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Happy New Year!



A man asked me yesterday if I had any New Year’s resolutions or maybe even some “revolutions” planned for 2021. I told him I try not to put off necessary changes in my life until January 1, so I didn’t really have any “new” New Year's resolutions that I was not already working on. But then I got to thinking, what would be a good “resolution theme” for 2021?  

 

Up until recent history, contributing was not really a choice. You contributed to the greater good of those around you, or you starved. You might have had a choice in your level of contribution, but it was a question of “How much?” rather than a binary yes or no. And if you wanted to have any semblance of security or comfort in your life, your level of contribution would need to be quite high. Contribution always preceded comfort.  


Such is no longer the case. Not only do we have a choice whether we want to contribute, but we can also choose comfort without the contribution. We can bypass contribution altogether and go straight to a life of ease. Now, that life will not be one of meaning and fulfillment, and you probably will not be happy, but you can have comfort and yet contribute little or nothing to others.  


Unfortunately, this is a choice many have made. They have decided to select comfort over contribution. And while it may be an easy decision in the moment, the downstream cost is devastating. 


Comfort or contribution? You may select neither, but you rarely get to choose both. So, what will it be? 

 

I think that is a good theme for 2021: weighing my decisions against comfort or contribution. When life gives me the choice of comfort or contribution in the year ahead, I hope to consistently choose the latter.

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