Week 2

 Update from last week - I quit my job.  I'm finishing out the school year, but said I was not returning in the fall so that I can pursue other opportunities.  So dang excited to move onto new opportunities.  

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture was a very awe-inspiring speech.  He really was able to accomplish many things in his life, but as big as a life that he lead, I wonder what sacrifices he had to make to accomplish as much as he did.  Author David Sedaris wrote in the New Yorker in 2009 about success and sacrifice, "Picture a four-burner stove.“Gas or electric?” ... it didn’t matter. This was not a real stove but a symbolic one... 'One burner represents your family, one is your friends, the third is your health, and the fourth is your work.' The gist, she said, was that in order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners. And in order to be really successful, you have to cut off two."  Many times we have to sacrifice one thing to be successful in others.  So far in life, I've sacrificed friends, health, and work at different points,  but I hope I'm successful with my family. 

Notes from Launching Leaders:

"This entire experience was a powerful-although incredibly painful-reminder that no matter how much we think we're in control, everything can change in a single instant.  The only constant in life is God.  And that's exactly why it's so important for us to learn how to bring all aspects of our lives into full alignment with God."  Reminds me of the talk, "Come What May and Love It."  We can't control the circumstances that befall us, but we can decide how we react to them.  With all the "planning out our lives" that I've read this week, sometimes trials come and they change our life course.  I love how the quote says, we need to be aligned with God because he knows our future and what we can accomplish on this Earth.  

What's my calling in life?  At the moment, I'm called at church to serve as the Young Women's President, but my calling in life?  I really don't think it's that important for it to be one certain thing.  Do I have to decide on one certain career or attribute and never change?  I don't think so.  If it's bringing me happiness and I'm not sacrificing "other burners", then I could be happy with that.  My calling so far in life has changed several times over.  At first, I needed to be an angel and help my mother, then I needed to be a mother to my children, but now that they are growing up, where do I need to be?  What is my purpose now that my children don't need me as much anymore?

Attributes that I want to have: integrity, honesty, hard-working, empathy, accountability, faithful, virtue.  Every day I have to choose these values over easier ones.  It's never easy, but it's always worth it.


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