If I Were the Me I Wanted to Be
BIBLICAL POINT OF REFERENCE:
"So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you. Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings. The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ [Jesus] will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little."
~1 Peter 5:6-10
There's an acting term coined by Konstantin Stanislavski called "magic if". Basically this term, for the actor, means to put themselves in the character's shoes through imagination. Another way of putting this is for the actor to ask the question, "If I were this character in this situation, what would I do?" So "magic if" allows actors to gain perspective on their portrayal of a character in ways that they might not think about initially.
Since I'm in an acting class and am learning about terms like "magic if", I have started to see the ways I can apply these terms in my own life, most recently by asking myself the question "What would I do if I was in that person's situation?" If I hear that a friend of mine is in a tricky situation, what would I do if I were them? If I see someone in class struggling to grasp a concept we are learning about, what would I do if I were them?
If, if, if. If I were in someone else's situation, I would probably handle things differently than they would, and that's okay. But I shouldn't be worrying about other people - I should be worrying about my own situations and how to handle them in the best way possible. So then I essentially "magic if"ed myself: If I were the me I wanted to be, what would I do?
Are you all following this? If not, I apologize. I'm trying to explain my thought process the best way I can, but as Severus Snape would say, "The mind is not a book to be opened at will. and examined at leisure." So I'll just cut to the point.
And the point is this: If we were the best versions of ourselves, striving to be the people God has called us to be, "magic if" wouldn't be a thing. We would have all the answers and we would be eternally happy. Now that's not how life works, so instead we have to keep asking, "If I was the best version of myself, what would I do?" That "if" isn't just imagination like it is in acting; it is space that allows God to help us make the right decisions. It is the thought in our minds that acts like a conscience so that we may work to better ourselves. So now it is not just important to ask, "If I were the me I wanted to be, what would I do?", but also, "If I were the person God wanted me to be, what would I do?"
And it will vary by situation. It may require you to be creative and imaginative to solve the problem. It may be helpful to employ "magic if" when putting all factors into consideration. But ultimately, God is calling you to choose your actions carefully every day. We will be the us we want to be when we start asking who He wants us to be.
Your Laughing Sister,
Callahan
Check out the BEING GODLY WOMEN quotes page for more inspiration!
