5 - Metaphors for Living: Life is a Test, a gift, and brief
We have the ability to shape our lives. The way we use imagination to envision a possible future influences our future. It influences how we invest time, spend money, use talents, and value relationships. Such images are life metaphors. Life is a puzzle; life is a journey; life is a minefield; life is a party; life is a game; life is a battle; life is a race. One helpful exercise of the imagination is to reflect upon one's life, consider the pattern one has weaved with one's life, and consider what obvious subtle metaphors have already shaped one's life. We often have family metaphors that shape our lives in tacit ways. Too often, the metaphors by which we have lived our lives have deeply embedded themselves in our subconscious. They may be healthy metaphors – or not. We move toward taking responsibility for our lives as we choose the metaphors by which we will live. We can do this as we take a pause and consider