Putting Purpose Into Words
Posted March 02, 2010
I think most of us are pretty good at writing “to do” lists. In fact, I’m trying to get better at doing them. My desk is an active metaphor for NOT having such lists – seemingly random piles of stuff litter every inch of my office. Most of it is interesting. Most of it is relevant to my work. And some of it is even read and/or done!
But I’ve been carrying around another thought lately. What about my “got done” list? What about the process of ending each day and reflecting on what I did, who I affected, and what my real outcome and purpose was of any given day? It’s in THAT list where we really learn about who we are and what we mean.
Some people have the benefit of a job where the “got done” list is pretty essential. A farmer knows that the soil is tilled and ready for planting. A construction worker knows the framing is done and drywall comes next. The author finishes a chapter. The essence of some people’s work emerges simply by what’s left behind at the end of a day’s labor.
Not all of us have it that simple in terms of defining our utility. We can look at a day’s “to do” list and have no shortage of items to fill our time. But at the end of the day, are we equally able to say, “This is what I got done today that matters.” Not always such a simple prospect.
I was chatting with a former student today about life, the future, parents. The sorts of things you chat about when you’re talking to former students who are about to graduate from college and enter the real world.
She wrote the following comment to me: “I think you were in the unique position where what you were trying to teach and what students remember about you often overlapped.”
I would be hard pressed to think of a kinder more incisive statement to sum up what I hope my purpose and utility was as a teacher. The clarity of that sentence compels me to wonder whether or not in my new endeavors in the world I have that same overlap. And if I don’t what am I going to do about it?
What about you? Are the things you hold most true, most dear, most important overlapping in your “got done” lists? If not, what are you going to DO about it?
I can think of few lines of questioning more important to our long-term happiness and sense of worth than seeking a nearly constant and effortless overlap between the lessons we hold as truth and life we’re leading.