I've already seen myself as lucky and fortunate of how my life shaped up, besides believing in a healthy dose of "Every man is the architect of his own fortune."
However, this year has been big and as with every other life area, this one (mindset, self awareness, approach to life) is never done and constantly evolving. Meaning, some were new realizations/eye openers, others I already knew but found a new connection/deeper level with and others I am trying to get rid off.
- i am a white male, society hugely benefits me, i don't need to spend so much mental space for potentially difficult life situations based on my appearance/gender and prejudices from other people
- i am born in Germany at a time of no war, i always have access to running water, a shelf over the roof and can decide who i want to marry, what job i want to do, little crime
- my parents are from the typical middle class, I studied, many people with that setup have a tough time finding their "spot" in society, sometimes having difficulties relating to the middle class or vice versa academics
- i am incredibly fortunate that i had my parents, they are always behind me and support me no matter what i would do. they were the ones making sure I'd go to gymnasium (prerequisite to attend university)
- there were a handful of moments were i hung with the wrong sort of people and my parents forbid me to make those real friendships/spend time with them
- i am grateful that they somehow found the balance of doing everything for me - maybe being a little too soft on me as I am an only child - but keeping me on track, teach manners and a sense for what's right and just that I listen to them/understand when I crossed a line
- i am grateful for having had multiple people crossing paths with me and believing in me, bringing my thinking on a new level with advices, books, opportunities or just by being there and me being able to observe how they deal with life
- the feeling of bettering myself, being a social class higher as my parents, being more around the people who make the decisions vs being affected by those decisions without being part or rather being independent/running life under my own terms has both good aspects/makes me ambitious but also aspects which are depleting
- there is a certain attraction to mindfulness, gratitude practices, yoga, meditation, creativity, doing things with your hands, nature, wondering if humans are actually any good for this world (like is the thrive for innovation actually sth good for anyone else besides humans), philosophy, on the other side though there is this achievement orientated/social class thinking in me where I want to be on the top and compare myself
- when i was younger i thought life is just a great place with tons of opportunities (lol but also true), currently i am surprised of how complex, non black-white it is, everyone is carrying a nice package of good and bad life experiences that shape them and their actions
- yes, things might have turned out differently if you would be wiser, a better leader, a better partner whatever, fact is, you are apparently not, so let's not pull yourself down, try it and if sth doesn't work for the 46th time, leave it
- reading White Fragility has been huge for me this year. I've been looking for a book like this to help me make a leap for racial awareness, bc I'd like to think of myself as open minded etc, however i also noticed that if i got called "privileged" it didn't resonate well with me, as my parents don't have much money and we couldn't do a lot of things. in jobs i also needed to prove myself as I didn't have the chance of attending Harvard or have family members to bring me into certain jobs or expose that life to me, after grade 6 my parents couldn't help me any more and I needed to learn everything myself/find mentors, put in the extra work. While all this might be true and is great for me that I did it, i am a white male which comes with many benefits and if a woman or a person of color would have done the exact same, they might still not where I am which is obviously not how it should be. Also that it is "normal" to have prejudices/certain racial mental models. While we should obviously try to take steps to reverse them, one should own that this is the case, society shapes your thinking: how many black country leaders are there, how many women are in board rooms, who earns more money, who makes most of the Hollywood movies and impacts our thinking, what types of people do you usually see on magazines, where are the "bad" neighborhoods, who lives there, what smell do you associate with that and the people, ... and then asking women or POCs about how to fix it? Do your own research, you don't need to steal more time away from them explaining it again and again + they are being disadvantage, the actions need to come from the people in power which are most often white males, ie remove pictures and names from CVs when hiring. Little things here and there, speak up in situations to improve the invisible system. Educate and help make the change.
- don't focus too much on yourself, make it a great time for other people, be fun to be around with, don't hang with people who don't see your efforts and don't return it either in similar gestures/compliments or any recognition, take time for yourself, you don't need to live up to an image other people have of you, do your own thing and see who comes along, find the balance of what you accept in other people and what not, don't be too harsh on yourself and also not on other people, do something new, do things just for the fun of it, take breaks, don't sprint a marathon
tbd (or maybe not)
Life's interesting and while we're here, let's embrace it, consciously make the decision to enjoy each moment. Not only what you're doing, also how you're doing it. Just literally get joy out of it.