Have Another Thought

A few days ago, one of my all time favourite movie, ‘Guess who’s coming to dinner’ came up on TV and I couldn’t resist watching it again.

This classic movie highlighted a key issue of interracial marriage. One scene that stands out to me is when Sidney Poitier’s character responded to his dad’s view about his choice of fiancée.

He said to his dad, ‘you think of yourself as a coloured man, I think of myself as a man’. This phrase speaks volume and I couldn’t get away from it since I was reminded of it.

What do you think of yourself and equally important, what do you think of others? We are told that as a man thinks, so is he.

This shows the importance of our thoughts. So as we move towards the end of another year, do you need to have another thought?

Do you need to have another thought about yourself? Do you need to have another thought about others? Do you need to have another thought about the world you live in?

Do you need to have another thought about the challenges you’re facing, knowing they will pass in time?

When you reflect on this past year, what were your thoughts like and how different do they need to be in the coming year?

There have been many times in my life when I had to completely ignore what others thought of me and remind myself to think rightly about myself.

Every time I have job interviews, I am reminded to think highly of myself. In an interview, your success or failure largely depends on people’s perception of you and depending on the outcome, you may start to think poorly of yourself.

Ahead of job interviews, a key part of my preparation is reminding myself of previous successes in other roles, my experience and skills set.

I do this to remind myself that I would be an asset to the organisation and my job at the interview is to present myself in the best possible way to reflect the value that I have to offer.

As long as I do my job well at the interview, the outcome does not negatively impact me even if it’s a ‘No’.

The ‘No’ simply means that there was a better candidate, the timing is not right, there’s a better job out there or it’s their loss.

Whether it’s serious matters like racism, interracial marriages, religion, or not so serious matters like making new friends, what we think of ourselves and others is absolutely critical.

It can determine how we respect and relate to people regardless of any identifying factors.

Many people live in fear of others simply because they look or dress differently to them, missing out on potential friends, business partners or even life partners.

Living a purposeful life often requires interactions with others. There are people who are assigned to come across your path and the question is, will you recognise them or will your thoughts discount them as irrelevant, insignificant or beneath you?

If you struggle with your thoughts about self and others, ask the question, How does their Creator see them? What does my Creator think of me?

Given that every one of us is wonderfully and fearfully made, intricate by design, I am sure we are loved, we are seen as amazing, relevant, of much significance and worth.

As we move towards a new year, have another thought. No one is a waste of space so learn to see the value in yourself and others.

Think of yourself as a person who is very much-loved, one whose life is worth more than you could ever imagine.

Thank you all for journeying through this year with me. I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Purposeful New Year.

In case you missed it, my new book, ‘The Purposeful Life Project’ is out on Amazon. It’s a book that will help you live a more purposeful life.

See you next week and don’t forget to share this post with others.