Believe in your potential
By now you all know that I am really interested in the symbolism and meaning behind numbers. Often, I have referenced the number 7 as the number of completion or perfection and the number 8 as the number of new beginnings. These definitions are referenced several times throughout the Bible. Well, my fascination continues and today we are going to talk about the importance of the number 9 – mostly, the importance of it in my life and especially over the last few weeks.
Nine years ago this summer, I began a journey of home ownership. With the help of family (yes with the help of family – like many people I received assistance from someone – the difference is, I am openly honest about it), my son and I moved into a beautiful home. The house wasn’t perfect. It was mostly old, thoroughly lived in and smelled like moth balls, but it had great potential. I tend to look at many things in life like that – with great potential.
This reminds me of a quote I just heard. I recently attended a memorial service honoring a beloved faculty member from Penn State Fayette, Dr. Viswanathan. His daughter fondly remembered him, sharing several of his favorite quotes. One of the quotes was from Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe. “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.” I guess that’s how we made our house a home. I saw and believed in what it was capable of being and poured love, sweat and tears into helping it reach its potential. Or, the pessimistic realist would say, “You just didn’t have the money to buy perfection so you settled for pink carpet and moth balls.” And I would say, “Back off! Don’t ruin the moment. Rainbows and butterflies are necessary every once and awhile.”
Over the nine years that I owned the home, it had several visitors. Some would stay for a few months others for a few years. Some of those visitors would add immense value to the home and others would be blessed by it. It caused me many a headache, heartache and wallet-ache. I cried many tears and learned many valuable lessons. But no matter who lived in it or how much it frustrated me, it was a blessing. It stood strong, beautiful and always full of love. It was a reminder of a plan that I had when I was 24 years old. It was a reminder that I was full of potential.
When I gave birth to my son at age 18, I had several naysayers who were very close to me in my life. They doubted that I would effectively raise my son, earn a degree, get a decent job, or own a home. They knew me well and still doubted my potential. They are the type that looked at my first home and saw pink carpet and moth balls instead of the beautiful stained glass windows or original window seat in the dining room. They see with their eyes and not the heart. Anyway, this affected how I lived. I planned my life to the T. I was going to have a degree by 22, if not sooner. I was going to work at least 1 job, but usually it was 2 or 3. I was going to own a home by the age of 25. When I achieved those goals that I made for myself, I felt invincible and threw a little “now there” around every chance I could.
I shut up the naysayers. I proved them wrong. I do have potential.
Although I was driven by my own ridiculous pride and crazy expectations (that at many times cost me valuable time with my son and forced me to miss out on memories with my family and friends), I knew that the only way I could achieve my goals was by having and following a plan. In the Law of Design (15 Invaluable Laws of Growth), John Maxwell finds that in order to maximize growth, you must develop and follow effective strategies.
He shares that “If you don’t design your own life plan, you will fall into someone else’s design for your life.” I could not allow myself to fall into someone else’s plan for my life. So I quickly learned how to plan and follow thru with effective strategies so that I could reach my goals.
So where does this number nine come into play? The number nine in the Bible relates to wholeness. When successfully achieve our goals in life, we feel whole. A stage of our life is now complete. A goal is now fulfilled. A journey has now ended. I sold my home in August of this year. The selling of my home was a completion to my journey and a reminder that I am now whole. Thanks to the love and at times financial support of family and friends as well as the amazing dedication and talent of my realtor, my home was sold, my design completed.
Nine is also relevant because the number of my home was 81, 8 +1=9. The name of my street had 9 letters in it. Seven, the number of completion, is also relevant. I purchased the home when I was 25, 2+5=7. I sold the house when I was 34, 3+4=7. My son was 7 when I bought the home. My son is now 16, 1+6=7.
Here is the deal. I am not a numerologist nor am I making decisions based on numbers.
I don’t play the lottery and I am not shuffling cards or connecting dots to determine my future. I am however in tune and aware of numbers after decisions are made. I recognize them as my life continues to play out, following the plan that God’s created for me.
I’ve mentioned this before, and I will remind you of it now. On January 1, 2014 (1+1+2+0+1+4=9), I fully committed my life to the Lord. I was already actively following his plans for me, but I was fighting to keep the wrong relationships in my life and fighting against the peace and fulfillment that awaited me. I was pretending. Once I decided to stop pretending and start believing my own words, living my own passions, and following my life’s design, everything started to work in my favor. I mean everything.
What does this mean for you? Live a life by design.
Don’t wait for life to just happen to you. Create a plan and follow it. There will be bumps and bruises along the way, but who cares!? We all have a few battle scars at the end of the road. What matters is, that you made a plan, you saw it through, and hopefully, at the end of the road, you will have reached your goals and basked in the glory of your success.
Gina Jones is a life-long resident of Fayette County and serves the community as an encourager, educator and advocate. Learn more about Gina at www.gmarieproductions.com.