We're no longer constrained by limited job opportunities like past generations. You can do or become almost anything you want today. But are you following the best path for you, or just doing something mediocre with your life? If you want the BEST for yourself, you need to get guidance from the right source.
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Where are you going in your life? Who are you asking for guidance? And if you keep going on the path that you're on, are you ultimately going to have the best life that you can experience and the most happiness and joy that you can have in your life?
Where are you going?
I talk a lot about setting and achieving goals here on this site. If you don't know where you're going, it doesn't really matter how you spend your time.
You need something to aim for, something that will guide your path in life.
Think about the path you're currently on. Is it one that you chose, or was it chosen for you? Are you happy with the path you're on?
I saw a picture on my Facebook feed recently that got me thinking about this, and about you...
The picture that showed up on my feed was of my office when I first moved to Iowa in 2012 and started a new job teaching in a physical therapy program.
At this point in my life, as far as I knew, this was the best for me. I was super excited about this job, I had gone to school specifically for this. It was the perfect job. The location was great. I loved my students, I loved my co-workers, I loved the university. And I assumed that I would be doing this work for the rest of my life. This was me moving along my path...
Think about where you are in your life right now.
How do you feel about where you are? Do you feel like it’s someplace you’re going to be forever? Or do you have some thoughts that maybe there's something else for you?
I had prayed and received guidance to get to that point, so I knew that I was following a good direction and I had come to a good spot.
But then a few years into it, I started to feel that something was missing...
Are you settling for "good" and missing out on "best"?
We often think that we know what's best for us, right? I know what I want in life, I'm going to go after that, and I'm going to go do it.
And you may be completely happy right now, with your life and with what you're doing...
But maybe there is something better that's in store for you.
There was a wonderful talk that I listened to from a church leader probably about five years ago now. It was called “Good, Better, Best”. The idea is that there are so many things in this world for us to choose from.
There are a lot of things that are good. There are some things that are better. And then there are those things that are BEST.
When you think about your general path in life, where you are headed, and what your goals are and what you're working toward, are you going after something that is good, something that is better? Or are you really pursuing the thing that is best for you, and for all those that you can impact?
You have a unique set of gifts and talents to offer to the world.
If you don't take the time to discover what those are, to seek them out and to bring them to the light, you may just go along life at that place of having a good life.
Now, there's nothing wrong with that. But you can have so much more and impact so many more people, if you take the time to seek that guidance to find out what might be better or best for you.
I knew that I had a gift, a particular gift, but I was not utilizing it to its fullest. I could sense that and feel that. So I prayed and I asked for guidance.
And because I did that, I was led and have been and continue to be led step by step to a completely different track and a totally different path that I never would have chosen for myself, if I had just continued going along doing what I thought I wanted.
This brings me back to my question for you! Are you doing what is good? What is better? Or are you doing and seeking after what is best?
Get the right advice - go to the Source
I am going to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and to get brave. Because this takes courage, and it takes bravery. It takes faith and it takes trust. And it will require you to develop all of these things much more than you ever thought you needed.
Find some quiet time for yourself in the next few days and offer up a heartfelt prayer to God. Here are some questions you can ask:
- Is there something different that you would have me do with my life?
- Is there some gift that I have, that I can develop to use to help others that I have not been using?
- Is there some way that I can serve my brothers and sisters better?
- Is there something else that you would have me to do that I'm not doing?
The answers that you get may range from something that's seemingly very small and simple – something you can do for someone in your family or a friend that you know, or a co-worker – to some big huge change, which is more along the lines of what I received, which is a complete change in your career path.
The other piece to this is a willingness to receive and to act upon what you receive.
If you go in prayer to God, and you say, I want to know what gifts I can develop and how I can use those to help the world. And he says, okay, you're going to quit your job, you're going to move your family across the country, and you're going to enroll in school there. And your response is "Oh, no way, I am not doing that!" Then you're not going to get those answers.
Like I said, this takes a lot of courage and a lot of faith to embark on this process and to be willing to even ask the question.
If you're not ready to ask the question on a big scale for your entire life yet, ask the question on a smaller scale.
What can I do today to be of more service to someone else in my life? How can I take a step to help somebody else? Who needs my help? And how can I help them? How can I be a better person?
We don't know what's best for our lives, but God does!
Think about being a parent and having children. The little three year old does not know at that point what is best for him or herself. As the parent you know much better, what is better and best for them at that point in their lives.
Your Heavenly Father is the same way – as children of God, he sees this huge picture that we do not see.
I invite you to be courageous and to have faith and to just ask what you can do to have that ‘best’ in your life and what you might be able to change in your own life.
I would love to hear what you have discovered as you've asked this question. I encourage you to be bold and courageous and to do so because I know that you'll be blessed if you take this opportunity to grow.
