I Am Responsible

"Trevor passed away suddenly at the age of forty-three." This statement shook me from my usual "skimming" of the obituaries in the paper. I'm forty-three. I paused and looked at Trevor's picture. 'Forty-three ... that's just too young." Did he do all he wanted to do in this life? Did the important people in his world know how he felt about them?

That day started a little ritual for me. Now, when I read the daily paper I don't just "skim" over the obituaries. I stop and look at the faces of each person and hope they lived a good life and felt purpose in the time they spent on this earth.

It's also a daily wake up call to reflect on the same question in your own life.

How about you? Do you feel purpose in your life? Are you living the life you'd like to live? When we feel little purpose in what we do and the relationships around us, our little stress switch stays partially flipped and keeps us in a state of unease. This slowly depletes us and pulls us down the stress spiral.

Now I am not saying you should run out and quit your job and make a run at the PGA tour or sell it all and open that little coffee shop. I am saying, take responsibility for finding purpose where you are. If your job isn't what you hoped, take a step back and find the parts of it you enjoy. Who are you serving, what value are you adding to the process. Heck, maybe it's just focusing on that one co-worker you enjoy going for coffee with every day.

The point is, we all have some good in our lives and jobs and it's our choices that grow our purpose and enjoyment of them. You are responsible for own happiness, not your boss, your co-workers or your job ... it's you that decides how you will think and act in any situation and what you will make of it.