Today we ask that you stand back and take a look at the beautiful painting that is your life.

Most of the time, as you are caught up in your daily affairs, you do not perceive the Big Picture.  It is like someone standing very close to a beautiful painting.  You cannot see the whole image.  You only see little fragments and smudges of paint.  It may even look ugly, from where you are standing.

So today, we ask that you take a few moments to stand back and admire the painting.

Step back.  Look at the totality of your life.  Your childhood.  Your process of growing up.  All the individuals who have played significant roles in your life — your parents and grandparents, siblings, relatives, teachers, friends, boyfriends and girlfriends, your spouse or spouses, your children, your pets.  All the big characters in your drama.

If your life were a film, how would you portray it?  What are the key moments?  The stars.  The supporting roles.

With enough perspective and clarity, you may even begin to discover that your life has a theme, the way great dramas and works of art do.  There may be several themes, as in a symphony.

You are not trying to “figure anything out” or find “the point of it all.”  You are just observing.  Just stepping back, and looking.

With enough perspective, you may glimpse the great beauty of your life as a whole.  You may begin to see it as a work of art.  You may marvel at at the timing of events, and see the many characters — even the villainous ones, even the “enemies” — as the perfect players they are.   For every drama needs its villains.  Every painting needs shadow as well as light.

Again, there is nothing to “figure out” here.

All we ask is that you take a few steps back, and begin to perceive the Big Picture.  Even a brief glimpse can do you immeasurable good.