4.01.2010

I'm Just an April Fool (who wants meaning)

I thought about doing an April Fools post, but I decided not to. Maybe cause I already fooled my friend Ali with a prank text message. heh. heh heh.

Moving on...

I forgot to mention that I am on Spring Break from my after school program. It's really nice to laze about all day, choosing when to go where. Gotta love that freedom. But with all this time on my hands, I'm finding it hard to accomplish actual errands. ha. Isn't that the way it goes?

Well, at least I cleaned my bathroom.

Anyway, while I've had time away from work, I watched a podcast from a church in LA. It's called Mosaic, and I really respect the pastor and the way he delivers his sermons. He's got a writer's heart, that bloke!

He gave a sermon on work, and it definitely sparked something within me. He was talking about how work without meaning often leads to a life without meaning. Think about it, we spend MOST of our time at work. This is not to say that you need a "meaningful" job; rather, he was introducing this idea of making any job you have meaningful. Let's say you worked at Target as a cashier. You could choose to work that job to its full potential, making every interaction with a customer an actual human interaction, so that they feel important in that moment.

That's kinda beautiful.

He also brought up that work is work if you only bring average to it, but if you focus on bringing your very best--creativity, intellect, etc.--work can become play.

Of course there are some jobs that are dead-ends and not your place...so it's your duty to get out of them, right?!

In these next few months I feel that this is something I can start to pinpoint. What is it I want to be doing that will be meaningful in this life? What is the kind of meaning I want? Well, I can answer that...I want to resonate in people's lives. This may be a morbid way of looking at it, but I want my funeral to include a lot of people that have known me and loved me. I want a place full of people that will cry for me, but will look back fondly on my life, because I looked fondly on them.

Don't we all want that? This requires a process of putting myself out there. I've already got this reputation for being a loyal friend (haha, such an INFAMOUS reputation), but I can add to that list. I want to start making a difference. Somehow, some way.

8 comments:

  1. That's a good start, but remember: the sooner you can get specific about resonating in people's lives, the better. Make lists for yourself that become more and more meticulous. Or create suppositions wherein you get to play the role of what you wish to do. Being specific, especially on paper, can be very helpful.

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  2. Yes, we all want to be liked. We all want people to say nice things about us.

    Call me pessimist (which I am), but I have pretty much given up trying to resonate with people. Perhaps because my personal experience has been that people do not repay my fondness with fondness. They usually don’t appreciate or acknowledge my efforts or care one bit.

    Like you, I am always contemplating the meaning in life. Here is what I am beginning to understand: gaining men’s (meaning human beings in general) approval is not important. What is important is having God’s approval and walking in His will – be it an easy road or a hard road. Regarding people, Jesus instructed us to love our neighbor as ourselves and to forgive. This is hard for me because there are no qualifiers there. I’ve asked God to help me be kind and loving to people without expecting anything in return. I’ve stopped trying to gain friends or question the unfairness of not receiving due recognition. The result is that I feel a lot less disappointed and a lot more optimistic about my purpose in life.

    It makes sense when I think about the fact that Jesus died on the cross without expecting to be repaid. There was nothing glorious or fair about his death. He lived a perfect life, yet people did not say nice things about him when he was crucified. So whether I have a nice funeral with loved ones all around or whether I die alone, it is really only important to love God and love others the way Jesus did. The rest is out of my hands and useless worrying.

    D.

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  3. Ahem ~ Didn't realize my previous comment was that long... Sorry.

    Have a Happy Easter!

    D.

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  4. oh yes, I see what you're saying D.

    Let me elaborate on what I am saying, though. Besides the unrealistic desire of having everyone like me (but we want that still, haha), it's more that I really want to help people, even if they don't deserve it or give anything back in return.

    Probably because I've known no greater joy than when I serve another. Probably because God tells us to? Funny how God's instructions for life are the ones that make us happiest.

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  5. I think if you want to make a difference then you most definitely can... You should grab the book "One: How many people does it take to make a difference?" by Dan Zadra. So good and so inspirational.

    Best,

    Hannah Katy

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  6. So listened to the "Work" podcast this weekend. Super good. I would love to get some peeps together over coffee sometime and talk about such ideas. You down?

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  7. Oh I listened to it too. The "toil is meaningless" one, right?

    Yeah, coffee sounds good :)

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