Our Purpose

Wow! It has been a ridiculously long time since I last updated my blog! At the prompting of some friends, I’m going to start it back up. Since I last blogged, I’ve become nearly completed my first semester of college at K-State, and it has been AMAZING! I probably wouldn’t have been as willing to begin blogging again had I not had a prime subject to talk about, one that’s been weighing on me this semester: our purpose, and spending our time in ways that reflect this purpose.

If you’re like me, you may vaguely (or even specifically) know what your purpose in life is. However, you (like me) may reluctantly admit that some of the ways we spend our time don’t contribute our purpose.

Obviously, the first way for us to live out our purpose is to determine what our purpose is. For me, this occurred when I recently rewrote my Personal Mission Statement. Right now, I feel that my purpose can be best summed up by the following statements:

I am on an eternal quest to know Jesus Christ more fully and to help others do the same.

Helping and making life easier for others is my purpose in not only my career, but in life.

Though general, I think that these statements apply to all Christians. How one chooses to live these out, on the other hand, is positively limitless. I think that, when evaluated, nearly every career choice, ranging from being a physician to a teacher to a mailman, has a positive effect on others and can fulfill the statements above.

As a busy college student, it’s not always easy to balance class, extracurricular activities, and everything else that life can bring. However, I’m convinced it’s worth the fight. In a perfect world, I’d (a) learn everything I need to know to accomplish my career goal of being a physician and (b) limit myself to activities that I can use to strategically advance my purpose.

As is potentially obvious from my at-times-crazy-schedule, I definitely struggle with the latter part of my “perfect world” scenario. I--as many others do--sometimes need a reminder to get rid of my “I’m so busy” attitude and limit myself to activities that truly make a difference and contribute to my purpose. It’s hard, and I’m still getting better at it. I’ve found that a Fred Rogers quote sums up this lesson:

"You rarely have time for everything you want in life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are."

Choose wisely!

Progress....Not Perfection

Do your friends jokingly refer to you as being OCD? Are you a detail-oriented person who struggles to rest until things are perfect? Does getting a 99% on a test drive you crazy?

If any of these traits describe you, then you and I have a lot in common. Throughout life, I’ve strived to be the best at everything I do, and have consequently beat myself up for failing at this goal—multiple times. Though I’m slowly learning that the ability to laugh at one’s self and to not expect perfection are two vital attributes, a devotion I recently read greatly effected me.

In the devotion, Mathew 22: 34-40 is referenced, in which Jesus says, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" The devotion discusses how at first, this mission can seem daunting, and even impossible. But then, the devotion writer drops a line of hope: “…though we will not become saints overnight, we can do a little better each day. I'm not yet what God wants me to be, but thank God I'm better than I used to be.”

Immediately, this line struck me as awesome: though simple, the idea of focusing on progress, not perfection was fresh and amazing to me. What a great paradigm of life: to live each day individually and to pursue improvement every day. Though the devotion’s author was referencing the commandments given my Jesus in the passage, I know that this line can be applied to ANY and ALL areas of life. One of the top lines of my Personal Mission Statement reads, “Strive for personal betterment.” Not viewing this as a series of small, everyday improvements can seem unreachable too. So here’s my challenge to you: each day, strive to improve yourself from the day before, always focusing on progress (never perfection), and living each day to the fullest!

“What If…..?”

Have you ever not treated someone well and then immediately regretted it, wishing you could have the opportunity back?

In the wake of someone’s death, have you ever heard someone speak of the regret they feel for not treating the deceased better, for not gettideng to know them more, or for what the last thing they ever said to them was?

OK, so maybe that last example was on the depressing side, but I’d like to share a bit about something I’ve been thinking about lately, now that I’m moved in and settled at K-State. This has been fueled by a quote by Anna Cummins, which reads, "Do not save your loving speeches for your friends until they are dead. Do not write them on their tombstones. Say them rather now instead."

One of the top lines of my Personal Mission Statement reads, “Treat family and friends as though you’ll never see them again.” Morbid, maybe. Words to live by, in my opinion. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been frustrated about something, held it in for as long as I can, and then proceded to take out my exasperations on those that I love most, my family and friends. I know I’m not the only one.

So why do we do this? Well, I’ve been asking myself that question for a long time. All I do know is that it’s something I wish didn’t happen. That’s why, when writing my Mission Statement, I decided to include such a line.

In the end, no one wants to think about actually never seeing their family or friends again, but that’s not the ultimate focus of my goal. Rather, this simple statement refers to a manner of treating others that is ALWAYS right. After all, in today’s world, the unthinkable could happen at any time, and that’s why I’m trying to make this, along with the golden rule, a priority in my life.

TREAT FAMILY AND FRIENDS AS THOUGH YOU'LL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN!

Some Intros...

Hey! My name is Eli Schooley, and I’m a freshman this year at Kansas State University in the Little Apple (Manhattan, KS). For quite some time, I’ve had the desire to start a blog, one that would profile my metamorphosis (how’s that for a word?) from life in fabulous Clay Center to new and exciting Manhattan.

Sure, maybe I’m moving 40 miles down the road, can be home in half an hour if I ever want to be, and already feel that Manhattan is my second home, but to me, the transition to college is more than a physical move. Much, much more.

That being said, I have three goals, or purposes, for this blog:

• A place to profile my move from life at home to life at college.
• An arena in which I can describe my efforts to keep “First Things First” in my life, and hopefully provide some insights for others to do the same (more on this later).
• A setting in which I can write (something I greatly enjoy) about anything I feel inspired to, and hopefully provide some entertainment for others.

I’ve always found personal improvement to be a passion of mine, but I feel that this desire truly took a new role in my life this spring, when I read the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey. I’ve since read First Things First by Stephen Covey, Roger Merrill and Rebecca Merrill and have not only found further inspiration, but this blog’s namesake.

In First Things First, the authors challenge readers to put first things first in their lives. What are first things? Well, that depends on the person. My first things—or at least, what I’d like to make my first things—are God, family, friends, personal betterment, being healthy, and service.

Furthermore, the authors proclaim that in order to live a fulfilling life, one should honor these “first things” in their weekly and daily life. A quote that the book is driven by is “How many people on their deathbed wish they’d spent more time at the office?”, something I find somewhat convicting. Therefore, this semester, I plan to restrict myself to only being involved in extracurricular activities that fulfill my Personal Mission Statement (which emphasizes my “first things”). This is as opposed to High School, when, by my senior year, I found that my schedule was racked with mindless, unfulfilling activities.

As previously mentioned, college is FAR more than a physical move, at least for me. College will be a stretch of my time and life management abilities. I hope you’ll come along for the ride, and most importantly, gain something in the process!