connecting the dots

Steve Jobs: Stanford commencement speech 2005

I watched this commencement speech given by Steve Jobs earlier this week and I was so inspired, challenged and moved.  Here are some of my thoughts in response to his words:

There are some beautiful dots that have connected to bring me to where I am today.  How did this math-loving-high-school-band-geek who started as a PR major, then Elementary Education, then Human Resources end up getting a masters in Higher Education?  How did someone who never even thought about being an RA become a Director of Residence Life?   How did this Minnesota-lover through and through choose to move across the country?  It's a great story.  Maybe I'll write the long-version another time, but it holds the influence of friends in college, the adventure of working in Colorado, an entry level human resources job, volunteering with a youth group, returning to my alma-mater towork in admissions, a longing for more, living with amazing women at Edgemere, going to Austria, starting my masters degree, getting my heart broken, taking a chance in interviewing (again) for an RD job, the incredible influence of my co-workers and boss, starting to run, a summer of grief, a fellow masters student telling me about her work at a place called Messiah Philly, taking a chance on applying for a job in Philadelphia, responding to an invite to interview in Grantham a year later, working with people who challenge my thinking daily, knitting with college students, and living moment by moment.  I do need to take time to connect all those dots... they've drawn a good story for me.

Also, I love my job.  And, I'm so aware not everyone can say that.  Sure, there are times I don't love everything about it but 93 days out of 100 I wake up happy and excited about going to work.  I feel blessed that I've found work like this at such a young age (Am I allowed to say that I'm young?).  Here's what Steve Jobs said in the 2005 commencement speech:  "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle."  Such great advice.

Finally, my time on this earth is short.  As Steve Jobs said:  "Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."  I do try to live this way.  So often I feel as if I'm living such a different life than I thought I would be living.  But, this is my life and I don't want to waste a moment of it.  I want to love this life that I've been given to the fullest.

In church today the Old Testament reading was from Isaiah 25:
"O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure."

Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful things you've done in my life and for the plans formed of old, faithful and sure.  Help me to follow the path you have me on and to be thankful for the place I'm in.  Help me not to waste this season but to take capture of each moment I've been given.