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!