When your time on earth is over, how would you like to be remembered?
Everyone’s life is a story. You determine how great your story is by the kind of life you live. We all tell a story with our lives; yet few of us write that story intentionally. Instead, many of us just live each day and let the story write itself. We don’t have to live that way. We can turn our lives into great stories by engaging in intentional living.
Intentional living is when you approach each day with the expectation of making a positive difference in the lives of others and following through with action. Learning to be intentional has the power to create positive change in the world around you and to help you live a story of great significance.
Many people put wealth, status and power at the top of their list as indicators of success. In the grand scheme of the universe, these things are fleeting and will be easily forgotten. Maya Angelou said, ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’
Your life is before you. Fill each day with kind acts, good thoughts, and matters of your heart. Write a great story with your life.
So, how can you make your life count?
- Make it about others and not yourself: A great story, a story of significance begins with a heart to help other people. If you have a heart to make a difference in the lives of other people, you always find a way to help people. You always find answers to life’s tough questions. You create solutions. You don’t say, “Something should be done about this.” You say, “I will do something!” That’s when you begin to rewrite your story. “The value of a man’s life is in the counting of his positive influence on others.
- Make it about giving and not getting: Find someone in need and try and meet their need. Making your life count means fulfilling the needs of those around you based on a heart of love. That kind of heart does not expect anything in return.
- Make it about serving rather than self-seeking: Today, ask yourself, “How can I serve people around me?” “What is it that I can do for someone, that is unexpected and will add value to their lives?” Even these simple questions can make people feel loved and, in return, you are fulfilled in serving.
- Make it about fulfilling God’s purpose: In making your life count, discover your life purpose and identify your God-given call so that you can start living life on purpose and actually do what you were put on earth to do! When you know WHAT you’re doing and WHY, it’s easier to keep going when times are tough, or when you encounter opposition or criticism. When you know your life purpose, even if things aren’t going as well as you’d like, you’re still motivated and still look forward to doing it.
I have concluded that the accumulation of wealth, even if I could achieve it, is an insufficient reason for living. When I reach the end of my days, I must look backward on something more meaningful than the pursuit of houses, land, machines, stocks, and bonds. Nor is fame any lasting benefit. I will consider my earthly existence to have been wasted unless I can recall a loving family, a consistent investment in the lives of people, and an earnest attempt to serve the God who made me. Nothing else makes much sense.
“As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5
Some count their days, while others make their days count. Make your life count!