I’ve always thought of myself as having mild
ADD. I mean I never did well in
school. Having to sit behind a desk for
hours listening to someone talk or working on one thing is my idea of eternal
punishment. If you’re having a coffee
with me at Starbucks I have to sit with my back to the door, or else I’ll be
looking at and sizing up everyone who walks in the door. In short, I get bored easily and I can’t sit
still for too long…especially if I’m alone.
That’s why routine and structure have been
such good babysitters for me in the past.
Routine has done a pretty good job of creating soft boundaries in my
life to keep me from getting lost in distractions. But now, for the first time ever, I’m living
in the continental United States without the structure of school or a 9 to 5
job to hold my life together. It’s scary
really.
Because when I don’t get paid this week, it’s
not because someone failed me. It’s
because I failed myself. It’s because I
played Wii when I should have been cold calling, or because I went into a job
without all the facts and I wasn’t able to deliver. But even though the distractions haven’t
changed, something inside me has. For
the first time in my life, I have a purpose.
Purpose is a precious thing. It’s what drives us and gives our lives color
and meaning. It’s
the compass that gives us direction in making decisions. When I get bored or distracted in my day it’s
what keeps me focused and disciplined. The
funny thing about purpose is, it can’t be given to you from an outside person
or circumstance. People and
circumstances can definitely influence it, but your purpose has to come from
inside you.
That’s why when my parents told me to get
good grades and graduate so I can get a good job one day, it never stuck. But as I began to learn who God is, and who I
am. God birthed a purpose for my life
from my identity in Him.
“Where
there is no vision, the people perish; But he that keepeth the law,
happy is he.�
– Proverbs 29:18
If the people will perish without vision, and Christ came to give life then He’s promising to give us a sense of purpose (vision) for our lives. I think one of the most valuable things
that the Lord promises to provide for us is a purpose for our
lives. That purpose maybe as specific or
as vague as He decides, but it will rein us in and keep us on track.
That’s why I’m able to do what I’m doing,
despite being plagued with mild ADD. On
the days I’m bored from doing accounting stuff, or when I really want to hop on
a plane to some far off land that doesn’t speak English or have traffic
laws. I remember that I’m starting this
business, to create the freedom someday to be able to do that.
What about you? Do you have a sense of purpose to your
life? If not, have you asked God for
it? If you do, what other observations
have you made about the role of purpose in your life?
