Well I'm home now. Sitting in my cozy little apartment drinking an egg nog latte from Starbucks. It's Sunday morning and for the first time all year I have nowhere to go and nothing that I have to do. It's an interesting feeling. One I both love and hate. Because it's in these vacant moments that I'm forced to revist this question of Why. Those of you who heard me speak this year know how passionate I am about encouraging people to ask themselves the Why questions because I've learned that if I don't know why I'm doing what I'm doing I'll spend my whole life spinning my tires trying to figure out what to do or how to do it.
It's in this why question that I'm beginning to find my purpose and it's this purpose that motivates me when I don't feel like doing what I'm doing.
I've flown over 100,000 miles this year and most of it has been alone. If I didn't remind myself often of "Why" I'd be tired, burned out, and incredibly lonely.So hopefully you'll have some downtime this winter and I want to encourage you to think about "Why you came to this party." Because it is a party and it's incredibly fun and freeing and if you feel bogged down or tired then find the answer to that "why" question and it will energize and motivate you and remind you of why you're doing what you're doing.
Think about your friends and think about your family because it's in other people that we find our purpose.
Yours,
DJ
21 comments:
" Beacuse it's in other people that we find our purpose"
I love that...Its so true! Since your charge to begin examining our 'whys" I have been wondering where our 'whys' come from... Essentially why are our whys our 'whys' ( wow. thats confusing!) Anyway, it all boils down to what you just said about it being in others that we find our purpose...we cannot seperate ourselves from it and if we try, we will never be truly fulfilled.
(ps) nothing to do on a Sunday morning??...go to church, silly! ;)
Amen.
well said dj! we dont find our purpose in what we do...but why we are doing it! you can fulfill your purpose doing most anything...as long as you are doing it for the right reasons and with a servants heart! your down time is beneficial to all :)
I LOOOVE Egg Nog lattes:)
You should get some kks to go with it;)
Wow! Really good post!
U rock!
:)
Sage and timely advice. I continue to ask myself that very question, and knowing the "why" can really simplify life. And an egg nog latte sounds so good right now!
DJ,
Excellent post, WHY? I have to agree with you. Without a reason you are just spinning your wheels. You’re moving very fast, accomplishing things, but, to what end? How do know when you have accomplished a goal and celebrate it. WHY? For me it’s simple. I do it for my family. I take great pride in setting goals that allow me to pursue my passion and take care of my family. I have been blessed to touch people’s lives through my photography that has caused change for the good and I have been fortunate enough to enjoy the abundance of life pursuing my dreams. I thank God every day for blessing me with Dawn, my best friend and partner in life’s journey. Our children Bobby & Alli for whom there is nothing I would not do to provide for them a safe loving home. That is my first and foremost reason WHY. The other answers to WHY are important but I keep them in perspective. I ask God to bless me indeed and let me use my gifts to earn an abundant life. I too aspire to be as successful as Gary Fong, Dennis Reggie, and yourself. I wish I had come to this realization as early in life as you. I lost my parents at a young age and bounced around with different relatives until I was 17. My cousins, Pat & Hal, welcomed me into their family and made a huge, positive impact on my life. It was then that I stopped blaming everything that happened in my life and starting setting goals and creating a life. So every day give thanks and ask why. Always challenge yourself to expand beyond your comfort zone and create the life you want to live.
It was great spending time with you, Gary, Melissa and the gang in New York and finally meeting Dennis Reggie.
Keep on keeping on.
Bobby D.
you shoulda come over and had banana waffles this morning. they were the bomb. i found purpose in them :)
You've impacted mine and Paige's life HUGE over the past 7 yrs!
Deyl, I can't help but wonder if that is an open invitation for banana waffles...they sound worth the drive from the OC for sure! Say hi to Paige! :)
Deej, I'm glad your're asking WHY because when the answer is finally revealed, you're going to be SO BLESSED!
xoxo...
Why does my butt itch? Probably 'cuz I sit here at this computer too long!! LOL
Just keep in mind that at the end of almost every one of those 100,000 miles is a young lady admirer so your journey isn't as lonesome as it sounds my friend. At some point you'll have to push "why" aside and ask "who?" He-he-he...
BTW -- I think my invitation got, uh, lost in the mail...can I just crash the party????
I am here for fun.
Having said that, it's fun helping people, but I have to have fun first and foremost.
When I made having fun my primary purpose in life, everything became awesome!
DJ,
I'm struggling here a little bit... Is it in "man/people" that we find our purpose? Or is it in Him, in which we find our purpose? I often feel like if we continue to adopt the idea that others will help define us, then we'll be up a creek without a paddle. But if during the busy and the down times combined, we ask 'why,' He will reveal himself to us and make our purpose known. So in asking 'why' we must be willing to listen which makes the importance of the quiet times so valuable.
life for me is a process, the continual search for the right mix. Sometimes this blend is skewed by too much of something or tainted by other things.
In our struggle we learn so much about ourselves, God and others. for some reason your post stuck with me a long time, I realized that even in our great successes there can be struggle and pain in other areas of our lives and that even the mighty DJ is human.
Thanks for sharing. My you find the right blend in your bright future.
-scott
Reminds me of something I just told the Youth I work with at church.
Everything comes down to:
Why did you get up this morning?
To go to work? Why go to work?
To make money? Why make money?
To buy things? What things?
Why those things? etc...
When it all gets down to the end. Its pretty huge and you finally realize who you are living for and for what.
Your awesome DJ. Thanks for the mentoring time in Vegas last year.
i know the "right" answer to this question and am closer to it this week than last, but the reality of "why" i do so many things is often nearly worthless.
but, i'm wising up!
. . . i think????
"Because it's in other people that we find our purpose."
I agree with you that the "why" question is important. The most successful people in the world wouldn't have gotten to the top without self examination like that. But, I have to disagree with the above quote.
I've tried to find my purpose in people and been disappointed. =\ People are fallible and changeable. They let you down and break your heart. It's not something to be surprised at; it's just that humans are imperfect. We shouldn't find our reasons for being and doing in people.
Jer 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
I've found a better reason for all my "whys". In fact, I've found the perfect reason! Because God loves me and He has a plan for me and I want to follow that plan!
I love reading your blog!
=D Sam F.
Ditto, Sam F.! Since we are created by God to worship Him, it's only in Him can we find our purpose, and that purpose does involve loving people and giving of ourselves to them, just as Jesus exampled during His brief mission here on earth, and just like our Father in heaven exampled throughout history.
"No greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" John 15:13
DJ, the closer you draw to Him and the more you read His Word, the more you will know Him and have your true purpose in this brief life revealed to you. And the less appealing Horoscopes and other falsehoods will be to you!
Love you bro!
John Schafer
I think you guys are right - We find our purpose in God and then act it out with other people. Rock on.
....and I don't think I've ever looked at a horoscope. :)
Such a great question, and I've been asking myself that same question a lot lately.
I came to the party because I feel that I have been blessed with a passion for Photography and I don't want to let it go to waste. I want to learn everything I can (without driving myself crazy, which, honestly, I've been doing lately) and pray like crazy that I make it.
wow... update this thing!
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