What Now??

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to live with purpose. Despite its few good qualities, I think the purpose driven life by Rick Warren has done a lot to push the word ‘Purpose’ into the realm of kitsch and cliché. How, then, do I reframe this idea into a realistic and achievable lifestyle? This is something I’ve been talking with my wife about for quite some time. We see so many people controlled by their inattention to their lifestyle. Their schedule is overwhelming. Their kids are involved in everything under the sun. They tend to have many of the latest models of ‘stuff.’ There seems to be a heaviness on them at any given moment. In short, their activities plus their property equals the sum total of their life. Granted, you can still have moments of beauty, but the less we are in control of those moments, the more we must wait for that serendipitous aligning of the universe before we can experience it. I was falling into this pattern. I didn’t like it. I kept finding less money at the end of every month. My job wasn’t satisfactory. I kept looking to what was next without really experiencing the here and now. I looked up and realized that I hadn’t really changed all that much. The guy I hoped I’d be 10 years ago is not the guy I am. I needed to change.

I know I cannot be in control of everything. I know that life happens and we are forced into decisions and changes that we cannot control. Being a minister, I understand all too well the storm that a unwanted test result can bring. Or how a job loss can send your world into miserable turmoil. These things happen. It’s the day to day life of which I speak. Being able to say as your children go off to college that I did my best with them. I spent time with them. I helped shape them into a man or woman of passion, purpose and mission. It’s saying to your wife on each wedding anniversary that the journey has been difficult and passionate and at times terrible and at times Beautiful, but we’ve been together and I love you more now than I ever have because I know you deeper than I ever have.

These are idealistic images, but not too unrealistic. Fact is, not many people live in control of the minutiae. Most are controlled by it. So, here on Day 1, I focus on my family. It won’t take much…but when I Get home, I’m putting up the cell phone, turning off the TV during Dinner and I’m paying attention. Who knows, maybe there will be a story to tell.