Shedding Light on Blind Spots
“The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?”
(Psalm 27:1,2 NLT)
Every time we open our eyes, light enters our pupils and shines onto our retina. Inside our retina are photoreceptors – nerve cells that interpret light and transmit the information to the brain. That’s actually how we see things. It’s pretty straight forward, except there is a small area on our retina is where there are no photoreceptors. This is known as our blind spot.
Blind spots (defined in the context of personal development) refer to the aspects of ourselves we aren’t aware of. This can refer to a broad spectrum of different things – our traits, values, actions, idiosyncrasies, habits, feelings or thoughts.
In my pursuit toward my highest level of becoming like Jesus, uncovering my blind spots is a constant interest of mine. I’m always on the lookout of situations when I feel resistance. You can’t change what you don’t notice, so it’s through intention that we experience growth. We invite the Lord to shed light where there is darkness!
Are you curious about what your blind spots might be? Every personality has great strengths when submitted to the Holy Spirit, but any personality that isn’t surrendered to the Holy Spirit can be used to the extreme and may become potentially damaging. Your strengths when taken too far can sabotage your life, and are hard to see, because after all, it’s a strength! (and there it is – a blindspot!)
An example of one of my personality strengths is that I am very nice and considerate of others. How can that go wrong? Let me tell you the ways! (haha) I “over-help” Bob continually, cleaning up after him, and then he can’t find something. I’ll hear his voice through the house, “Audrey! Are you helping me again?” I was in a traffic circle last week, and a car slipped in front of me, and for some reason I presumed the car behind him was a friend who needed to follow him. So, instead of taking the right of way, I slowed down to let the guy go ahead of me. He was confused, because it obviously wasn’t his turn to enter the traffic circle. I kept indicating with my face and hand gestures, “Go! I’m letting you in! Go catch up to your friend!” Well, instead of appreciating me, he was clearly frustrated and angry with my “extra-nice-consideration”. It all happened in a split second, but a perfect example of when our strength is taken to the extreme. My desire to help and be considerate was sabotaged.
Today is my day to think about the gifts God has given me in relating to others. What would that gift look like if taken to the extreme and causing damage? That could be a blind spot that you haven’t noticed before…nothing to beat yourself up about, but rather take note, and ask God to protect you from taking that strength too far.
Thanks for your love and prayers,
Have a great day!
Love Audrey