There are as many outlooks on life as there are people to have them. In many cases, they are about as useful as an opinion and a warm glass of spit. The single biggest problem with a life outlook is that they define the world as perceived or it doesn’t define anything at all. Outlooks on
life when effectively constructed and laboriously installed define the visual field and its contents for the viewer. They also give the viewer emotional preset feedback. They can also act to narrow the field of vision and color it to whatever preset the outlook was built to output.
When it is done properly, this works to aid the viewer. It can assist the viewer in advancing agenda and attaining life goals. It can spur the person on in making the most of their time in the world and redeeming the opportunities granted him or her. It can be a positive spur. It can be a substantial aid in times good and bad.
If the framework is done improperly, it will act as the exact opposite. When its constructed from fear, bias, and negativity it is anything but helpful. It acts to keep the viewing from risking advancing on a potential opportunity seeing as a trap. It limits potential for growth and with that success. It becomes a chain that binds the viewer to a world of agony and disappointment.
The outlook that defines nothing is just as problematic. It is in essence no outlook at all. It can be and often is an outlook in name only. Typically it goes completely unused by the potential viewer. This outlook causes the viewer to drift through life with no sense of urgency or little ability to recognize opportunity when it is staring the wearer in the face. The viewer is for all intents and
purposes in this case leaves the viewer functionally blind.
Life outlooks require substantive effort to create. The demand constant adjustment to function as intended. The viewer must still be vigilant to guard against bias and general animus that can bleed
into outlook. They are certainly not build, install, and forget appliances. Outlooks to function effectively require constant attention.
The best life outlooks proceed from overtly simple concepts. Some are little more than expressions of personal values. A friend of mine shared his with me recently it is, ‘life is an exploration’, and it has guided him well over the years. Another profound one I ran across was ‘life is about giving all that you are in the moment’.
My own outlook is based upon such a simple notion. It is ‘always value the power of that which is possible’. This is not some ode drawn from pop psychology. It is not some weak assent to the power of positive thinking. It is drawn from personal experience coupled with Biblical enlightenment. In Matthew 19:26 it says… “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are
possible.” In my opinion that means in any situation the divine is capable of delivering infinitely more than I can comprehend or accept as possible. It means that three loaves and two fish in the master’s hands can feed a multitude. It means that seas can part, a universe can come into being, the sick can be healed, and a valley of the dead can be raised to life in service to the creator.
For me, it means, in my own life, that the facts as I see them aren’t the whole picture. It means one plus one only equals two as long as there aren’t other factors in the equation to change the outcome. It means a young man of little means can somehow, mystically survive college without the obvious resources to do so. It means an undisciplined and rebellious youth can see the world in a Navy uniform. It means a man who had given up on life and love can have his world radically altered by the simple act of a desperate prayer spoken in the wee hours of the dark. It means that the tattered remnants in our lives can be transliterated into something wholly different.
When we value what is possible at the core of our being, the world becomes a different place. When that is our outlook on the world, we can accept the current state while understanding it doesn’t always have to be that way. The broken and battered can become the repaired and reforged. The so called bungled and botched can become the renewed and the avant guarde. That which is can become that which should be.
There are historical examples of this. Gandhi embraced the idea of Indian independence through non-violent means. At the time he embraced this idea there was no evidence it was possible to do this. There was no road map for walking this path. The consistent witness of history to that point was that independence was only achieved through force of arms. And yet in the face of mountains of evidence to the contrary, he persisted to believe this was possible. It became the mission of his life. It was a success. That success reshaped the South Asian continent and I daresay the entire world for the better.
Winston Churchill in the dark days of World War Two is another example. He believed not only that the United Kingdom would survive but that the Axis powers and Germany in particular would be vanquished. He had no evidence for this belief. Western Europe had been crushed under a swastika banner. The Axis armies were better equipped, better led, and had superior tactics. At the low point, the Allied Command hadn’t won a single battle in the field. Their cities were being pummeled daily and German submarines were sinking every cargo ship in sight.
And yet he persisted in believing in eventual triumph as more than just a distant possibility. His outlook on it defined him. It radically altered all his actions. Many though him to be insane for his beliefs. The testament of history proved his belief to be correct. His faith in the possibility of eventual victory was vindicated only a scant few years later.
And so let me conclude by saying this… It is not too late to adjust your outlook. It is not too late to start valuing the possible. In doing both you can radically alter your own circumstances.
