“If you don’t get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don’t want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can’t hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament.”
– Socrates
We live in the company of heroes: Moses. David. Paul. Augustine. Aquinas. Luther. Graham. That company creates a collision of unique pressures—spiritual ambition, professional ambition, and cultural ambition—each of which press on us all the time. Consequently, we deeply desire productivity. And we should. The fact that our lives need to matter is as obvious as it is urgent. Our lives need to matter to God, and they need to matter to us also.
But there is something equally important: wholeness.
We’ve got to take care of ourselves. Our souls depend on it. We must remain well. We’ve got to learn what wellness is—for us! We’ve got to figure out how to stay well and be motivated enough that wellness is normal in our lives. We need time to stay well, and wellness has to be affordable.
We’ve got to learn that we aren’t smart enough to force-feed our souls. Our health and wellbeing will not cooperate with our abuse.
Oh nuts—I just fell into my old trap. I’m speaking spiritual gobbledegook.
Let’s try again.
Here’s what matters: being awesome.
Awesomeness doesn’t mean being impressed with yourself, but it does mean living a life you love.
Awesomeness doesn’t mean showing off, but it does mean getting to do what you enjoy.
Awesomeness doesn’t mean others fawn over you, but it does mean you get to laugh and dance and let your hair down every day—sometimes even in the middle of the day.
You get to be awesome at your job. You get to be an awesome parent. You get to have an awesome house. You get to do awesome things. Sure—your stuff might not be the fanciest or the costliest—but you get the privilege of wanting what you’ve got.
Because it’s awesome.
(See how much better this is than talking about wellness?)
Somehow, we’ve forgotten that the end goal of human being is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. God is awesome. You get to be awesome too. You don’t get to be God—you’re not the star, you’re just his shadow. Get over your workaholism. Get past your drama. Get on with your life. You’re made in the image and likeness of God. You’re his emissary. You’re his representative. You’re an agent of his goodness.
And being in God’s shadow is better than being in your own spotlight.