6 LIFE-TRANSFORMING TRUTHS -- #5 Find Your Mission
5. FIND YOUR MISSION
In the process of creating my "ideal life" I don't see the end from the beginning. It's a winding path that brings me to where I am now.
LESSONS FROM THE PAST
Dan has been reading his ancestor, Joseph Holbrook's journal. It's amazing how not only did he come over from England because of his faith in the gospel, but exhibited faith again and again.
Then when asked to "leave [his]
comfortable [home] for the wilderness in the dead of winter," he obeyed without hesitation. He crossed the Mississipi river on a wooden wagon, then bought a yoke of oxen, made a light sled and commenced his journey to Nauvoo. The streams became impossible to ford, so he traded his oxen for a mare and made it to Nauvoo.
When he arrived, he would spent hundreds of dollars and a ton of work on making a successful home and then trade if for 25 bushels of corn, which he sold for $2.50. He started over four times because of the persecution of the Saints.
I am amazed at his willingness to sacrifice everything for what he believed to be true. I also think it's amazing how he could just change his plans and be incredibly flexible. Dan and I hope to develop that kind of faith along our journey.
FLEXIBILITY AND THE PROCESS OF FINDING A MISSION
It started with an idea to create a business so we could travel the world "Slow Travel," then branched into renting our house which turned into selling our house. While we didn't know what to do after we sold our house, we took a leap of faith. While we see bits and pieces along the way, we tweak each of those. This is all a process of finding my voice, my mission.
Traveling is part of my mission. I don't know how it fits in yet, but when I've asked Father, He answers to me to GO! He will protect me, this will be a miraculous experience!
“To every man there comes in his lifetime that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered a chance to do a very special thing, unique to him and fitted to his talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour.” —Winston Churchill
I feel like so many things in my life are preparing me for that figuritive tapping on my shoulder. The experiences I am having now in my life help me develop leadership, which is "the capacity to translate vision into reality" (Warren Bennis).
This last week, my mentor talked about this translating vision into reality or creating something in your mind and then making it happen. Choose something small that you've been wanting to do but haven't made time for. It can be as small as finding something you've lost -- my friend wanted to find her tax returns. I wanted to take time to sit down and laugh with Milah. Now imagine the feeling you'll have when you've done that thing you've been putting off. Now go do it. It's a great practice in helping yourself be boundlessly free.
A final favorite quote: "Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves.”—Stephen Covey Can we do that? Can I develop that with my spouse? Can I see Dan as the best He can be and have such faith in him that it inspires him to be a better person? I think this is part of every person's mission; learning to see the best in others, and the best in themselves.
