“What are you doing because of where you’re going and not because of where you’ve been?”
Recently I spoke with a thankful parent who shared with me how his son and his wife were getting their act together. Turns out his son’s wife had given birth to their first child and the introduction of that child into their lives had radically changed the way they saw life and saw each other.
I remember when that happened to me. I’ll never forget the first time I saw my firstborn child; I was not prepared for it. It radically and forever changed my life.
What I especially want you to notice about my experience of becoming a father is this:
“I was not prepared for it.”
That is okay to a point. But think about how your life would be if you choose to have life-altering experiences on purpose?
One of my nightmares is becoming calcified and set in my ways while life moves on leaving me an irrelevant relic of a bygone era. (Like the opening quote: Doing life because of where I’ve been instead of where I’m going.)
You know the type, the person who has defined a good life as never being made uncomfortable and challenged to get out of their comfort zone.
There’s a narrow bandwidth to what they will eat, where they go, the songs they will sing, and the people they will associate with.
Their mind is made up on what they think about most things in life, and they have no interest in those opinions being perfected or (heaven forbid) changed.
Bottom line, their experiences are pretty much the same everyday – predictable, comfortable, and calcified. Their goal is for life to meet them on their terms and if not, they have no interest.
But what if there were more to life than your comfort zone?
What if the best you were to be found in a place you’ve never been before?
What if your greatest contributions required you to do things, going places, and meeting people that are not in your current life experience?
Does that matter to you? Is it okay to not take God’s gift of life and experience it to the fullest? Is it okay to not be the best you that you can be? Are you okay with one day facing God and confessing that you choose comfort and control over taking the risks required to make the greatest contributions possible?
Yes, life happens whether we plan for it or not – and like the birth of a child – sometimes it can bring radical and life altering transformation.
But what I am asking you do to is to choose to make life happen on purpose?
One day Jesus was talking to his disciple, Simon Peter, about the way he was going to die. Jesus said, “…when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”
The ONE THING for today: Like Simon Peter, one way or the other, that day is going to come to all of us.
But today you have a choice. Don’t settle for a calcified and predictable life just because it’s comfortable and less challenging.
Live! Experience new things, new places, and new relationships – on purpose. You’ll be better for it and so will so many others.
