During a conversation with Bailey (one of the Racers), I found myself comparing a child’s drawing of a soccer ball to an actual, real soccer ball. Here’s what that analogy has morphed into over the last few days.
When a child draws a picture, it is usually filled with stick people, curly-leaved trees, and basic shapes to make up the other items present in the scene. A house is a square with a triangle on top. A soccer ball is just a circle. It’s beautiful, but we all know there’s potential for more.
When I walk around with a friend and I see a weeping willow in front of a beautiful historic house and a small child comes running out of the garage with a soccer ball in hand, things don’t look like the child’s drawing, do they? I see the detail of the trim on the house, with shutters on the windows and iron numbers hanging by the door. I see the blades of freshly cut grass and the dog sitting in the window. It is a beautiful scene.
The way that I want to see the world is with detail. I want to see the intricacies that make something the exact way that it is. Even if you aren’t an investigative, detail-oriented person, you can appreciate the intricacies.
Here we go. Keep tracking with me.
People are like soccer balls, but we don’t always see that 3D, real version. Sometimes we are limited to the 2D, poorly drawn version.
The poorly drawn version is what it’s like when you first meet someone. You can see the outside. You can see the simple things about them, but they are not as real as they could be. Sometimes we only show people that “kid’s drawing” type of self. We tell people the bare minimum about our lives, keep all of our feelings and struggles on the inside, and project something that looks like the fullness of a person without it really being that. Whether it’s out of fear, comparison, or something else… we are held back from showing the real-deal version of ourselves. It is a version that takes less effort to show to the world. Drawing a circle on a page isn’t very difficult.
We also have the ability to show people all of the details… we can become that 3D, hexagon and pentagon filled sphere with stitching, color, and texture. I always want people to show me more sides of themselves. I want to see a more real version. Times of happiness, joy, sadness, anger, and everything in between. When people share more parts of themselves, they become more real. We can show the scuff marks from cleats that have hit us. We can even show times when we are a little deflated. It makes us real. No one is perfect all the time.
Even though it is much better to show that real version, I get stopped sometimes. It takes time and work to show people the real me. It takes intentional conversation. It takes me being vulnerable when things are rough. It take an act of faith that I won’t be rejected or cast out when I share things that aren’t necessarily good. I have to trust that people want to see the real-deal version. I have to trust that they will grant me grace when I am not ready to show that other side of myself. In the end, I have to trust that it will pay off.
In my experience, I have found that it does pay off.
Be the 3D soccer ball that has a few marks left on it. It’s been used to create joy in people’s lives, provide people with valuable experiences, and get people moving. That’s what we want as people, right? I would rather be a little scuffed up and be real rather than a simple depiction of something that could be.
Be real. Have faith in people. Show people the 3D soccer ball version of you.
Life Update: My squad made it to Lesotho safely. I am currently in Malealea and it is amazingly beautiful… but very cold. Life is good, and debrief was much needed. Pray that we would be able to form good relationships and get out to the villages even when it’s cold.
