Three Principles to Live By

These red and pink blooms stand proudly in my front yard.  Yeah, Spring!

          Many of you know that I’ve been teaching writing at the college level for most of my adult career.  While I have no interest in pushing my personal religion or politics on my students, I do sometimes think about what messages I would like to pass on to them about the things I value in life – beyond grammar and good essay structure!  I’ve come to the conclusion that if I would give them any personal advice, it would come down to these three things:

1)      Connect with your Creator.

2)      Get to know people that are different from you.

3)      Do something important in life.

• Connect with your Creator:  People do this in many different ways, but I do believe that there is a Creative Being behind this world we live in, a being who wishes to relate to us in a way that feeds our soul, helping us to become whole people.  I believe that we all have a spiritual hunger to understand our purpose here on this earth and relate to a God who loves us deeply.
• Get to know people that are different from you. It’s easy to find ourselves relating only to those who are similar to us – same skin color, culture, social class, religion, age, etc. But we’re missing out!  My life has been so enriched when I’ve had the opportunity to meet people of other cultures, beliefs and economic classes.  It has widened my worldview and although those differences might make us feel uncomfortable at times, it’s always worth it.  I treasure the chance to know people from many different worlds.
• Do something important in your life. By this I don’t mean winning the Super Bowl or the Nobel Peace Prize.  Nor do we all need to join the Peace Corp or become social workers!  Great movements start with the individual.  If we don’t feel like our jobs necessarily contribute to “the greater good,” than I think it’s important that we each do something we feel makes a difference.  It may be reading to at-risk kids, visiting an elderly friend, going on a service trip – basically using our talents and skills to make the world a better place.

For life is what you make it.  So make it good!