Winning in Life is NOT a Solitary Pursuit

When you think of winning, what do you think about? I often think of sports. The winning goal, the winning shot, the winning home run. Winning is the ultimate goal for every athlete. It’s the reason for doing what they do. Well, love for the game or sport should play in there, but we live in the age of winning.
Winning isn’t just for athletes though. You and I are given the opportunity to win every day at something much more important than sports. We get to win at life.
What we need to realize is that life is not a competition and winning is not a solitary pursuit. I know, our society says we have to be the best, do the most, and work the hardest to win. But that’s just not true. God put each of us on this earth to do three things: be in relationship with Him, be in relationship with others, and to win the lost back to God. So if those are the things we need to do, how do we win at life? We focus on three areas:
Gratitude and Thanksgiving
Gratitude is a natural reaction to fully understanding and embracing the Divinity of God. When we understand the vastness of what and who He is, we truly understand how miraculous it is that He WANTS to be in relationship with us. He WANTS to provide for us and bless us.
When we make the decision to emphasize gratitude in our lives, we leave little room for negative feelings such as jealousy or envy. Instead, our hearts are filled with wonder, love, honor, and a unique enjoyment of the complexity and majesty of God’s creation. Including His people.
Relationships
Did you know that the quality of our relationships impacts our daily lives and our long-term well-being? Studies have shown that people who were happiest in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80. Those same studies have shown that loneliness is detrimental to our health.
God knew this. That is why relationships are at the core of our being. In fact, relationship was the primary reason for humanities creation! When we focus on building strong, positive relationships, we win by default. We are healthier, happier, and more focused on what is important in life.
Meaning and Mission
When we focus on meaning and mission in our lives, we will spend more time helping others and stay  focused on family and relationships. Seeing a trend here?
The pursuit of meaning and mission helps us embrace a belief that our life matters. And your life matters, friend. The purpose we find when we focus on meaning and mission increases life satisfaction. I’d call that winning.
Here’s what I want you to do today. I want you to look at the scoreboard for your life. Don’t look at material things (salary, house, car). I want you to look at your gratitude score. How are you faring in relationships? Do you need more work in meaning and mission? Adjust your priorities so you are winning in life with others!
“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57)