I’m a dreamer and a thinker (too much probably). I come up with ideas and have no idea how I’ll implement them, but I’ll figure it out (or my amazing team of awesomeness will)… but I’m always creating something. Ideas are my thing. I love making things happen and watching how people feel because of them. When our mom’s and dad’s told us that we could change the world, I believed them, and have been on a mission (lazy one maybe) ever since. I want to inspire those around me. I love to work.
In our world we are taught to dream BIG. “Set GOALS.” “ YOU can do anything.” I believe these things. Nothing seems more exciting than to watch big things happen to great people, or even ourselves. The JOY you see in someone’s face is magical when they have accomplished their life’s dream. I, personally, achieve that joy, get there, and then I want more. MORE. MORE. MORE. I strive for the more. I keep working. You keep working. I’m going to get in trouble for this one but….what are we working for?
I can answer that question in a multitude of different ways, and most of the answers are truly heartfelt. We think we are working to create better lives for ours. Not a bad thing. Maybe we are working so hard to achieve personal goals. GOALS ARE GOOD! I’ve felt like I was working to help others and to give my family experiences. Memories are my everything, so I have deemed this valuable. The problem is that sometimes we (I) pour all of our efforts into the work to have these monumental 5 minute moments but we lost all of the simple memories that were going on without us, while we were working.
Do you ever think about this or is it just me?
Our holiday season is quickly approaching. My favorite time of year for sure! We (I) stress, however, about food, decorations, gifts, clothes, our weight, who we are going to see or not see. We make this amazing opportunity for connection into things that are about US. It becomes WORK. Just thinking about it makes me feel exhausted. It shouldn’t be like this, yet it’s what we all do.
I was reminded, yet again, that we can work, plan, and put all of our efforts and money into looking good, having the best furniture, eating at the best restaurants (remember, no criticism to anyone, I’m talking to myself here), having the best clothes, dare I say great vacations, and then life slaps you to the ground, and NONE of that matters. NONE of it. People, people are what matters. Only people (and your faith).
Think about it, we are ALL, at any given time, one phone call away from NONE OF THAT MATTERS. Those phone calls happen, and they can happen any day, at any time. We can not live in fear of that call, I get it, but HOW we LIVE can be because of the knowledge that that call can happen.
I don’t want my life to be about me, it needs to reflect the lives of those around me. I forget this. ALL. THE. TIME. Society has conditioned us to believe that we are a reflection of what we accomplish, what we look like, what we drive, what our house looks like etc. We put these pictures on the wall that are perfectly matched and indicate flawlessness, but are not a true representation of real life. The truth is that we are a reflection of how we make people feel and what we do for them. We are only as good as that footprint we make in someone's life. Who cares what I put on, if that picture looks good, or if I could stand to lose 20 pounds (that may be conservative but who’s counting)? I loooove my job but even my personal accomplishments in it fail to measure up if I'm not investing in those around me. Did you smile because I checked in with you today? Was the meal we shared a blessing to you? Was that conversation over wine fruitful. (The answer to that is YES! When you are talking about wine it is always fruitful.) For our thanksgiving meal, did we wear pj’s so that we could just enjoy each other instead of spending time worrying about our outfits? (We did that last year and it was so freeing.)
The bottom line is that a lot of the time I feel like I’m not doing any of this ‘life’ thing very well. I try to evaluate my priorities regularly, but for some reason the man upstairs keeps bringing me to my knees and reminding me that I can do better. I think that he brings us back when we fall off track, when we loose focus. He reminds us, and sometimes it’s not so gently, that we CAN BE BETTER. I, quite frankly, am getting tired of the reminders. I believe, however, that HIS intentions are to realign my priorities in a more authentic way and to make my life a reflection onto HIM, instead of me. I can't argue with that. I believe that’s what he wants from all of us, and I believe that’s where we find our real accomplishments. All the selfish work in the world isn’t worth it if we are missing life with those we love. I, once again, must base my achievements on HIS PEOPLE, and not myself. My goals, my dreams, my heart, my mouth and my life, need to be about making any kind of work that I do about others and not about me. This holiday season I want my ‘work’ to look like a mirror image of those around me, not myself. I want my more to be about less, and my heart to be filled with their joy. I don’t want to miss a single moment being consumed with me, I want it to be about HIS people, MY PEOPLE. My greatest goal and my REAL work in this life is to leave my footprints within the doors of other people's hearts.