Living Life on Purpose

What are your values and priorities in life?  Could others look at your daily life and get a good sense of your "V's" and "P's"?  We know generally what we value, and what we believe our priorities are,  but we have to take the next step and apply that knowledge to our daily lives. 

 Unless and until we clearly define our values and priorities for ourselves, we run the risk of wondering aimlessly through life, until finally we look back and realize that we didn’t live out our values and priorities the way we had intended. Sadly, by then it is often too late. The damage has been done and is irreversible. A life without a plan is a life wasted.

This week, I want you to sit down with a nice cup of coffee and write out your values and priorities, including how you want to live them out. Think about the different areas in your life, what do you want those areas to look like 1, 5, 20 years from now? Set goals for yourself to help you achieve that vision. This is the road map of your life, guiding how you will spend your time, and the choices you will make. Knowing exactly where you are going will give you patience, endurance, peace, and most important, a sense of purpose in your life.

After you have defined your values and priorities on paper, evaluate your life. Are your daily activities in line with your values and priorities?  Ask yourself the following questions.

• What is important to me? (ie: your faith, relationship with your husband, children, family and friends, homemaking, role as a wife and mother, your job, etc) 
• What does that Look like? (ie: What do you want your relationship with your husband to be like? What does it mean to be a homemaker? What do you want your faith life to be like?)
• What should I be doing (daily, weekly, monthly) to live out my values and priorities? (ie: to foster your Catholic faith maybe you go to church on Sundays and holy days, attend a weekly bible study, and spending time in prayer and read reading the bible each day)

Once you have the answers to those 3 questions and you know what your priorities are, you can use this information to fine tune your activities  Look at your daily activities.  Are there discrepancies between your values and your daily activities? Do they foster the things you value as priorities in your life?   Schedule those activities in your weekly plan sheet or agenda and make it a priority to do them! 

Is your week filled with activities that are not priorities? For me personally, I can sucked into watching way to much television, to the detriment of my household responsibilities.   What activities can you do without to make more time for your priorities?  Finally, are there activities you are engaging in that run contrary to your known priorities?

Are you beginning to see how a written list of priorities and supporting activities will guide your actions throughout the week? Type up your list and put it in your weekly planner, on your refrigerator--anywhere where you can reference it often.  Revisit this list annually and make changes as needed.