Story #1: Wishing For a Different Tomorrow…
Sunday night.
She hated Sunday night…
By this time every Sunday night she was already watching the clock…
counting down the hours until Monday morning when she’d be back at her meaningless job.
She knew the first thing she would do when she got to the office…
She had a ritual…
She’d swipe her card at the door, and say, “That’s Monday. The next time I swipe this card it will be Tuesday. Soon it will be the weekend again. Soon I can spend meaningful time with my family.”
She was so distracted by thoughts of tomorrow morning that she could barely cook dinner.
Her mind wasn’t with her family.
It was already focused on the tomorrow she dreaded.
What was her daughter asking? She didn’t know.
“Ask your father”, she said. Her daughter looked confused and walked away.
She obviously had given an inappropriate answer to a question she had never heard.
She couldn’t help but notice the irony.
When she was at work, she thought constantly about home…
When she was home, she couldn’t stop thinking about work.
She sighed as she thought about tomorrow.
Her’s was not a meaningful life …
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own Matthew 6:24
Story #2: Wishing For a Different Yesterday…
A meaningful life, he thought when he graduated, would be one filled with Fame…
He looked across the table at his friend…
They had both been lawyers for over forty years.
“This profession’s not as interesting as it used to be, is it?”
“No, I thought I’d be one of those TV lawyers arguing headline cases until I was drafted to run for governor or president,” his friend laughed.
“Instead we’ve turned into paper processors!”
“How tall would the pile be if we stacked up all the contracts and wills we’ve written over the years?”
“Today most of it wouldn’t mean anything to anybody. If I could start all over again, I’d do things differently.”
He thought about all those past years of pushing paper…
He regretted the past…
Had he lived a meaningful life?
Did anything he had done in his past really matter?
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it Isaiah 43:19
Living a Meaningful life… Today
God gives us our life one moment at a time, strung together like old fashioned Christmas lights on a wire.
He wants us to live fully in each one of those moments, holding each one in our hands, marveling at its beauty and then handing it back to Him to set ablaze with the beauty of His love.
Then our life will be interesting…
Then our life will be meaningful…
Then we will leave behind a trail of God’s light…
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. ~Mother Teresa
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.~Psalm 118:24
2 thoughts on “The Secret to a Meaningful Life”
Even at 71+, how to make my todays meaningful, can get lost in the chatter of daily chores. Only by going to God can I make sure that my focus is on His plans for my day. Plans that will be meaningful to the Kingdom and therefor to me. As I read today’s blog, I reflected on how blessed I am that my vocation allows me to serve Him while I serve my employers.
Being in a vocation that allows you to serve Him and others at the same time is truly a great blessing! Thanks for the comment, Craig.