This is Your Life!

Switchfoot's reverberating song lyrics say "This is your life--are you
who you want to be?"
Asking yourself this question could mean the difference between living
a regret-filled, un-remarkable life, or living your life to its full
potential, realizing & pursuing your dreams.
I LOVE the simplicity of this question, but although the question
itself may be simple, adequately answering it is probably not easy.
Anything that causes you to think long and hard about your life is
never easy.
But I think questions like this one, "are you who you want to be?",
and wrestling with the answer is a healthy and valuable exercise to
perform every once in awhile. Just like taking your car to the
mechanic for a tune-up, or your child to his yearly physical exam,
occasionally analyzing your life is something you can do to keep
yourself in top form.  A self tune-up, if you will.
And they don't have to be complicated questions, but things like, "Do
I have regrets or recurring guilt about an event, opportunity, person,
or situation in my life?", "Do I know what I want to do or should do,
but am too afraid to do it?", "Do I have unfulfilled dreams, and if
so, can I do anything to make them happen?", "What's holding me back
from making this area of my life more fulfilling to me?", or "Do I
have a gift or talent that I'm not using, and if so, why not?"
So, even if you don't have some clear, life-altering gift to bless the
world with, or even if you don't have any clearly-defined dreams that
you dream about, I would encourage you to find something, anything,
that you enjoy doing to add a little extra purpose and meaning to your
life.  I had an acquaintance in college who recognized her love and
skill of writing encouraging notes & thank you cards.  She simply
called herself an Encourager, and she was right. She randomly sent me
a little uplifting card in the mail once, and it made my week, let me
tell you!  I had it pinned to my bulletin board for months because of
her sweet words.  Her kind gesture may not have changed my life, but
it sure made my week.  And I remember her to this day because of that.
And, if you find and follow a passion, however small and
inconspicuous it may seem, you could impact someone's week and be
forever remembered by one action.  Heck, you could impact someone's
life!  Believe it!  It happens everyday.  But, even if I only ever
change someone's week, and by the following week I'm forgotten, I'll
know that I did something worthwhile.  Hey, I'll take it!