Fighting the Status Quo:
How My Pre-Midlife Crisis Taught Me How Not to Conform
I’ve never considered myself a non-conformist in the traditional sense of the word. Up until recently that wasn’t even a word in my vocabulary. Growing up I was pretty much raised to follow the status quo: graduate from high school, then go to college and graduate, and get a good job where I could succeed in life. Is that not how most of us were raised?
So that was the plan. That is, until I discovered a talent and gift for acting and the performing arts in high school. Then while in college I developed a relationship with God that opened up a whole new world of possibility when it came to what I would be doing with my life. Early on my goal was pretty much the same as most people in my field — to either make it big in Hollywood on the “Big Screen” or to make it big in New York starring on Broadway. But the more I grew in my relationship with God, the less that became MY goal in life…or at least it did for quite a while. At that point my ultimate goal had become simple, ministry through the arts. I wanted to use my gifts and talents to influence the world and bring people closer to God. Then something happened that got me off course and started me on a downward spiral which led to my own version of a pre-midlife crisis.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Soon I started pursuing something that deep down I didn’t really have a passion for. But because I’m an actor in this field and I’m surrounded by other actors who seem to be thriving in their careers right now, it led me to spend a lot of time, energy and “heart space” going after things that I didn’t really have a burden for. It was more so because I felt like that’s what I should be doing if I’m going to call myself an actor.
And I remember thinking to myself on several occasions:
“Why don’t I have more of a passion to do all the things that a “real” actor does to succeed in this industry?”; and
“I’m surrounded by friends who are getting booked for job after job, with bigger and bigger shows coming. Why does none of this seem to be happening for me?”
And that’s when God had to remind me that those stereotypes of success were never what he called ME to strive after. I emphasize ME because that might be different for you. But he never promised me that I’d achieve success as a well-known actor in Hollywood or New York. And while I was striving after something that wasn’t His will for me, I was simply getting off course from what I should’ve been focusing on all along — His will and His plans for my life not what is considered successful or thriving in the world’s eyes.
Let’s be honest, as an actor it just makes sense that you’d want to get booked for a major Netflix show, or Hollywood blockbuster, or major network television show. Who wouldn’t want that? But I had to be reminded that God’s plan for my life was much bigger than that and would take me a different route than the status quo. For some people that might be where God wants you to be. But I had to be reminded that my purpose was rooted in ministry and creating works of art that is going to save people’s lives.
And that’s why I wrote this. Because whatever industry you may be in or whatever you were raised to become, there’s always a status quo.
There’s always a “conforming to the patterns of this world” that is really easy to fall into but often times may not be what God called YOU to do. You may have been raised to go to school, then get a good job, find a spouse, have a couple kids. Move up the corporate ladder until you’re making six figures. Or put in 60 hours a week at the job until you’ve “made it.”
But what if God wants to do something completely different with your life? What if He doesn’t want you to conform to the status quo or the patterns of this world?
My hope is that you read this and feel challenged to seek out what it is you were created to do. That you would be content running the race that YOU were created to run, regardless of what anyone else may be doing in their life or race. It’s about you running your race and no one else’s. Be content in doing just that and forget about the status quo!
- R.L. Watson
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