Saturday, November 12, 2011

What Do I Want?

I tend to be very intentional with the things I say and do.  I won't ask how you're doing unless I sincerely want to know.  I don't buy the latest gadgets and doo-dads simply to keep up with the Jonses.  When I go to a store it is to buy something I need, not to "shop".  When I go to church, C&C, a concert, or to get groceries, I am very intentional about my reasons for going.

But life... life just seems to happen.   I can't say I've been as intentional with my life as much as I have with the things in my life.  I want to change that.  Rather than sit back and let life happen to me, I want to happen to life.

So what do I want?  That's what I asked myself.  That's the starting point.  If you don't have a goal, you'll never achieve it.  If you don't have a destination, you'll never arrive.  I've been somewhat directionless for most of my life so I took a little time to sit back and ask myself what do I really want out of life.  I made a list.  Here's what popped out of my discussion with myself.

-Family (wife and kids)
-House (with a yard for the kids and a garage for the car)
-Car
-Church (family of believers)
-God
-Fun
-No stress
-Roots in a community
-Friends
-Free Time

Good.  That's a start.  The next question is, "How"?

And that's basically where I am at right now.

The decisions I make will be to intentionally lead me in this direction.  For instance, I am fortunate enough to work in an industry that allows me to work anywhere in the world.  Without exaggeration, I could be living in Toronto, Vancouver, New York or Los Angeles within a month.  Or, if I wanted more of a change, I could go to France, Hong Kong, Australia, Antarctic or the United Arab Emirates.  However, will this help me develop roots in a community, develop friends, have a family, be stress free?  Probably not.  It would be fun but I don't think it leads to my other goals in life. So, right now, I have no plans to live with the penguins.

But that's good.  At least I can cross off "living with Penguins" from the list.  I've already narrowed my focus.

Stay tuned.  I think some other changes are on the way.

4 comments:

Matthew said...

That's a great direction to head towards, considering what you want out of life, and it's cool that you have a job that opens up so many possibilities.

What does life want from you?

Clinton said...

My money.

Joking.

I think a better question is, "What does the giver of life want from me?"

Matthew said...

Yeah, that might be a better question.

So what does the giver of life want from you?

Clinton said...

...Working on it.
Post to follow.