A View to the Other Side
A few weeks back, one of my friends asked me a fairly sharp question. It wasn't meant to be offensive, condemning, or destructive. It was a sharp, but sincere question: "Why do you so aggressively talk about these meaning over money principles when most of the world already agrees with you?"
I thought she was joking! When the rest of the world already agrees with me?!?!? What planet is my friend living on? I asked her a few questions, and here's what I discovered. She's a Gen-Z'er who spends most of her time with other Gen-Z'ers. That generation, stereotypically speaking, believes more in these meaning over money principles than any generation before. In any event, she's inadvertently surrounded by a lot of people who loosely believe that meaning is more important than money.
However, she's also built differently. She oozes meaning. She's passionate about what she does, and her calling is profound. She also carries herself with a lot of contentment.....i.e. the materialistic ways of our culture don't sway her as much as others.
To summarize, though, she generally believes that most people fall in her camp. I hated to break it to her, but she's an odd duck in our modern society. An awesome duck, but an odd duck. I love how she sees the world, but she's the exception, not the rule.
Want to know what the rule is? This is the rule. Check out this short video clip. You can either click THIS LINK or click the image below. If you don't have TikTok on your device, you can open it in a web browser. I would paraphrase it or quote it, but I need you to see it with your own eyes and hear it with your own ears.
This is what I'm battling every day. Not him. Not this particular man. He might be a great guy. I don't know anything about him, and this is literally the only video I've ever consumed of his. For all I know, he and I could be buds. But his perspective - the sheer bluntness of his perspective - is analogous to what much of our society believes. And when people believe something, their actions typically follow suit.
This brings me to my purview. Every day, I interact with countless people who are making decisions in accordance with beliefs similar to those in this video. It's not going well. At scale, people are making decisions to sabotage their lives and any meaning they could be pursuing. This is leading to record-breaking mental health struggles and an epidemic of Americans disliking or hating their jobs. Depression up. Divorce up. Suicide up. So many bad things....up.
As you navigate your day today, I encourage you to think about this. Which belief system do you subscribe to? Whatever your answer was, what decision patterns are stemming from these beliefs? Is it time to make an adjustment? Whether I know you or not, I desire so much better for you than more money. I'm not against you having more money, but at the same time, I want something for you that money can never buy: meaning and purpose.
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