As somebody who uses an elliptical daily, I watch a lot of YouTube videos to pass the time. I'm generally pretty good about making sure I have my content picked out prior to stepping on the machine, but every once in a while, I resort to tapping on random videos to get me through the end of my workout.
Most of the time, I inadvertently pick some videos that end up being pretty lame, but yesterday I watched a video from leader Jon Acuff about questions every person should ask themselves. One question that stood out to me in particular was the one in the title.
"If your life was a movie and you had to sit in a theater watching it with a bucket of popcorn and sticky shoes on a sticky floor, would you find yourself cheering for you in the movie?"
It's a really interesting question because I had never thought about life quite in that perspective before. If I had to answer that question today, I think the answer would be yes, but honestly, that answer has only been yes pretty recently.
If you were to ask me that question six months ago, a year ago, five years ago, I honestly don't think that answer would have been yes. Granted, I wouldn't have been necessarily boo-ing myself either, but I wouldn't say my life was on a trajectory that I was particularly proud of.
This mostly stems from the fact that I was super centered on my own well being. Looking out for myself, doing things to elevate myself. Don't get me wrong, I still am mindful of my own success, but really for the first time ever, I have become truly mindful of elevating those around me.
What you might not know is that those days of me focusing on myself were dark ones. I battled some varying level of depression for years because I think deep down there was this level of guilt that plagued me for only pushing my own agenda. I suppose I broke free of that finally when embracing that life is fleeting and the successes of this life end at death.
Sorry for getting all morbid on you there, but it's true. When we die, we don't carry our material possessions or reputation with us to the grave. Once it's over, it's over. To that end, my faith inclines me toward focusing on life after death. Specifically, I can't take my reputation or material possessions with me beyond the grave, but I can take other people with me to be with my Father.
In any case, I still think the question posed by Acuff is a good one to think about when thinking about your own life. Are you proud about your life's trajectory? Do you want to see you as the protagonist win? Or are you actually the antagonist to your own movie? Think about that as you examine your career path and life path in general.
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