Thirteen months before I was born, my mother gave birth to twins—one boy, one girl. We were all so close in age that Mom basically had triplets on her hands. It was my older brother, Mike the twin, who competed with me for almost everything.
During my “Big Head Little Body” years, it never occurred to Mike to have some mercy on his kid brother who was struggling. Instead, he made sure I lost at everything. And by everything, I mean every competition, every fight, every race, every game that Mike and I ever played. Actually, there was no competition at all. My brother was the victor.
Then, one day, my torso caught up with my head, and my body was in balance. That’s when I discovered an intoxicating fact—I could win. Or, at the very least, in anything and everything, I could be a legitimate competitor. Now it was time for revenge. All I wanted to do was take Mike down. I wanted to be the best for a change.
This drove my mom crazy. We would compete in sports, drama, grades, comedy, who could get the parents to give in first, who could get from the car to the front door first, who could drink a glass of milk the fastest…everything. And it didn’t stop there. If my mom even tried to get us to consider the merits of the other person, we weren’t having it. For instance, she’d say something like, “Hey, Mike, don’t you think your brother sounds good singing?” Mike’s automatic reply would be, “Yeah, if it’s opposite day.”
Opposite day. Remember saying this as a kid? It was the ultimate trump card after, “I know you are, but what am I?” Saying it was “opposite day” was a clever way to turn everything on its head and become the champion of whatever was being discussed.
“You are super popular…if it’s opposite day.”
“I love your hair…if it’s opposite day.”
“That joke you just told is my favorite ever…if it’s opposite day.”
Now, here’s a life-altering suggestion for you. If you want to embrace who you really are, if you are longing for authentic relationships and true life-giving connections, have an “opposite day” on the optics.
Beyond the Optics
What does “opposite day” with the optics look like? Living by optics teaches us to grab any self-promoting event or circumstance and squeeze it for everything it’s worth. Andy Warhol famously coined the phrase “15 minutes of fame,” and it seems some people are intent on making sure they get theirs. We want to put all our eggs in the optics basket. Living by optics says our value comes from how others perceive us.
If our value is tethered to what we display on the outside—looks, displays of wealth, intelligence, passion, political savvy, humor, power—where anything we feel is measured externally, we can turn that idea on its head.
Optics is the opposite of authenticity.
We can take optics back to its original meaning. Galileo and Newton had it right. We need the truth…not a distortion of what is real. We need clarity about the value of life and who we are to find out what our true purpose is.
We need an optical revelation…and a truth revolution.
The Founder of Opposite Day
What does God have to do with self-image, self-worth, authentic relationships, or how we plan our lives? God is the originator of Opposite Day. God is the only being who knows our deepest desires and our innermost thoughts. God is the only one who loves every bit of us, right down to our core. God is the One who, regardless of anything we say or do, says, “I choose you.” “I like you.” “You are important to me.” And God is the only One who can take any ridiculously impossible situation we find ourselves in and turn it around in one minute.
God has a beautifully stealthy, almost sneaky way of doing the opposite of what we expect and of what we deserve. His values and priorities are just different from ours. His thoughts are higher than ours.
When I figured this out, it completely changed my world. God didn’t judge me as a “Big Head Little Body” player. He made me feel valued.
God looks beyond the optics. The same God who chose David to be king and who put me on a specific life path is choosing you, too. When you connect with God, crazy things start to happen. You stop self-destructing. You shed that “super you” image and start becoming the authentic you that you were meant to be.
God goes all Opposite Day on your life. When you give Him your failures, He begins to prepare you for your greatest success.
When you fall flat on your face, He uses that failure to reshape your life. You thought you were disqualified. Perhaps you did something stupid that seemed life-shattering, or perhaps through no fault of your own, you were just having a “Big Head Little Body” season. And God is saying, “Nope. Doesn’t matter. I choose you.”
How beautiful is that?! You were chosen by God! Let that sink in.
And if that’s not enough, add this: Psalm 139:1-4 and 13-16…
“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord…You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”
God didn’t wait for you to prove yourself before choosing you—He knew you and loved you before you were even born! That’s how God rolls. And that’s how He wants His representatives to roll, too.
Remember, God is the originator of Opposite Day, so make today Opposite Day on your optics. You’ll be glad you did.
And if you’d like to learn more about optics, Opposite Day, and how to live a more authentic and fulfilling life, pre-order a copy of my upcoming book, Overliked: Finding Direction, Courage, and Meaningful Relationships in a Society Crippled by Social Media. And if you pre-order now, you can immediately download some pretty cool free bonus gifts, including the first three chapters of the book before the book hits the bookshelves.
~Pastor Rob
Aka P-Ro