Who You Kidding?

I subscribe to a statistics providing service called Statista. What once started out as a possible resource for mental health statistics has turned into a steady feed of discontentment. Maybe I'm biased? Maybe I just have an eye out for what slightly irks me. It seems like their goal is to provide you with a consistent supply of numerical evidence that the world is a place full of injustice, disparity and imbalance.

Take this for example. They recently put out this statistic regarding workforce percentage of women in healthcare and education roles. To put it lightly, women dominate in these areas. They see this as a problem. Rewind about 100 years ago, and I'm pretty sure women were nowhere near dominating in these industries. Instead of progress, they see problems.

Blame politics? Sure—if the U.S. were a communist state where your career path was nearly chosen for you. But since it’s one of the freest economies in the world, maybe—just maybe—women gravitate toward certain jobs because they’re actually better suited for them.

Or is science the villain? If you buy into evolution, then after a few billion (or trillion, or whatever number feels right today) years of natural selection, women ended up excelling at nurturing—and complaining about that is basically calling “science” unfair.

But enough about pseudo-science and the politics of statistics and how they attempt to influence public opinion instead of merely informing. Let's get down to what I really what to talk about.

Be Who You Were Designed to Be

Disclaimer: Buckle up. I know it is quite the leap to go from women's workforce statistics to a man reminiscing about how he wanted to grow up and become a professional baseball player, but follow me.

Early on in life, I wanted to become someone very different than what was actually naturally possible. I'm glad my parents never took it too serious and I'm glad a woke school counselor never got ahold of me. They would've affirmed my childish dream to become a 6'3, 200 LB, left-handed black man. Yep, the right-handed white kid wanted to be Ken Griffey Jr (aka The Kid).

I played center field, cuffed my baseball pants into my cleats like him, and even tried batting left-handed and mimicking his hall-of-fame swing. I memorized his stats and collected his baseball cards. But who was I kidding, eventually reality set in, and I had to realize my life was on a totally different course.

Now, as a 5'11, 180 LB, right-handed grown-man, I could decry the disparity of how many average white guys like me have become as successful and rich as Griffey, but that would be ridiculous. Instead, the better response is to settle in to who God made me to be. Accept who I am and how I am, lean into it, and move forward in life with gratitude, humility and ambition.

Instead of using precious energy and emotion focusing on the supposed injustice of being someone I was never intended to be, I can spend time asking God about who I am supposed to be. What specific skills, abilities and aptitudes were encoded into my DNA? Are those mistakes, or would the real mistake be to disregard and ignore them?

You don't have to be a teacher. You don't have to be a doctor. You don't have to be a preacher, mechanic, business owner, or a professional athlete. You don't have to be unhappy either. You will be happiest when you've made peace with yourself and God regarding your identity and vocation.

Turn off the influences provoking you to discontentment, and pursue God. Many seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the Lord that a man gets justice.