WEBVTT

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Hi, yesterday I talked about worldview, the lens

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which we see the world. But I've also been thinking

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that our worldview does not always just affect

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how we interpret what we see. Maybe it affects

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what we notice in the first place. When I was

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younger, I had a pretty clear picture of what

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a good life looked like. I wanted to succeed.

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I wanted to become smarter, more accomplished.

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I wanted to be more athletic. I wanted to make

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an impact. And of course, these things are not

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bad things. I still enjoy learning and I still

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like accomplishing things. I still want my life

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to make a difference. But as I've gotten older,

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something has changed. I'm less convinced those

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are the best ways to measure a life. I'm finding

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myself asking different questions. Did I show

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kindness to someone today? Did I really listen

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when someone else was talking to me? Did I notice

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anything beautiful? Can I see beauty in the person

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standing in front of me? What am I thankful for

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today? Those questions led me to notice different

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things. And of course what's interesting is the

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world did not necessarily change. I did. When

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success was especially important to me, I noticed

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opportunities to succeed. I noticed people who

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were achieving more than I was. I noticed ways

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I could improve. And now I'm trying to notice

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other things. When I visit my dad in his retirement

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home, what stories can I hear from him or the

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other people with him? I love waking up before

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the sun and to see the light begin the day. The

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person who hands me a towel where I work out?

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What is their day like? How about a conversation

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with one of my grandchildren? The ordinary gift

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of another day. In math, the questions we ask

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often determine the patterns we're able to see.

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And I wonder if life works a little like that

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as well. Maybe part of developing a worldview

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is deciding what deserves our attention. So what

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do we do with the pain in this world, with the

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injustice, the disappointment, sickness, the

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betrayal, and the loss? I don't think pretending

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those things aren't there is helpful, but they

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are not all that's there. There's also generosity

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and laughter and music and friendship and beauty

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and love. So maybe wisdom is not learning to

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ignore what's wrong with the world. Maybe it's

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just learning to see more of the world. So my

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question for you today is, what are you looking

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for? Because what we're looking for may have

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a lot to do with the world that we end up seeing.