The Possible Self

Small Wonders

Welcome to the final episode of season 3 of Small Wonders!

A new year approaches - and for many, a new set of resolutions.

Reading, going to the gym, travelling, lifestyle changes: all of us have a “possible self” that we strive towards.

It turns out we’ve been making New Year resolutions for a very long time - at least 4,000 years in fact, according to ancient Babylonian records.

Humans have always pursued personal growth.

We’ve also spent millennia breaking New Year resolutions.

However, it's not as dire as you might think: statistics show that most people who make resolutions keep at least part of them.

The notion of the possible self is often related to both hopes - and fears - for the future.

Hope and fear: the possible is connected to them both.

The possible self is also a theme in the Bible, but a possible self is firmly reliant on Him through whom all things are possible.

The way to the best possible self - the eternal one - comes through the humble servant, encountered in the Gospels.

"Going a little farther, (Jesus) fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26: 39