“Vision is the ability to see what everyone else see’s and to see something different.”
-Dewitt Jones
You many not know Dewitt Jones but you would certainly recognize his work. Jones is an award winning photographer, speaker, author and filmmaker. His photo of two men fishing for salmon, on the River Tweed in Scotland, before sunrise may have appeared in print more times than any other photo in history. How did he capture this incredible photograph. He instinctively turned around. He listened to the “still small voice” we too often ignore and he turned around. He was looking at what everyone else was looking at that morning and instead of accepting the view and trusting only his sense of sight he turned around to capture something special.
It takes courage to turn around, to see with new eyes and to look for a new perspective. Do you have the courage to turn around? Should you muster up the courage to turn around and see something different? Roll the calendar forward to the end of your life. When you look back through the years and evaluate your life the questions will be few but significant. How will you answer these; “Did I make an impact?” “Was I a good steward of my gifts and talents?”
I heard Stu McLaren speak at a conference I recently attended. Stu has vision. He sees what everyone else sees and chooses to see something different. Stu’s mission; “Make More. Live More. Give More”. More is building classrooms in a remote part of Kenya to provide educational tools and resources for thousands of kids who have been displaced by the social unrest.
- What is your “still small voice” telling you?
- Are you making an impact?
- Are you using your talents and gifts to their full potential?
- What can you start doing today?
- What would be possible if you had the courage to turn around?
“When we die and we go to heaven and we meet our Maker, our Maker is not going to say to you, "why didn't you become a messiah why didn't you discover a cure for such and such?" The only thing we are going to be asked at that precious moment is why didn't you become you?"
-Weisel, “Souls on Fire”
It is never too late to have a new beginning. Begin with a vision of how you can have greater impact on a world that desperately needs you to use your unique talent and gifts.
What could you do today to increase your impact?