I can’t promise results or that the preferred outcomes we ache for will
happen. I can promise that your
life will be significantly different, and the ensuing adventure will have been
worth the ride. And being consumed
along the way by a peace and joy not defined by circumstance as I have will have
been worth the risk.
life when effectively constructed and laboriously installed define the visual field and its contents for the viewer. They also give the viewer emotional preset feedback. They can also act to narrow the field of vision and color it to whatever preset the outlook was built to output.
When it is done properly, this works to aid the viewer. It can assist the viewer in advancing agenda and attaining life goals. It can spur the person on in making the most of their time in the world and redeeming the opportunities granted him or her. It can be a positive spur. It can be a substantial aid in times good and bad.
If the framework is done improperly, it will act as the exact opposite. When its constructed from fear, bias, and negativity it is anything but helpful. It acts to keep the viewing from risking advancing on a potential opportunity seeing as a trap. It limits potential for growth and with that success. It becomes a chain that binds the viewer to a world of agony and disappointment.
The outlook that defines nothing is just as problematic. It is in essence no outlook at all. It can be and often is an outlook in name only. Typically it goes completely unused by the potential viewer. This outlook causes the viewer to drift through life with no sense of urgency or little ability to recognize opportunity when it is staring the wearer in the face. The viewer is for all intents and
purposes in this case leaves the viewer functionally blind.
Life outlooks require substantive effort to create. The demand constant adjustment to function as intended. The viewer must still be vigilant to guard against bias and general animus that can bleed
into outlook. They are certainly not build, install, and forget appliances. Outlooks to function effectively require constant attention.
The best life outlooks proceed from overtly simple concepts. Some are little more than expressions of personal values. A friend of mine shared his with me recently it is, ‘life is an exploration’, and it has guided him well over the years. Another profound one I ran across was ‘life is about giving all that you are in the moment’.
My own outlook is based upon such a simple notion. It is ‘always value the power of that which is possible’. This is not some ode drawn from pop psychology. It is not some weak assent to the power of positive thinking. It is drawn from personal experience coupled with Biblical enlightenment. In Matthew 19:26 it says… “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are
possible.” In my opinion that means in any situation the divine is capable of delivering infinitely more than I can comprehend or accept as possible. It means that three loaves and two fish in the master’s hands can feed a multitude. It means that seas can part, a universe can come into being, the sick can be healed, and a valley of the dead can be raised to life in service to the creator.
For me, it means, in my own life, that the facts as I see them aren’t the whole picture. It means one plus one only equals two as long as there aren’t other factors in the equation to change the outcome. It means a young man of little means can somehow, mystically survive college without the obvious resources to do so. It means an undisciplined and rebellious youth can see the world in a Navy uniform. It means a man who had given up on life and love can have his world radically altered by the simple act of a desperate prayer spoken in the wee hours of the dark. It means that the tattered remnants in our lives can be transliterated into something wholly different.
When we value what is possible at the core of our being, the world becomes a different place. When that is our outlook on the world, we can accept the current state while understanding it doesn’t always have to be that way. The broken and battered can become the repaired and reforged. The so called bungled and botched can become the renewed and the avant guarde. That which is can become that which should be.
There are historical examples of this. Gandhi embraced the idea of Indian independence through non-violent means. At the time he embraced this idea there was no evidence it was possible to do this. There was no road map for walking this path. The consistent witness of history to that point was that independence was only achieved through force of arms. And yet in the face of mountains of evidence to the contrary, he persisted to believe this was possible. It became the mission of his life. It was a success. That success reshaped the South Asian continent and I daresay the entire world for the better.
Winston Churchill in the dark days of World War Two is another example. He believed not only that the United Kingdom would survive but that the Axis powers and Germany in particular would be vanquished. He had no evidence for this belief. Western Europe had been crushed under a swastika banner. The Axis armies were better equipped, better led, and had superior tactics. At the low point, the Allied Command hadn’t won a single battle in the field. Their cities were being pummeled daily and German submarines were sinking every cargo ship in sight.
And yet he persisted in believing in eventual triumph as more than just a distant possibility. His outlook on it defined him. It radically altered all his actions. Many though him to be insane for his beliefs. The testament of history proved his belief to be correct. His faith in the possibility of eventual victory was vindicated only a scant few years later.
And so let me conclude by saying this… It is not too late to adjust your outlook. It is not too late to start valuing the possible. In doing both you can radically alter your own circumstances.
I can’t promise results or that the preferred outcomes we ache for will
happen. I can promise that your
life will be significantly different, and the ensuing adventure will have been
worth the ride. And being consumed
along the way by a peace and joy not defined by circumstance as I have will have
been worth the risk.
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