Our kids see our example and know us as a parent, but how often do they get a glimpse of our most intimate feelings, goals and desires for our life? How often do we put much thought into our "life mission?" I've always loved the idea of living with intention and using my gifts to help other people but never thought about putting it in writing. I have a strong sense of purpose and I want to stay aligned with what I am supposed to be doing in this life. When I'm making an important decision I can ask myself if it is in line with my life mission. If not, what is my motivation for doing it? Every decision may not align with it, but at least I'm aware of it now.
My husband is big on goal setting and has had a clear understanding of his life mission for a long time. I knew how he had arrived at understanding his, but never knew I would arrive at mine by writing a letter to my son. I am enclosing the letter I wrote to Tyler (with his permission) and hope it helps others find the way to more fully understanding their life mission.
Love,
Lisa
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| Tyler and Mom |
Tyler,
I have some words of advice. I'm gonna tell you some things you've probably heard before and some things you probably haven't. You mentioned you've been struggling with decisions. Ty, I honestly believe you have the ability to create the life you want. You can try on different things and keep some and throw out others. I believe for you to be truly happy the things you choose to keep in your life need to align with your life mission. So maybe it's time to figure out what that is. It can be something very simple or very complex.
As an example, Rex's life mission is to be a teacher of righteousness. He is a very unselfish person. He has a great sense of purpose and a very good self esteem. He recognizes his strengths as "gifts" and wants to honor Heavenly Father by using his gifts as a teacher, resource, mentor, guide, etc. for righteousness (for good). He doesn't spend much energy on things that are dark, negative or bad or let them distract him from his life's mission. He seeks opportunities to use his gifts. Whether it's mentoring a friend or child, teaching a Sunday school class or implementing a concept/system in a work setting. It's not only what he does but WHY he does it. His "motive" is righteousness and his actions are consistent with his mission. You could predict what he is going to do in any given situation because you understand his motive/mission.
Sometimes when we don't have a mission/plan/goal we defer to the natural man. We go into survival mode and do what serves us at the moment. What is going to help me right now? Feel good right now? Get me out of my immediate pain or boredom right now? When we're deferring to selfishness (or the natural man) we make decisions that feel good now without regard for long term consequences.
As I look back on my life there are two very distinct situations (and some very strong role models) that helped me decide the type of person I want to be. I'll tell you more about those in person sometime. My life mission is to use my gifts to help other people (through Christ-like love and caring). I want to be someone who is consistently nice, caring, genuine and unselfish. Someone who builds others up, helps others see their potential and instills hope. I want my presence to be positive. I want to leave things better than I found them. I want my word or handshake to be as binding as any written contract. When I'm old, I want to look back over my life and say I did my best to be faithful, kind, caring, clean, honest, repentant, unselfish, hard working, fun loving, healthy, happy, responsible, playful and generous. I want others to be able to predict my behavior because they understand my mission and motives. I love the word LOVELY. I want to use my gifts to be a truly lovely person.
I've lived a lot of life in my 44 years. I've made plenty of mistakes and I've learned a lot along the way. Bottom line is...I'm happy, I'm living the dream and I am so grateful for my life.
I hope this helps because I love you SO much son!
Love,
Your Mum
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| Rex and Lisa |
I absolutely love this letter Lisa! It reminds me of the letter my mom wrote me when I was graduating high school. During this time, I was also having a hard time with decision-making. I felt a little lost and was beginning to forget who I was. The words my mother put into her letter put everything into a different perspective for me. When I moved to St. George after graduation, I took my mother's words with me, and began my life in a new way. I will always call St. George my home, because that is when I began making more christ-like choices and I truly felt happy with who I was becoming. I think your letter is so heart-felt, your son is so blessed to have you as mother:)
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