DANGER! - Binary Mindsets

Things aren’t good or bad…they just are!

Challenges are inevitable. There has never been a promise on this side of heaven that life would be “easy.” Many times, however, we as human beings think in binary terms. It just seems to make more sense for things to be either good or bad.

This binary mindset can dramatically impact our attitudes.  It impacts how we scan the world around us.  

Author Eric Barker (who I referenced last week) says, "Too often we label things 'good' or 'bad' when the right designation might merely be 'different'" (p. 20)  Truth be told, though, “different” can be scary! 

Our human nature wants to be in control of the world around us.  But the truth is that we are not in control.  And when challenges come, our best bet is to surrender to that truth.  When we don’t, anxiety and fear begin to creep into our lives, resulting in a foggy perspective.

The “fog of fear” is the result of a binary mindset.  To see through that fog, we have to stop thinking of circumstances as “good” and “bad” and, instead, begin mining from them lessons we can learn from.  The reality is that what you are going through at this very moment is just “different.”  So, embrace it. Ponder it. Learn from it!

Just because things are out of our control doesn’t mean we are helpless.  Get out of the rut of pessimism and, instead, embrace a more optimistic attitude.  That is key to continuing to “bloom” among the “weeds.”