Our life is like a pencil. Every time it breaks or goes blunt, we have to sharpen it again and again. In life, every time we come to an end or our heart gets broken, we have to start again and again to reboot ourselves in every way. Sometimes it works but sometimes the lead snaps inside the shell and it just doesn't work. 

There are several things we need to know why our life is like a pencil. We should always remember the similarities and never forget. We will become the best pencil we can be and we will always be at peace with the world. Here are some thoughts inspired by the writings of an unknown writer and Bo Sanchez.

A Pencil Has Purpose - God made a pencil to make its mark in this world. Early on, it must establish its purpose; it’s not a backscratcher, a toy that we twirl around our finger, nor an ear cleaner…If a pencil diverts its purpose, it will destroy its very existence. If we use it for something else, it will endanger its life. If the pencil gets broken, we won’t be able to write anymore.

In the same way, we need to establish our purpose. We can’t be distracted, or we endanger our very existence. We must be focused on one thing. Most of us like to be with people of purpose; people who are focused on one thing. They move with direction. 

A Pencil Has Priority - What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. The most important part is what is inside because the inside is connected to its purpose. The outside, could have dirt, bite marks, chipped paint, but that doesn’t matter much as long as its inside is working.

Like the pencil, our purpose is connected to what’s inside us, not what’s outside us. Our money, our house, our car, our watch or our cell phone won’t make us happy. It’s what’s inside us that makes us happy.

The Divine imprint is in us. Inside us is the image and likeness of God. The Bible says “Christ dwells in you.” (Colossians 1:27) and that you are the “Temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Let's value what’s in us more than what’s outside us!

A Pencil Needs Pain - A pencil has to go through painful sharpening if it is to be useful. If it doesn’t go through pain, it won’t be able to fulfill its purpose. In the same way, we will experience painful sharpening from time to time. We must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows; we will go through trials to test us, teach us, and train us to be better than we were before.

Let's look back into our lives. There must be a reason why we went through what we went through. There’s a reason why we went through that molestation, that separation, that deprivation, isolation, that temptation, that tribulation…

A Pencil Needs Perseverance - If it makes a mistake, the pencil doesn’t give up. Why? Because it knows it has an eraser. The pencil simply erases its mistakes, and moves on. 

Like a pencil, life always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did, is not necessarily a bad thing because it helps to keep us on the road to justice. God gives us an eraser. It’s the most powerful eraser in the world. It’s called forgiveness. God forgives us, asks us to forgive ourselves and asks us to forgive others. Let's use our eraser everyday.

A Pencil Needs Power - A pencil left by itself cannot fulfill its purpose. Because its power doesn’t come from itself but from the hand that holds it. For the pencil to make its mark in the world, it needs someone’s hand to hold it. 

We are capable of great things, but we must never forget that there is a hand guiding our steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.

We need to allow God’s hand to hold us so we can fulfill our sacred purpose to which we were born to accomplish. We should know that everything we do in life will leave a mark, so we have to try to be conscious of that on every surface we are used on, we must leave our mark. No matter what the condition, we must continue to do our duty on every action with honesty and humility.

By Tim Pedrosa