See the Angel?

By Roy Williams - Mar 26 , 2009

Do you see it?

“The greater danger, for most of us, lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark… Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.” — Michelangelo

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” — Robert Browning

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” — Michelangelo

Like Michelangelo Buonarroti, you’ve been given a rough block of marble to carve.

It’s called your Life.

What will you make of it? Do you see something beautiful inside the stone, or do you see only a heavy lump of rock? Michelangelo believed there was an angel inside his rock and he was committed to setting it free. What do you see in your block of marble?

You carry the tool of self-improvement with you everywhere you go. It’s a thing called Choice. Michelangelo put his chisel to work and did not become discouraged when an angel did not immediately appear. Like Michelangelo, you live chisel in hand and you shape yourself daily through your unconscious choices. Are you willing to put your chisel to more active work? Are you willing to make choices consciously that are currently being made unconsciously?

In her book Random Thoughts, Dr. Karen Royer asks, “Have you ever wondered why the world fell in love with the fictional character in the movie Forest Gump? He wasn’t an intelligent man but he was an honest one. He was made fun of, yet he chose to think the best of people. Choosing to see good instead of evil is a conscious decision.”

Michelangelo saw an angel where other men saw a rock. What do you see when you look at yourself? Solomon said in Proverbs 23:7, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

In other words, you will become the person you believe yourself to be.

So who do you believe yourself to be?