Thriving vs. Surviving

A few days ago, I listened to a friend of mine, Leah Rex of Leah Noell Design Co. talk about money mindsets in her group. It was a fantastic conversation that really challenged my way of thinking about money, how that trickles down to our children, and how that navigates our decision making. Not only did that conversation ignite some internal checking-in with my own money mindsets but it also resulted in me thinking a lot about mindsets in general.

Today, in particular, I'm focusing on the thriving versus surviving mindset. There is a significant difference between surviving a situation and thriving in one.

Speaking for myself, my survival mindset automatically kicked in last spring when without warning, my mother-in-law had to cut her visit short and fly back home because airlines were canceling flights, we were notified that Elijah would not be able to return physically to the first grade and from there, things began to get more uncertain, more frightening and like nothing I had ever experienced. I was seeing and hearing words daily like "rising cases", "death toll", and "pandemic." I was shell-shocked and scared. Naturally, I began operating from a survival mindset and I think to a degree that is both normal and to be expected during unprecedented times such as these.

But today I am asking myself what if I break free from the survival mindset and embrace the thriving mindset? What if I dared to believe that not only can my family survive the everyday but instead rise-up and thrive in our everyday? What if I dared to believe that during this season we can go beyond simply surviving, by shifting our focus and energies on how we can be healthier, wealthier, wiser, more family-oriented, more fulfilled, and rooted in a deeper level of faith than we ever have?

Sound impossible? Nah...

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26