The New Eve - Lewis Robert [9]
The truth is, when younger women look to their older contemporaries, they get more questions than answers. News anchor Alison Stewart illustrates the surprise and even disappointment many young women feel when they see deep tensions in older career women who look backward on their choices. She said, “When my friends and I talk about older women … part of the conversation always is, ‘Gosh, those women have had to give up so much to make those things happen. Should we give up those things?’” That's a good question. Perhaps it's answered by what Stewart sees in these older women. “I see so many women in their 40's and 50's who are struggling with [the question:] did they make the right decisions about their career.”28
Right decisions. Every woman wants to make them, whether they are about a boyfriend, balancing work and home, raising children, a husband and marriage, a career, when to work and when not to, whom to believe and whom not to, settingpriorities, what and whom to live for, planning life, or connecting with God. These are the right choices women want to make. The question is, Where is the counsel and the guidelines that can help achieve this outcome? This is what this book, The New Eve, offers.
Bold Moves
In the pages that follow, I want to set forth five bold moves I believe can help steer you or any woman of faith toward a more secure, satisfying, and God-honoring life. But let me also say that while these bold moves apply to women of any age or circumstance, I believe younger women in particular have the opportunity to benefit most. That's because these bold moves are much like financial investing. The sooner you get started, the greater the return.
I rejoice today that women like yourself have an unlimited canvas on which to paint their lives. Having two adult daughters of my own, Elizabeth and Rebekah, I love the new freedoms and opportunities our modern age offers. For instance, Elizabeth worked for a major consulting firm in Germany, traveled the world, and proved herself in leadership spheres formerly reserved for men. Rebekah got a master's degree, taught public school for several years, and is now an international teacher in Rwanda. But for my daughters, for you, and for women everywhere, I also desire one additional gift: the power to choose wisely. That's because wisdom has always been the balancing weight to freedom and opportunity. Wisdom is the school the first Eve failed in, but it's the one the New Eve seeks to excel in.
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The View Behind the Choices You Make
What drives the choices you make? Have you ever thought about that? Most of us believe we script our lives, using a highly objective reasoning process involving facts, circumstances, and personal preferences. And while to some extent that may be true, there is also another, less conscious force behind your choices.
It is your worldview.
A worldview is the packaged past. It is the mind-set—right or wrong—you have assembled as your way of seeing and interpreting life. Call it your take on life—your selective spin rooted in deeply held convictions and beliefs, however they came about. It colors everything about you, including the way you experience life and perceive the reality around you. This is the power of a worldview.
Your worldview also shapes what you want life to be. It plots your future. It influences your plans and shapes your goals. The mind-set you have right now—your worldview as a woman—is a significant force behind the kind of woman you are and are choosing to become. Typically, one of four female-specific world-views lies behind your choices that define your womanhood.
The Traditional Worldview
This is a worldview of nostalgia. It springs from a comfort