Thursday, May 27, 2010

My Mission Statement 1.0


Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:27

Today’s Reading: 1 Chronicles 7-9: John 6:22-44


This is an interesting challenge.


The question that

I see here is this: what is the focus of your life and what is that focus doing to further your purpose on this earth.


I had to ask myself that question yesterday.


Yesterday was the first day of orientation for a training program that I am doing at work. We talked about all of the tasks that we have to do over the next ten months and what we will hopefully learn through the process.


But the most interesting thing that we did involved taking a test to determine our strengths based on a program called Strengths Finder designed by Tom Rath. The test is from Gallup and they ask a battery of questions that seem to analyze your deepest concerns, desires and tendencies.

My results weren’t surprising at all. It revealed that I believe in a higher power through which all things in the world are connected. I spend a lot of energy and effort understanding the important individuals in my life and also that I have a healthy dose of competitive spirit.


True… true…


But the exercise that I found really intriguing was writing a mission statement based on these strengths.


At first this was hard. It actually took me back to the confusion that I had several years ago regarding what I am supposed to do with my life. I was pretty lost, and disconnected from God. As I mentioned before, this is what made me come back to the Bible.


I realized, the hard way, that my focus was not in line with my purpose. I knew this to be true even though I didn’t even know what my purpose was!


It is frustrating to live that way. You feel like a mouse on a wheel. No matter how fast you run you never get that cheese that’s dangling right in front of your mouth.


But when I got back into the Word all of the confusion disappeared. I received clarity. There are still a lot of question marks about what EXACTLY I am supposed to do but I did learn a whole lot about what makes me happy.


And I believe that the things that make us happy are in line with our purpose.


So as I was challenged to write my mission statement this time the shell of it came pretty easily.


My mission is to use my strengths to spread love to all of those around me, and by extension to the entire world.


This is what Jesus and Christianity are supposed to be all about anyway right? God is love. That’s why we were told to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves.


Now the “how will I do this so that a brotha can EAT” part is still to be determined…. But in the meantime I can do this where I am by sharing who I am with those around me willing to lovingly receive me.


Once that next level of clarity comes I’ll let y’all know.


Question of the Day: What is the purpose of your life? If you don't know then what is the purpose right now? If you were to write a mission statement for your life what would it be?

3 comments:

  1. "My mission is to use my strengths to spread love to all of those around me, and by extension to the entire world...Now the “how will I do this so that a brotha can EAT” part is still to be determined"

    LOVE IT! :-)

    And ditto. Except, how a sista can eat...

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  2. Awesome Clarence! So glad you enjoyed the program and it helped you with your mission! It will all come together.... :)

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  3. @Karen Yes I think it will. What's interesting is that I was already starting to develop this on my own. I even planned to set aside a weekend with a good friend to work on this. You just accelerated the process.

    Awesome how things come together isn't it?

    @Alegria hahaha... true true.

    ReplyDelete

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