Now whether or not my generation shares that kind of parental affirmation or not, it’s one instigator for this pursuit of “it.” I remember turning down a “good” opportunity because it just didn’t seem to have the scope of impact I was hoping for as a “world changer.” That’s the danger, you see, of having a sense of destiny – all too often we define it by secular standards of success.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, I think this pursuit of “it” isn’t so much in the activity one is doing, but in the significance that the given activity appears to have. What’s funny is that this “significance” doesn’t necessarily have a universal definition. It doesn’t have to be universally “significant”, it just has to be significant as I define it. It has to impact the things that are important to me – because when I spend my time contributing to something I deem important (even of the utmost importance) my life matters, and ultimately, I am fulfilled, satisfied – I have not failed myself or been untrue to my passions.
My challenge to this mindset is when we move into a place where one and only one activity, location, person, etc. ends up being “it.”
I love the quote from John Eldridge “don’t spend your time trying to discover what the world needs, find out what makes you come alive and do that because what the world needs is people who are alive.”
In the perspective of this conversation, I’d love to add an addendum to this quote to say: “don’t spend your time trying to find the one thing that makes you come alive, allow where you are, the season you’re in, the people you’re around to bring out the life within you.” I say this because “life” isn’t in what we do, it’s from the Holy Spirit within us – isn’t Christ the ultimate “way, the truth and the life”?
