GOLDEN

GOLDEN

In 2004, recording artist Jill Scott released, “Golden.” The repetitive refrain, “Living my life like it’s golden,” continues to capture the attention of many. She didn’t sing, “Living my life like it's copper or silver or lead or zinc. I think I know why.

True or false, one third of all gold produced is a byproduct of copper, lead, and zinc production.

The primary goal of these weekly written words is to push you and me to being – to living the best life we can live. I could show you pages of collected ideas that illustrate how to live “life like it’s golden,” thus the subject matter today, copper to gold.

Gold is said to be so rare that the world pours more steel in an hour than it has poured gold since time began. The statement about gold production being a byproduct of other metals is true. Let me be clear, copper is a precious metal and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it in its copper state, but copper doesn’t know it has gold in it until the gold is extracted. Were I copper, I would hate to think that some portion of me could have existed as gold if I had allowed the extraction.

I wonder if the writers of “Golden,” had this in mind when they penned, “Living my life like it’s golden.”

If I believe that I am living my best as copper, why would I worry about gold? Both are excellent conductors of heat and electricity. Both are very flexible and can be shaped to the manufacturer’s specifications. Copper is most often used in electrical wiring and circuitry. But gold is used in precision instruments (iPhone), radiation treatments, and in the aerospace industry. It is rare, highly valuable, corrosion free, portable, divisible, and makes the best fillings for teeth. If copper is good, gold is exceptional.

How do I extract the gold in me? A DESIRE to move from the comfortable and perhaps even happy state of good (copper) AND acknowledgment that I could be so much more than I currently see or know is probably the first step. Follow that up with an examination of the places of pain and pressure in my life. ANALYZE how I reacted, performed and what I learned from the pain and the pressure. Am I passionate about what I am doing? It is still not enough to acknowledge and analyze. ACTION is necessary. Gold is not extracted from copper with a thought. The gold is extracted by “pressure and pain.” An extraction action plan that is executed to release the best in me (gold) is imperative.

I am learning to “live my life like it’s golden” while constantly looking for areas to extract the always present gold just waiting to be discovered.

Psalm 16:11

PONDER THIS THOUGHT---The golden me is the spiritually, physically, and emotionally well-balanced me waiting to be discovered.