Don’t Be Distracted. Instead, Be All You Can Be

It’s human nature to want to be all we can be. The United States Army tapped into that personal need in 1980 and came up with a catchy slogan and ad campaign:

We’re exposed to lots of choices as we begin our lives. We learn to set goals, beginning with walking, coloring in the lines and even going from eating “ba-sketti” with our hands to mastering “spaghetti” with a fork. As we grow older, we plot, plan, and strive to hit newer, more advanced marks of success. We strive to be all we can be.
But don’t be distracted. In our striving to reach our goals, we forget about contentment. To find contentment, we must first figure out who we are.
A pretty simple question at its face value. Yes, we know our names, where we live and either where we parked our car or what mass transit stop we need to return to for a ride back home.
But go deeper. Who really are we?
This exercise knocked my world from its axis for a moment. I’ve been striving for years to perfect my performance in the areas of “wife-dom”, mommyhood, speaking, and writing. I took courses in cooking and how to love my husband and children properly. I’ve studied trends and attacked with vigor how to build a social platform. I participated in classes that taught me how to project myself as well as how to write the perfect book proposal. While these all are extremely important—I value all the knowledge I gleaned from each lesson—I neglected to focus on my foundational need.
Who am I and why am I doing all of this?
Leaning back in my chair and pondering these questions, a scriptural passage exploded in my mind: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV
I had been distracted.
I’m not a mom or a wife. I am not a writer, nor am I a speaker. Those are choices I made—paths I’ve taken in life. They are things I do.
I am, however, the daughter of the Creator of the Universe and He has a purpose for my life. That purpose is to share God’s love, mercy, and grace to those as God has freely given to me. I do that by learning how to be the best mom and wife I can be. I strive to be the best speaker and writer I can be, sharing with others how God loved me through difficult seasons in life. Approaching life as who I am, I do what I am purposed to do.
Now my world is back on its axis and my focus has been reset.
Are you struggling with purpose? In society today, education and instruction are readily available and it’s easy to get overloaded. But return to your focused purpose. Who are you?
Lean back in your chair and take a deep breath. You may be surprised at what comes to mind.