Enough For Everyone

All the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.

“See the finish line just ahead? We’ve got this. Dig deep, and let’s finish strong!” As Lizzie huffed and puffed alongside a runner from a competing team, her words of encouragement spurred her opponent to surge toward the finish line.

As Lizzie completed the race several seconds behind her competitor, she found herself engulfed in an unexpected bear hug. The young woman whispered her thanks in Lizzie’s ear, telling her how much the pep talk had helped her when her energy was flagging and she’d wanted to give up.

My daughter’s junior high approach to cross-country races was more than a bit unconventional. She intentionally paced girls from other schools, striking up conversations and offering words of encouragement during the most challenging portions of a course. She always crossed the finish line, but sometimes the girls she ran alongside crossed a moment or two ahead of her, and she was okay with that.

Lizzie’s approach measured success in collaborative ways, which is slightly befuddling to those of us who see races through the lens of winning and losing rather than finishing or not finishing. It’s a perspective shift embracing the foundational truth that there is no scarcity in the Kingdom of God. If God owns the “cattle on a thousand hills,” then another woman’s success does not come at my (or your) expense. Rather than dividing his blessing from an ever-dwindling resource, God has enough for everyone and infinitely beyond. When we learn to be generous, we finally shift our thinking from a scarcity win/loss mentality to a collaborative win/win mentality.^a When we let go of the scarcity mindset, generosity in our resources, time, and encouragement takes on a whole new, incredibly fun dimension. We’re able to cheer wildly and genuinely for one another, finding inspiration and encouragement in pursuing our own goals without worrying about the competition from another’s pursuit of her goals.

I don’t know about you, but I feel an immense relief as I step off the comparison merry-go-round embedded in the scarcity mindset and learn to measure success by God’s standards instead of the world’s.

Julie

Today’s Act of Gratitude

Actively cheerlead a competitor as you adopt God’s standard of success.