How can we change what we are living for?

In my last blog post I challenged us to look carefully at our lives  (maybe even by looking at our calendars, our credit card statements and our browsing history) in order to discover what we are living for. I asked a number of questions to help us consider what our life is being spent on.

Very often unless we do an inventory of our lives we don’t even realize what we are living for or where the vast majority of our time, energy and resources are going. Much like sand slipping through our fingers, it seems like our lives are just slipping away with not much to show for it.

But once we identify an unhealthy or harmful habit, tendency, or life direction, how can we change it? Of course there are thousands of books, articles and resources available which speak about changing our lives and habits, but let me just mention a few key ideas:

1. Look at what legacy you would like to leave behind in your life. If you could reduce that down to one “epitaph” that could be placed on a tombstone, what would it say? Then once you have that in mind, begin “working backwards” to consider what small thing(s) you could do each day or week for the rest of your life in order to leave that legacy and offer that influence to the people around you. For example, if you want your life to be a life that inspires others to pray, make sure to daily spend time in prayer (alone and with others). If you want to live a life of encouragement, seek daily to find someone to speak kind and uplifting words to. If you want an epitaph that says “Lived his/her life to the glory of God” then begin daily witnessing for God, serving others in the name of God and exhibiting the patience, kindness and mercy of God. 

2. You might say, that’s too big for me, give me something smaller and less intimidating. Okay, ask yourself these questions: “What activity in my life gives me joy, hope and makes me think I am doing something worthwhile with my life?” You might discover that you feel the most alive when you are causing someone to laugh or smile. It might be that you find joy when you go out of your way to serve someone or offer a helping hand. It might be that sense that you are fulfilling the purpose for which you were created when you produce something with excellence in your life that helps another with their life. Make a list of the things that give you hope and joy while also making you feel like you are doing something meaningful and then start doing that at least 1x per day. Examples might include, opening the door for people, helping someone carry their groceries, calling someone to see how they are doing, giving away money or gifts to people, or even just doing your home chores and vocational work with excellence and diligence.

3. Remember that a life is made up not just of one or two big things here or there but rather 1000s of different events, choices, and activities. And behaviors that add up to the most significance and the most impact are the ones that are done repetitively. So for instance if you start putting $25 per week in a retirement fund when you are 20 years old, by the time you retire that fund could be worth about one million dollars. Another example, if you write 600 words daily, it would only take you about 4-5 months to write a book, and if you continue this for life you could write as many as 100 books in a lifetime! One more example. If you call, text, email, visit 1 person per day (only on weekdays!) for the sake of helping them, serving them or encouraging them you could touch 250 people in a year and perhaps as many as 12,500 people in a lifetime. 

How can we change what we are living for? In a phrase: “Be intentional.” But beyond that consider what you want your life to accomplish and give thought to when you feel most alive. Let the fulfillment of God’s call on your life lead you away from wasted time and into deliberate choices for His glory and for the help of your fellow man. Remember, whatever is worth doing is worth doing with excellence and of course doing repetitively. Change what you are living for by investing your life in something of significance. Do it over the long haul. And even when it doesn’t seem in the short term that you are gaining any traction, remember that the compounding effect of your life choices can bring a great reward, not only to yourself, but most especially to the one(s) you are helping. 

Finally, stop time, energy and resource wasting activities. Many people lose their way simply because they squander away what they have on meaningless things. So instead of spending 3 hours per day on a screen, spend 30 minutes on the screen and the remaining 2.5 hours with people. Instead of spending $5 per day on coffee, spend $5 per week on coffee and the remaining $30 per week on giving to others or saving for the future. And instead of spending 3 hours per day sitting on a couch or in a recliner, spend 1 hour per day resting like that and the other 2 hours per day walking the neighborhood, doing some chores, getting some exercise or developing a hobby. Many times we squander our lives away by not being intentional and by wasting the resources we have been given. 

I hope and pray that some of these words will inspire you to make some changes and live a meaningful and excellent life.