What If Everyone Was As Earnest As A Lip-Syncer?

 
Well, this is just a simple song, 
To say what you done. 
I told you 'bout all those fears,  
And away they did run.  
You sure must be strong,  
And you feel like an ocean being warmed by the sun.
 - Simple Song, by The Shins


There's a scene in the movie 'Sleepwalk With Me' that featured a lip-sync competition. The first contestant rushed to the stage and began to 'sing', even though her music started a few seconds before she was ready to start. She threw herself into it, eyes closed in concentration, mouthing the words earnestly. Even though the audience was scarce, and even though she never sang a single note, the contestant gave a passionate performance.

It's easy to laugh at something like that. It's easy to see someone be passionate about something trivial and take it as a joke. However it made me think: what if I threw myself into everything I was excited about with as much earnestness as the girl in the lip-sync competition? Not caring about if other people thought I looked silly? Just going for it with enthusiastic zeal. Even if people laughed, would I really care, if my focus was solely on doing what I loved?

I find it easy to get caught up in what other people think. I put far too much importance in the approval of others. Imagine a dancer who only completes moves that get nods from the audience, swooning for applause but restricted by her fear of disapproval, so that the dance no longer belongs to her. That's not who I want to be. I want to live for what God created me to do. If I seek after that and do that then I believe it will also be what I love and am passionate about. After all God gave me any gifts and talents I have for a reason, so if I can use them for His glory then I'll be doing things I love and will have a vertical focus on God's approval, not a horizontal one beseeching the world for approval.

Of course, the enthusiasm of a girl in a lip-sync competition isn't a true comparison to the passion I desire to fill my life with. But if something silly, something meant as a joke, can remind me to close my eyes to people's approval and throw myself into life with the aim of a higher approval? That's the earnest truth I'll compete against the world to live by.