Setting ourselves free

          Okay wait, wait, wait! Before anyone sends me a mean e-mail about how Jesus is the only one who can set us free let me explain where I'm going with this.
         Yesterday, I happened to see an episode of "The Glee Project". In this reality show teens and young adults compete to win a 7 episode spot on the show Glee. In this random episode, I happened to catch, the judges/mentors were telling young, beautiful, shy Nellie that they're tired of encouraging her. They said it seemed as if they were begging her to be on the show instead of her fighting to be on the show like the rest of the contestants.
          The show then flashed back to other episode's clips where the judges were pumping her with affirmation and pushing her forward over and over again. Yet, in her present moment she still lacked confidence and seemed disconnected. Her lack of enthusiasm puts her in the bottom 3, where she now has to sing a song the judges have picked in order for her to convince them to save her. As she hits the stage, her demeanor changes, and as she begins to sing she transforms into a different person. Her voice is mysterious and passionate. The judges are obviously moved.
         After she finishes, the judges begin to question her about the drastic change that seems to always happen when she sings. They ask her if she loves singing on stage as a solo artist more than she loves acting. Her transformation speaks for itself. The judges deliberate and post their decisions. The bottom 3 contestants look at the board and beautiful Nellie has been cut. She says her tearful goodbyes and leaves the show.
          Throughout the show, it seemed like Nellie was holding on to this idea about being an actor. Holding on to this idea was obviously torturing her but she never pin-pointed it as the source of her struggles. When she didn't worry about acting and got the chance to sing, she moved people. It was this "acting" image she was clinging to that was building a wall - it didn't fit her.
          When something doesn't fit, instead of trying to hem it, take it in and adjust it countless times in order to force fit it, it's better to simply take it off. When she finally took it off and sang, you could see what truly fit her - like a glove I might say.
         How many things in life do we hold on to, try to squeeze ourselves into, or lie saying it fits when it's way too big, that would be better thrown away. We have to set ourselves free and release it. I remember when I was in school for Christian Counseling; I could have forced my way into the field, or I could be real with myself and let it go.
         We all fit somewhere, but we won’t find it if we are desperately trying to fit where we don't belong. Sometimes other people can see where we fit better than we can and notice before we do when we don't fit, just like Nellie. When we've invested so much into something it's hard to admit that maybe it's time to walk away, but setting ourselves free is the best thing we can do. Until we are honest about what fits, we won’t be able to put on what truly does.