirational carrots. When I saw them at the store a month ago, I said to myself, "Self, don't pay extra money for those little peeled carrots. Buy the cheaper carrots and peel them yourself."
So I listened to my aspirational self and took the carrots merrily home. The poor carrots sat languishing in the crisper all this time, while convenient salad fixings made their way out into the real world of our kitchen, then our stomachs. When I found them today, they were growing. Little carroty sprouts furred each carrot.
I laughed, because it's so like me. I ASPIRE to be the thrifty shopper I once was when we had very little money. I am still very thrifty. But the reality (the operational part of my life) is that little wee carrots without peels would actually get eaten because I don't have time to peel their longer, hairier counterparts.
How much of your life is aspirational? You aspire to be an organized person, but operationally, your desk resembles my hairy carrots. You aspire to recycle your cans, but they sit angrily in the bottom of your too-large waste can.
Today I went to the store and bought three small bags of those small, wonderful carrots. Alas, they were on sale. Buying them showed me I'd grown up just a little bit. I recognized my busy life and chose to buy something the family could enjoy now.
Somehow I know that there's a lesson here for my walk with Jesus. I don't always evaluate myself accurately. I aspire to much:
So I listened to my aspirational self and took the carrots merrily home. The poor carrots sat languishing in the crisper all this time, while convenient salad fixings made their way out into the real world of our kitchen, then our stomachs. When I found them today, they were growing. Little carroty sprouts furred each carrot.
I laughed, because it's so like me. I ASPIRE to be the thrifty shopper I once was when we had very little money. I am still very thrifty. But the reality (the operational part of my life) is that little wee carrots without peels would actually get eaten because I don't have time to peel their longer, hairier counterparts.
How much of your life is aspirational? You aspire to be an organized person, but operationally, your desk resembles my hairy carrots. You aspire to recycle your cans, but they sit angrily in the bottom of your too-large waste can.
Today I went to the store and bought three small bags of those small, wonderful carrots. Alas, they were on sale. Buying them showed me I'd grown up just a little bit. I recognized my busy life and chose to buy something the family could enjoy now.
Somehow I know that there's a lesson here for my walk with Jesus. I don't always evaluate myself accurately. I aspire to much:
- great mommy
- supportive wife
- exercising guru (ha!!!!! That's a little joke thrown in)
- Bible devour-er
- productive writer
- avid disciple-er
- prayer lady
- organizing queen
But operationally I'm not all these things. I'm just plain ol' me who struggles, falls down, and gets back up again. I throw away hairy carrots. I say words I regret. I occupy myself with the urgent and forget the important. That's where I am.
And yet, I'm thankful. Because Jesus takes me at my operational level. Somehow, by His strength, He moves me toward His aspirational goals (which may look different than mine). He accepts me today where I'm at and loves-loves-loves me anyway.
11 Comments:
Great post, Mary! I'm right there beside you.
I guess I can now officially be called a carrot-top, like all my old friends, and I'm not even a red-head!
Thank you, Jesus, for loving us anyway!
Thanks for the post Mary!
I actually have a bag of aspirational carrots in my fridge right now, that I bought two weeks ago and have yet to cut up and eat. Maybe I'll do that today, before its too late...
Megan
Brilliant words of wisdom here, Mary! Right now I am learning how to NOT take on goofy aspirations to replace genuine occupations that have run their course. I'm pretty much done raising kids, and I do not want to fill the time I spent in my mothering role on...let's say...learning to bake French pastries. Especially since I eat no sugar and Doug's headed that direction. But also because my true aspirations need that time and energy.
I am an aspirational quilter, though. I made quilts in my 20s, set it aside, and now I've purchased so much fabric, I don't know what to think of myself.
Carrots would have been much cheaper..... :)
You do more than just aspire to be a disciple-er. That's for sure. You've encouraged me in some very important ways.
The carrots parable made me laugh. For me, aspirations often turn into commitments I shouldn't make. I aspire to help people, then I overextend myself and end up helping no one. Or at least it can feel that way sometimes.
On the other hand, I've always felt that its better to aim for Pluto and only make it to the moon.
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I have aspirational romaine lettuce in my fridge. My husband is the crisper cleaner-outer in our house and inevitably gives me the ‘eye roll’ when he finds yet another bag of slimy lettuce. My reply goes something like, “If I didn’t buy it we wouldn’t stand a chance of having salad. At least having it in the crisper improves our odds”
Your post got me thinking . . . does having my bible on my nightstand improve my odds of reading it? Does setting my alarm half an hour earlier improve my odds of having morning quiet time? The answer sadly, is not really. But, I’m comforted by His unfailing love.
I have to stop typing to go grocery shopping (no joke) but aspire to operationally get my quiet time on track tomorrow.
P.S. Sorry about removing my first post - user error!
You have just given me a new phrase to screech when I come across my homeschool-art-computer-sewing-
drawing-laundry-folding-and-ironing room.
HAIRY CARROTS!!
Ahhh. I like the way it rolls off the tongue.
And it pretty well describes what I'm feeling when I look at yet another surface scattered with my good intentions.
I know I tend toward hairy carrots anyway, but I also know that God is partial to carrots with a little fuzz on them. ;)
(I actually buy the carrots that I can peel because we add the shavings the compost pile.)
What a great post, Mary! Sounds like you've been hanging out in my head. It's great when the quirks of life get turned back around to Jesus. Thanks for sharing!
Blessings,
Dianne :D
What a wonderful post. I, too, have high hopes - and all too often become frustrated and even a bit depressed when reality strikes.
But "His power is made perfect in my weakness." (II Cor 12:9) And I constantly must stop and re-evaluate, determining whether it's about HIM or ME (and unfortunately all too often my small, selfish human side is pulling ahead)
Oh, Mary...
Thank you for this post! I can not do it all, be it all...but I so want too!
Much of my life is aspirational...I have such good intentions. Operational is learning to take a louder place in my head.
We munched on reality carrots today during lunch, and I smiled! Thanks for all your great feedback.
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