By Tricia Murphy

“How do you see your life?”

“How do you picture life?”

“What image would come to your mind?”

Crickets.

“Put it this way, what is your life metaphor?”

These kinds of questions make me sweat. I see my life as complicated, not easily defined by a collection of a dozen words or so.

If I had to take a stab, my life metaphor would sound something like this: “Life is a chainsaw juggling middle-aged woman wearing mom jeans who thinks she has it all under control. Sometimes her juggling is on par and other times a chainsaw unexpectedly goes rogue and hacks a jagged hole into something.”

Too much? I do like the danger this picture evokes, but when I realize I am THAT mom, as my kids would say, I become all too aware that people may judge me incorrectly and I quickly erase my answer and just use “life is a carousel…” or something cliché.

What was it that Rick Warren said? Your unspoken life metaphor influences your life more than you realize. It determines your expectations, your values, your relationships, your goals, and your priorities.

Hmmm, so what does mine say about me? Maybe my expectations are set too high for my abilities and control. I value how people view me and what kind of wow I can evoke from those around me. My loved ones are trying to remind me that I can be all that I am designed to be, but sometimes it falls on deaf ears. My goals and priorities may need a little adjusting too.

Ouch!

Maybe I still have time to go back and change my metaphor. How did that cliché go again?

Tricia Murphy is GO director at Green Bay Community Church