I've always been a pretty strange kid. In a good way, strange. More like a little adult, but obviously still a kid- and not like those kids that act like adults and it's annoying. More like, I was wierd because I wanted to be more kid like, and think thats what went wrong when i had my "gansta" phase in early middle school.
In High School, my father gave me a Franklin Planner. A very expensive planning system that if you commit yourself to you commit yourself to buying years of paper fillers. I had so much to do in High School, it was a great gift, and I actually found it very touching since my father had been using one for years. Soon, I became just as attached to it as he.
The next gift he gave me that year was the book "The Seven habits of Highly Effective teens." That's the teens version of the adult book by Sean Covey, who shortly after I graduated from high school merged with Franklin to form the Franklin Covey Planning System and life skills/time management company. I read that book thoroughly and practiced it's suggestions, living my life being pro-active, thinking in "win/win" and "sharpening my saw." One of the suggestions they give is to write a mission statement. A mission statement at 17!!!! Well, I did, and I found it today shuffling through some old stuff (I laminated it so I could keep in in my wallet), and here it is. How did it get here all the way from Houston by way of Minneapolis and parts of Europe??
Mission Statement 1999
To make sure God is the #1 aspect in my life and everything I do is for His glory; to not judge anyone or myself and take all mistakes as learning experiences; to work as hard as I can even when I feel like a failure; to respect everyone, myself, and my beliefs; to be kind to everyone and treat them as I want ot be treated; to be strong in my ideas and beliefs; to accept who I am and worth with it instead of dwelling on the negative; to think pro-actively; to listen to others and not caretake anyone; to not participate in anything that can be detrimental to me physically or spiritually; Accept the things I cannot change, change the things I can, and have the knowledge to know the difference; to not be centered on the material aspects of life; to stop putting myself down; to embrace my life and cherish it and the others in it; to Love God with all my heart sould and mind.
Since I have learned how to write better mission statements, and I realize the list is more a list of principles, but at the time it's what I thought of as a mission statement.
I cannot imagine trying to write one for my life right now, which is why I think it's time to do it.
2 comments:
You're looking quite smashing, lately. LA has done you good!
I used to BEG my father for a Franklin Planner and he refused to buy me one on the grounds that my type-A orientation toward organization would rob me of an adolescence. You were lucky.
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