Labels... Boxes... We've all got them... We've all been put in a box, We've all put others in a box... But really... What does it accomplish??? Why do we do it???

Lately... I've been squished into so many tiny boxes I feel claustrophobic and stuck. What are my boxes??? Disney, Princess, Purple, Music, Fun-loving, Perfect, Lazy, Crazy, Unmotivated, Outgoing, Shy, Quiet, Talkative, disorganized, childish, serious, busy... The list could go on... And how do I feel about it??? I have no idea... but so far... I feel stuck, I feel claustrophobic, I feel like I can never be what I want to be... because I have to be what I've become...

Now are boxes all bad??? No! I would definitely say they aren't. I've been placed in boxes with labels such as "goody-goody," "fun-loving" "responsible" "carefree" "music" and honestly... some of those labels have kept me going... being labeled a goody-goody I was faced with much less peer pressure then others simply because everyone assumed my answer would be no and I didn't have to face the decision myself. Rock on! Sure it made me feel like an outsider at times, but people still knew I had boundaries and didn't bother pushing them. Being labeled care-free... People admire you, they want to know your secret, it helps you live up to what you've been labeled, to remember to let it go, not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself. Music??? Helps remind me there's something special that God gave me. Sure there's people better then me at music, and there always will be. But God didn't give me the talent to perform music, He gave it to be such an important part of my life that my life become's a song of worship, to let my worship burst forth and to bless those around me. And when at times I forget... it's nice to have someone remind me of the label's that God's given to me...

But what about the other ones... Right now... honestly, my biggest pet peeve is purple and disney... it seems like thats all my life will ever amount to. Because no matter what happens... Everyone will be assuming my label is concrete, that all my colour choices will result in purple. That I will forever be a disney princess, that spoiling me, will bring me great joy in life... But guys... it's killing me... Every time I hear the words Kimmy and purple together... I cringe... Every time I am told about the newest disney movie or a funny new meme... I die a little inside... We put these labels on people... We stick them in a box and we don't... let... it... go...

Ok, now here's where I make a confession...  I don't know how to change it... It stresses me out, it bothers me, it kills me... But what am I doing about it??? Nothing... Why??? Cause I don't know how... Why do we put labels on people??? Sometimes because we admire them and put them in a box on a pedestal... Sometimes because they are so blatant about their love for something... Sometimes, because we emphasize whats important to them... Sometimes, it's simply because we've been doing it so long, we've grown up being taught to put people in boxes, they've been passed on from generation to generation and it's simply the way we are. But what does it accomplish??? Sometimes... it encourages someone to live up to the person they once were... Other times... it encourages the strong to break out of the boxes and the labels and create new labels and boxes, to encourage one to look deep inside and determine what is important to them and how do they really want to be perceived. Sometimes it simply encourages us to pay attention to the boxes people will put us in... But in general??? I've seen it destroy so many people... Convince them they are what they are and there's nothing they can do about it. I've struggled myself time and time again arguing with myself, that it doesn't matter what others say or what boxes I'm put in, I can get out. Whether they choose to keep looking through the box to someday realize I am gone... or whether they choose to accept that the box is not where I live, it is simply another piece of furniture in my house, thats their deal... But time and time again people try to shove me back into that box... and time and time again I listen, I let them push me back because it's simply easier to sit quietly in a box then to fight over and over again for people to see past the box.

Are you guys stuck in the boxes to??? Do you find yourself pushed between boxes??? Maybe pushed one box inside of another??? Like me do you choose to remain in the box because it's simply easier, or because you don't know how to get out??? Have you accepted your life for what it is and refuse to change it??? Maybe you've been in the box so long you forget the world is fresh outside, you've brought pillows and cookies into the box and frankly... whats the point in getting out??? Well guys here's the deal... I think I've posted this song before... but I'm going to post it again... Because I think it's so important to be able to choose the boxes we live in... This has been one of my favourite songs for as long as I can remember... But it's also super discouraging... Not exactly about labels... But how will you be remembered??? Will you be remembered for your boxes??? Or will you be remembered for jumping out of the box and being yourself outside of the boxes???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9e_JF7FgzA

"I don't have to look too far or too long awhile
To make a lengthy list of all that I enjoy
It's an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile
Where moths and rust, thieves and such
Will soon enough destroy"

Are the boxes we choose to live in simply boxes that will be destroyed and destroy us??? Do they uplift us or bring us down??? Guy's we've got a God that doesn't believe in boxes... He takes fishermen, and makes them preachers, He brings sinners, and makes them saints... Do we live in boxes set for us by man??? Or do we take it to the next level and see people for the boxes they break out of and the life they begin to live??? Do we encourage people to break out of the boxes we put them in... Or do we tell them to forget the boxes and live the life God has given us??? There's a fantastic children's story called You are special about a puppet named Punchinello, Who's been given label after label... the Wemmicks give good labels, and they give bad labels... But one day Punchinello meets the woodcarver that tells him that he is special not because of a label, but because the Woodcarver created Him, and loves him. The story ends with neither the good labels nor the bad labels sticking to Punchinello because He wasn't worried about labels, but he was worried about living the life given to him instead. Sure the good ones are nice and can bring people up... But they only reach so far... Their still a box... I wish to live my life outside the box. To say I am special not because of a label, but because of the one that breaks the boxes.

I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me? 
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace
Who blessed Your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy... 

A legacy of God's love and mercy, of His goodness and His story. Not my own miserable life of boxes and labels. A life outside the box, a life that when I start to get comfortable God takes my box and turns it inside out and throws it away.