Hi Friend,
Attempting something for the first time is exhilarating and exhausting. Not so much physically, as emotionally and mentally. We pulled off our first ever Culture Shot, which was for our clients. It went as well as I hoped it would and passed my expectations in some ways. We already started brainstorming who we could host the next one for.
It was virtual, broadcast from my home office/studio. I’m sitting at the desk right now. I can look over my shoulder and imagine Monica, John or David standing in front of the camera doing their thing. I’m super grateful to have high caliber people in my life who bring so much of themselves and their giftings to what we’re trying to do – with great expressions and enthusiasm!
It’s kind of funny. Sometimes it can feel like I’m doing something that is meaningful, matters and has the potential to be significant in someone’s life. Other timesit feels like it doesn’t matter, I’m spinning my wheels, and we’re just goofing around being inconsequential.
Both have the potential to be true. I suspect it has a lot to do with what I wrote you about last week: Faith. Where we focus and believe, our energies will generate results accordingly. How we handle our own calling also matters. If we have a reverence for our life’s purpose in a way that inspires dedication, discipline and diligence then the consequences will seem more impactful.
Beliefs Interpret Weightiness
Do you believe your life matters? How so?
As a parent, it’s easy to see the value we bring to small humans. Suckers couldn’t survive without us! Now, as both of mine are capable young adults, the power dynamic has shifted and my value in their life is entirely different. What makes me FEEL relevant has also. Thankfully, I still matter.
In our work lives, where we spend the majority of our time, do we matter? If you’re getting paid, something you do, think or create has value. Some of it lasting, some of temporary, but all of it worthwhile. Well, at least 90% of it hopefully. Do we FEEL valuable?
I think the rub on that last question is that we place the burden on someone else to give us that feeling. Often times in surveys and post-mortem conversations people will say they didn’t feel valued, so they left their job.
What if it wasn’t the manager, boss or leaders responsibility to give us that feeling? What if it was our own?
Can we decide to feel valuable ourselves?
It’s an interesting dynamic, because in my Christian Faith I am valued because I am loved. In our human relationships can we value ourselves on that simple premise? If someone loves us, that make us inherently worthy? Granted the juxtaposition is in the reality that most of us FEEL valued by our doing… while the relational assertion is by us simply being.
(What if we don’t feel loved, does that make us unworthy? Lots of therapy has happened around that premise, I imagine.)
Instigating Ideas…
1. Write down a list of why you matter.
2. Observe how others value or de-value themselves.
3. Remind someone how important they are and why they matter.
4. Tell someone you love them.
The friction between being and doing to determine our life’s value is a worthwhile internal wrestling match.
Do we matter simply because we say we do?
Do we matter mostly because others say we do?
Do we matter if our efforts produce little?
Do we matter more if our efforts produce more?
Do we matter with no effort?
What you and I believe determines how the truth of our answers influence our feelings and actions… and even sense of satisfaction.
I’m entirely pleased with how our first Culture Shot went. I FEEL fulfilled in several ways. In my relationships and in our content offering, it mattered. Whether identity, calling or purpose that day reflects who I see myself being, which provokes an undeniable sense of value!
I would love to hear how you assign value to yourself and others, while determining how your day-to-day life matters. Do you have any sort of measuring tools for mattering? Please Share!