A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words
Though it probably won’t take me a thousand words, I wanted to share a story with you that left quite an impression on me!
I use open source / copyright free images for some of my work. These images are offered by many people, one of which has many photos of an attractive, dark-haired woman (think Audrey Hepburn-ish!). Now for some reason, I associate the person who has these photos available as being the lovely woman in the pictures.
Fast forward to last week and I’m working on a different job, looking through some retail distributor websites. These sites are very large and made up of lots of stores, some large and some small. Whose face should I see representing a section of the retail distributors site than “Audrey” from the copyright free images I was browsing a few weeks back! It was like seeing an old friend – that “Ooh, I know you!”!
I was blown away! Someone who offers photos on a copyright free site must have done really well to help represent this retail distributor! I was thrilled for her!
And that got me to thinking about several interesting things:
- As far as I knew, this was her only success as a photographer/model and yet I was inspired by it! I don’t know her or her story, but just seeing her representing a large distributor left quite the impression!
- If I calculated my success in the same way as I was calculating her supposed success, then I would be out of this world! I’ve helped many customers with some sizable jobs – some of them internationally! And yet, somehow, “Audrey’s” supposed success felt more astronomical than my own! (Talk about being your own worst critic!)
- (best for last!) I don’t even know if “Audrey” had any job with this retail distributor – for all I know they just used her photo from the copyright free image site – they would have been completely at liberty to do that. And yet, isn’t it incredible the thought process that just seeing her picture took me through?! They say a picture speaks a thousand words – they are absolutely right!
You might struggle with being your own worst critic – don’t sell yourself short. As long as you are following God and doing your best to live the life He has set before you, you have no reason to feel inferior or unsuccessful. Seek to find purpose and contentment in what you do. If you need a change, change what you can, but also accept that you must be enthusiastic about your life! Not every moment of anyone’s life is perfect or pleasing – you have to train yourself to find enthusiasm and joy in the every day moments!
So let’s start fresh with this reminder that what we do is of value and worth! We don’t have to be constantly bombarded with emails and customers to be successful. Right where we are right now is where we need to be! That’s not to say that we shouldn’t work to grow and be more, but we must be satisfied and happy where we are – that’s the best way to move onward and upward!
Isn’t it amazing how something as simple as a picture can jump-start a series of thoughts and encourage and inspire you?! What encouragement have you had this past week?! Do share!
Until Next Time!
Hope.