Ambition

Just some thoughts I had today about finding purpose and direction in life.  Sometimes my "Creations" are just thoughts I have found the time to write down.  :)

You can't do everything AND be successful at everything you do at the same time. But you can "do one thing well" -- the motto of many entrepreneurs -- and everything else seems to find its own place while you are doing that. Not that your life will be perfect just because you are doing something you love to do, far from it. So many things will come up to make you think you aren't doing a good enough job, and that you need to change, and you will try (and fail!) to seek approval from outside sources to find fulfillment in what you are doing.

But joy comes in discipline, even though it seems that, as you go about your day-to-day existence, you are going to wither up and die and no one will have noticed all of your efforts here on earth. This is what Satan tells you so that you will be less effective in the world. He truly tries to keep you down by telling you this hogwash that you aren't "good enough" or "smart enough" or "working hard enough" to make any kind of difference. And that's just not true!!

The people who have made the biggest differences in the world (good AND bad) are those individuals who focused on one thing they loved doing and did it to the best of their ability, no matter what anyone told them. Some people even died thinking that no one was ever going to know what they had done to change the world, and only after they were gone did people see the contributions they had made. But they still kept at it while they were here, because they believed in it. Thomas Edison was told by his school that he wasn't smart enough to graduate. Michael Jordan was told by his high school basketball coach that he'd never amount to anything. There are so many people who have been criticized for doing something they believed in... and they overcame that criticism because they believed in what they were doing enough to keep doing it, day after day.

I'm not saying that a "positive self-image" is what's going to make you succeed. I'm not a big proponent of "self-esteem", "self-image", or any of those "self-" words, because life is about so much more than just focusing on ourselves. It's about discipline in the little things. Things that don't seem to matter to anyone, and it seems as if you are just busying yourself for no reason in particular, and that nothing and no one will ever be affected by anything you do. But you have to realize that even if one life (could be your husband's, your children's, your friends and/or relatives, or just random people you happen to meet) is affected positively by your daily "existence", then your life is absolutely worth living, and living to its fullest! Even in the tiny daily things you do.

So take heart, ladies!! Most days it seems we haven't accomplished a single thing, but God knows. He knows every struggle, every load of laundry that you squeezed into your day, every dish you washed and placed back into the cupboard for the 10th time this week, every prayer you said that seemed to hit the ceiling and reverberate throughout the room without really going anywhere, and every loving word you said to your husband whether you think he deserved it or not. Your Father knows the longings you have to make a difference in the world and to be recognized for the things you do in your lifetime.

I Thessalonians 4:11-12 says "This should be your ambition: to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we commanded you before. As a result, people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others to meet your financial needs."

This is a far cry from what many women are shouting from the rooftops today. "Well behaved women rarely make history" is a favorite quote of some well-meaning women who just want to be acknowledged for their contributions to society. Well, I am going to go against the flow here, but I would have to say that I would rather make the Lamb's Book of Life than the history books any day!