Another year is now behind us, and as 2018 comes to a close I find that it’s a good time for reflection—an opportunity to refocus.
Our willingness to look backward may depend on whether we consider the past year to have been successful. But how do we define success? By how others view us, or by how we see ourselves? Some of us determine success in the monetary sense. We all face economic pressures, and we may need to plan how to navigate them in the new year. Others tend to view success through a more relational lens. Did we succeed in maturing and developing our relationships with family and friends? How can we navigate those relationships more successfully in 2019?
Life is a balancing act at the best of times, and the most human instinct is survival. Generally speaking, we will do what it takes to satisfy our own needs before considering others. In the world we live in, that is considered responsible. Indeed, we are each responsible for ourselves, but there may be other factors in play that we don’t readily see. We constantly hear reminders that there will soon be shortages of clean air, water, and other resources. Will these reminders lead us to join in on the dog-eat-dog world around us? Or will we choose to take a more benevolent view?
We all have a certain worldview, a lens through which we see ourselves. I think it’s valuable to determine where our worldviews come from, to figure out how they have been influenced over time.
In my own life, I have faced my fair share of financial and relational chaos. I have gone through bankruptcy. In 2008, I experienced a marital breakup that was really difficult to endure.
In such times, our beliefs about ourselves are tested. Blaming others often seems like the natural thing to do. If we choose to go there, we may ask ourselves some interesting questions. For example, will we see ourselves as the victims of the government’s economic policies, or the frustrating decisions of our employers? Do other people’s relational decisions cause us to see ourselves as failures?
Here is the central question: will we simply go through our lives in survival mode, or will we find ways to thrive in the midst of chaos? Is it even possible to thrive?
The answer, I believe, starts and ends with how we see ourselves. We have all made mistakes and we have all failed. Yet we are all human, built uniquely, and we were all meant to live with a sense of meaning and purpose. Why? Because we matter.
Does your worldview start with seeing yourself in that way? If it does, then 2019 could be an exciting opportunity for something new and different, no matter what has come before.
