Viewing Life as a Privilege (Stewarding Your Season #3)

A lot of people don’t know that I absolutely love Marvel movies. The special effects, the storylines, and the character development are all reasons why these movies are special to me. My comfort movies are Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

One of my favorite lines in Age of Ultron comes at the end when the Vision is conversing with the last Ultron. While Ultron does not understand the Vision’s fascination and care for the human race, the Vision says that “it is a privilege to be among them”. I come back to that line often.

It truly is a privilege to be among others and live this life that I do.

Life is a Privilege

One day last fall, Wesley and I were taking our normal walk by the river. On that particular day I was struggling with the tension between the demands of motherhood and my dreams of writing. I wondered when the days would come where I could write uninterrupted, days where my words would flow more easily onto the page. As I pushed the stroller, the fall breeze blew, and I remembered that line: It is a privilege to be among them.

It is a privilege to live these days.

It is a privilege to be able to stay home with my baby boy.

It is a privilege to have the freedom to pursue my dreams, even within limited time.

It is a privilege to be a mother.

It is a privilege to exist within the ordinary.

And the list goes on and on.

This perspective shift was what caused me to begin to write more on present moment living. It gave me a new lens with which to view the world. When I began looking at life as a privilege rather than a challenge or an interruption, life began to feel full of opportunity. I felt more excited about my life, eager to find God in the ordinary. And I want to help you do the same so you can live a fuller life.

A Work In Progress

This perspective shift of mine didn’t happen overnight. I still have days where I feel utterly defeated and envious of others who are walking seasons I wish I was in. It’s been consistent practice and gratitude that have helped me in realizing what a privilege it is that I have the life that I do. And practice is not a process that we can rush.

I often say that I’m a work in progress. Aren’t we all? We’re all finite human beings, learning how to be better and live more fully. We make mistakes and have regrets. Oftentimes, we can be irritable, frustrated, and downright rude. I’ve found that a lot of these negative emotions and behaviors come from a limited perspective. We think things should be how we want them to be or as we always thought they were, even in our season of life or current circumstances.

But what if we broaden our perspective and allow other ideas to challenge us? What would happen if we began to live life with more of an open-mind? And what if we opened our hearts enough to notice that God’s perspective is so much bigger than ours?

In addition to realizing that life is a privilege, we also have to be willing to broaden our mindset. Changing our perspective on life to be one that is wider is a conscious choice that we must make. We have to choose to see life differently. It is an active mindset shift that happens within us.

Our life becomes more fulfilling when we allow ourselves to see with a wider lens. And we can better steward our current season when we can view it through that lens.

Here are three ways to begin changing your perspective about your current season:

Begin identifying the privileges that you have right now.

We all have things in our life that we can show gratitude for. We also have privileges afforded to us that many others do not. What are those privileges for you? When we are aware of the privileges we have, it helps to change our perspective on life.

Look at your challenges as opportunities and your frustrations as privileges.

I used to be someone who ran away from trials. Struggles were to be avoided at all cost. But once I started realizing the lessons I was learning through my struggles, I started to embrace the challenges that came my way. 

When we start viewing our challenges or problems as opportunities, we open ourselves up to a whole new way of thinking about life. Same with the frustrations and annoyances of our daily life. If we started to look at them as privileges, how would our lives change? I believe that we would begin to find goodness even in the most frustrating or challenging parts of life.

Remember that God’s perspective is higher than ours.

Regardless of our circumstances, we have to remember that God’s perspective will always be so much greater than ours. He sees the big picture, and He coordinates everything according to it. He sticks to the plan, His master plan. We have to trust that God truly knows better than we do.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.”

-Isaiah 55:8-9

When we begin to change our perspective and mindset about our current circumstances, we open ourselves up to so many possibilities. Suddenly, life begins to feel like a privilege. Our circumstances in this present moment seem so much more important to live out fully. 

It truly is a privilege to live this life.