What should we be doing with ourselves?
Lately I’ve been reading more on this subject than usual. Whenever I have one recurring thought sifting around it seems that I become bombarded with readings or conversations that add to the ever growing thought-dune. Maybe because its graduation season or maybe because I’m sensitive to it there seems to be more talk about what people ought to be doing with their life. Or maybe this is a constant conversation throughout the world or at least western societies. When I was younger I had the idea that once this question was answered it would leave you. But now I realize that this question will follow each of us through our lives looking for an answer and once the answer has been given it will be used to evaluate and shape our lives.
I have friends who have graduated and those that will become graduates soon and I’ve come to witness two types of graduates. The first type is the graduate with a plan. They are taking up jobs, traveling around the world, and jumping right into life. Then there is the second type, the waiting graduate. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Depending on the circumstance waiting is not always bad, but if you are going to sit on your bottom for some treasure to plop in your lap you are foolish. That isn’t going to happen.
When I first moved out of my parent’s home I moved to the small coastal city of Santa Barbara. My experience in Santa Barbara was critical in the making of who I am today. The first few months that I lived there I sat. I was of the second type sitting quietly biding my time until I received my prize. I sat in hopes for friends. I sat in hopes for a job. I wanted a lot of things to happen, but instead of seeking my desires I sat. Needless to say, nothing happened. It was during those few months that I realized that we as individuals are given the will to steer our lives. Nothing is accomplished, if everyone is waiting for another to take the initiative. Part of my reason for sitting was in the belief that God would pick you up and carry you in the direction that he wanted. Thankfully I eventually learned this isn’t the case at all. God helps point us in the directions that He wants but He’s not going to be able to guide you if you aren’t moving.
This is just a rehashing of what more eloquent writers have already said, but it needs to be said until us sitters get it through those thick heads of ours. Stop sitting, go out there and make things happen.
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