Lose Yourself

9/8/2025

“In order to be successful in any kind of undertaking, I think the main thing is for one to grow to the point where he completely forgets himself; that is, to lose himself in a great cause. In proportion as one loses himself in the way, in the same degree does he get the highest happiness out of his work.” (Booker T. Washington)

I don’t know if this totally connects, but it connected for me. :) When the above quote was sent, I was telling my ten-year-old to do something he didn’t really want to do. I tried to describe to him that life is like a beautiful painting. It’s made up of thousands of brush strokes of different shades and shapes. He wasn’t liking one particular brush stroke at that moment. “Lose yourself in the Painting!”

“When a Roman soldier was told by his guide that if he insisted on taking a certain journey, it would probably be fatal, he answered, ‘It is necessary for me to go—it is not necessary for me to live.’ That was true depth of conviction, and only when we are likewise convicted will our lives amount to something. But a shallow life lives on its impulses, impressions, intuitions, instincts, and largely on its circumstances. Those with profound character, however, look beyond all these and move steadily ahead, seeing the future, where sorrow, seeming defeat, and failure will be reversed. They sail right through storm clouds into the bright sunshine, which always awaits them on the other side. Once God has deepened us, He can give us His deepest truths, His most profound secrets, and will trust us with greater power. Lord, lead us into the depths of Your life and save us from a shallow existence!”

On to broader fields of holy vision;

On to loftier heights of faith and love;

Onward, upward, apprehending wholly,

All for which He calls you from above.

(A. B. Simpson)