Жизнь как миссия: как найти смысл и перестать просто выживать

Stephen R. Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, once stated “Life is a mission, not a career.” To look at this a little deeper, let’s understand what does mission mean? A Google search defines it as “an important task, purpose, or goal that a person or group is committed to completing.” We may have personal goal missions (to get healthy); specific task missions (buy more carrots and less cookies); business missions (Hobby Lobby’s is “honoring God, providing a financial return on the family’s investment, sharing blessings with employees, and investing in the community” – pretty good mission, isn’t it?); religious missions (my church’s is “first and foremost…to bring Glory to the kingdom of Christ” and to “follow the example of Christ by living as a servant and this calling deserves our greatest efforts” – Colossians 3:23-24); and most newspapers have the mission of strengthening communities by providing up-to-date articles about the county/parish and surrounding communities- sharing pictures and coverage from local events – and maintaining archives of local reporting such as births, nuptials, and passings. Basically, we should have a mission for every thing we do in this life; however, I feel like we sometimes just go through the motions of life like robots or hamsters on a wheel- get up, get dressed, go to work, come home, sleep, and repeat – without putting active thought or consideration into what we do or how we do it. Living in this fashion, I believe, robs us of joy and we miss so many blessings. Famed poet/writer Maya Angelou said it best with her quote, “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” Are we surviving, or are we thriving? I know that for me, most days I just feel like I’m surviving. I’m missing the whole part of truly “living” my life, and I can tell when my days have no sparkle, no spunk, no smiles. I think it’s time I do a reset and instead of “flying by the seat of my pants I slow down and put pen to paper with how I want my life to go. As a daughter, my mission is to take care of my mom as she once took care of me – with love, patience, and understanding – not getting frustrated with her when she seems forgetful or when she lacks the strength to do something. As a wife, to honor Chris by lifting him up in prayer (daily and sometimes hourly), supporting him in his endeavors as he has supported me in mine, and continuing to love and forgive him unconditionally for as long as I can. It is my mission to see him with the same eyes I saw him with almost 37 years ago – not the eyes of an overburdened woman, but the eyes of a woman in love. As a mother, my mission is to continue to guide my children to love and follow Christ, to live with joy, and to be the best they can be as they choose their lives and follow their dreams. As a teacher, to love on my students, encouraging them on their bad days and cheering them on their good days. It is my mission to instill in them a desire for learning and to be independent thinkers. As a runner, I want to be first and foremost healthy; I want to be stronger than I’ve ever been; and as always, I want to finish my race well. I want to endure and be able to show others that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), because this tired body and these worn-out knees struggle many days, and it is only through His strength that I am able to do what I do. In closing for this week, American Christian evangelist Rick Warren once said, “To accomplish anything you must first have a mission, a goal, a hope, a vision.” What is your mission? I hope you too, like Angelou, will rise out of the ordinary ashes of life and find your sparkle and style. I’m working on finding mine, and my prayer is that my mission this week has been successful in helping you smile and seeing just another of the 10,000 blessings around you.