Mistakes and blunders checker our past, like a used dart board. Most of us prefer to focus on the future, what we can control. It’s why our windshields are larger than our rearview mirrors. We figure that if we can convince ourselves and others that we’re honestly and consistently striving to be better, richer, more holy, or more successful (at least, more than our friends), then we'll have a life worth living.

In a series of thoughtful reflections, humorous stories, and current research on Western culture’s obsession with the “self,” C. B. Lund shares that the answer lies not in self-realization, but in self-forgetfulness. I’m Not Great points to the life-giving truth that we were never intended to be the main character of our own stories. Rather than playing the David that defeats the Goliath or the suave super-hero that swoops in to save the day, we would do our present anxieties and crushing expectations for ourselves and others a huge service if we realized we were more like Shrub #2 on stage left, just thankful to be included in the story at all.

Whether a person identifies as a believer in God often makes little difference. Surveys show that anxiety levels, mental health disease, divorce rates, and isolation have impacted believers and unbelievers alike. In the West’s individualistic society, both groups intend to fix these problems in surprisingly similar ways. Society says to find fulfillment, definition, and affirmation in your job, success, monetary worth, humanitarian accomplishments, relationship status, or whatever you choose as your success metric. And while a religious believer is also prone to these things, all too often the church itself encourages its congregants and members to focus on increased self-control, self-discipline, social or biblical justice, and “being better for Jesus”. It’s not until we realize that we’re not really all that awesome that we can be pointed toward a life of hope, freedom, and joy.