Make your life count for something
We were seated at a bistro in the trendy Yaletown district of Vancouver. We’d arrived early for a game between the B.C. Lions and my wife’s beloved Saskatchewan Roughriders and were relaxing with some good food.
Seated next to us, at a table close enough you could hear a whisper, were two young ladies, one of them obviously new to Canada.
As our table neighbours perused the menu, the long-time Canadian attempted to describe to her new friend the meaning of the term “Happy Hour.” She focused on the notion that it is a celebration that work is over for the day.
Immediately her new friend delivered this verdict: “Any hour I’m not at work is Happy Hour.”
The two of them laughed and I must confess I suppressed a chuckle myself. And then it hit me – how sad. What must it be like to get up each morning dreading what you do?
In a past generation, a popular television minister began each of his broadcasts with a verse from the Bible that says, “This is the day the Lord has made, let’s rejoice and be glad in it.” What a stark contrast, one world view dreading each new day, the other celebrating its arrival.
How do you make sure you wind up on the right side of the equation, at least most days? Throughout this summer, some of my colleagues and I have embarked on a study of living a resilient life. Early on, I posed the question in my own Journal, “Do I get up most days with a clear sense that what I do matters?”
If the answer is “Yes” the next question is “Why?”
If the answer is “No,” clearly I want to know, “Why Not?”
What are the factors that contribute meaning and deep-seated satisfaction to my life?
Listing those factors is still a work in progress, but here’s a hint as to how you might process this yourself.
Will I do anything today purely out of love for someone else? I do not and will not expect to get anything back from my actions other than the deep satisfaction of expressing love.
Will I do anything today that will stand the test of time? It may not be possible every day to give a positive answer to this question, but I want to increase the frequency with which I invest my time on things I can look back to next year and know it mattered.
Will I do anything today that will make the people I care most about proud of me? Admittedly, it can be a slippery slope to live for the applause of others, but I am convinced recent trends have over-corrected that.
Too many of us live only for ourselves. I want my 95-year-old dad, my life partner and my 30-year-old children to be proud of how I live.
Will I help anyone in need? It doesn’t have to be of earth-shattering significance, but living with a heightened sensitivity to the plight of those around me and to intentionally live to impact them is a major factor in life-meaning.
Will I do anything today that will make my Heavenly Father smile? Many of us regularly pray the prayer our Lord taught us, which includes the line, “Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” Consequently, it is a logical to question whether I am in any way living in a manner that brings “heaven” to earth.
If I were ever asked to define “Happy Hour,” I hope I could do better than simply describe a celebration that I don’t have to work any longer. I’d love to be able to say, “It’s that hour each day when I can reflect on my activity with deep satisfaction, knowing that my life matters.”
Tim Schroeder is a pastor at Trinity Baptist Church.