being comfortable in your own skin

I saw this ad that premiered during the Super Bowl this year... maybe you did, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Lc9Mhi9l0



The premise is rather interesting... especially in that it's marketed to men. And it raises the question - "At what point in life are you comfortable in your own skin?"

I once heard a pastor share how his wife defined "being sexy" that way - that is, that "sexy" is when one is comfortable in his/her own skin and the world can sense it. That's an interesting comparison, for while many people would equate sexiness to good looks it is often surprising how it's more of a contagious confidence than it is striking features.

Which might sort of explain why odd looking rock stars date supermodels.

In any event, I found the phrase compelling because so much of life seems like a treadmill of having to prove oneself to others. Somewhere along the way we say we don't care, but really... we do. We're just afraid of showing it. 

But there can come a point when we really don't care. When we truly aren't shaken or stirred by the words of others, but have a sense of a stronger compass in our life.

Several months ago I was hanging out with some teenagers who "dared me" to do a crazy dance and sing in a Walgreens in order to get the woman behind the counter to laugh. I succeeded... and didn't mind at all. We later talked about why it wasn't a big deal to me, and the simple truth was that at the end of the day the loudest whisper into my life is God... not what the people around me do or don't think of me.  Since I know Jesus is crazy about me to die and live for me (and He is crazy about you in the same way, by the way), I'm more interested in letting my life sync with Him than with millions and billions of people who would love to tell me that I need to buy a product or have their approval to be "okay."

Which sort of makes the commercial ironic, don't you think?

Or as a comedian once put it, "Just when I get comfortable with my own skin, it starts sagging."

What would it take for you to get comfortable with your own skin?  Or your own life?

Of course, "you already are." 

But really... are you really?  Or are you just being a Captain Sassy Pants about it and deep down you yearn for the approval of others?

If you're not sure, think about it... and I dare you to let the still small voice of your Creator become the most important voice in your life.  And I don't mean that as a Sunday religion thing (or the occasional holiday) - I mean that in a daily, growing way... something very fully-alive.

Something powerfully real.

in the news: the name game

In recent news....

• Goodbye Kinkos: Back in 2004 the quite-popular-often-24-hours copy place was purchased by FedEx, causing many stores to change their sign from "Kinko's" to "FexEx Kinko's." Last month FedEx decided to tank the Kinko's name altogether, and so expect to see in the not to distant future "FedEx Office." According to the Kinko's founder, Paul Orfalea, "The news hit me hard." After a bit of research I discovered the company name stemmed from Orfalea's once kinky hair... so apparently the mullet perm's final legacy ends.
  
  
• Anakin Would Be So Proud: The inventor of the Segway, Dean Kamen, has created a prosthetic arm that can move under the control of nerves and muscles of the wearer. It's been named "The Luke Arm," based on the last scene of Empire Strikes Back when Luke Skywalker gets a replacement hand for the one his dad chopped off.

Have you ever stopped to think about the power of a name? People will recognize a person by it in their head, for if one's name is mentioned all kinds of images, feelings, memories, perceptions of character, and so on come forth. Consider what happens when you think of Clinton or Bush... McCain or Obama... Microsoft or Apple... and so on.

When people think of your name, what comes to their mind?

And how accurate might your answer to that question be?

And if you wear the name Christian, how's that going for you?

"I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they shall walk up and down in his Name. " Zechariah 10: 12

"John said to him, 'Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.' But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me." Mark 9:38-39

"But these [signs] are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name." John 20:31.

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Col. 3:17

"And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us." 1 John 3:23-24