Tuesday 16 April 2019

A mission worthy of value

A mission worthy of value

With money too tight to mention, most people work to survive, with mission a million miles from their mind. On special occasions, people reach for the vision they hold dear, even though it is cobwebbed, starved, and fading. They squeeze out a dose of hope and put the vision back on the shelf of "maybe someday.”
The majority of people do not live out their mission daily. This does not interfere with the fact they have a bold, shiny, meaningful vision, like my friend Steven. The ugly reality is that people without a mission rarely, if ever, get the chance to attain their vision.

I only discovered the power of mission in my forties and now frantically labour to play catch up. Don’t allow yourself to walk the same path as I did, learn from my mistake. Learn from my message, which is - foster a healthy mission from as early as possible, for as long as possible.

As a young boy, the Huntsman preferred to be outdoors. His parents introduced him to hobbies and activities that took advantage of his preference. His father took him riding in the woods, stopping at the shooting range to fire off a few shotgun shells. His mother called him to help feed the lambs and let him raise his own chickens. These experiences taught him skills and helped shape his attitude towards life.
When it came time to choose a career, the Huntsman’s boyhood activities had a big influence on his decision. When consulting with the Huntsman’s parents about possible career prospects, they pointed out his interests and abilities at tending the flock, raising chickens, and living from the land. The Huntsman chose his career because he enjoyed what it entailed, and to some degree, it was already part of who he was.
The Huntsman’s career choice didn’t surprise his friends and family, they expected it. At the time of making that decision, the Huntsman was no expert. Quite the opposite, our Huntsman was just a beginner and he knew his skills and ability would have to be developed and refined.

Your mission may be something you go to work to do or it may be something you do only on special occasions. Maybe your mission is still on that “someday” shelf. In any event, it is most likely something already a part of you, a part of your make up, part of who you are.
Walt Disney drew faces on flowers in primary school, long before the Disney enterprise was established. Teaches reprimanded him saying that flowers don’t have faces in the real world. He answered them with, "In my world, they do."
Charles Dickens had to go to work at the age of ten to help his family survive. He saw it as the time that he lost his youthful innocence. This theme repeated itself in his books, including Oliver Twist, which brought him fame and fortune.
Marie Curie was born into a poor family in Poland, a country that believed education was wasted on woman. That didn’t stop her throwing all her time and effort into studies resulting in two Nobel Prizes for her work in Chemistry and in Physics.
"Life is not easy for any of us," said Marie. "But, what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained."

Take a moment and ponder this question: If forced to do a job, any job, a job of your choice, but you had to pay to do that job; which job would you do? Why would you do that job? What satisfaction or contentment would that job bring you?
Mr. Padma Shri Jadav Payeng planted bamboo and trees along a sandbar near the village where he lived in India. Snakes washed up on the beach after a flood in the area, and died on the sandbar, due to a shortage of shelter from the sun. Just fifteen years old at that time, Mr. Payeng saddened by the loss, walked into the barren area daily, and planted trees to establish a forest.
Now, at age 47, Mr. Payeng’s forest covers more than 1,360 acres that gives shelter to a wide range of snakes, birds, deer, rhino, and tigers. No one wanted to help him, no one believed anything would grow or survive the sandbar, yet Mr. Payeng persisted. Forest Conservation Authorities say, "We are amazed at Payeng. He has been at it for thirty years. Had he been in any other country, he would have been made a hero.”
What would you do daily, without pay, possible without recognition, because you were passionate about the benefit it would bring?
Your daily mission may not be as laborious as Mr. Payeng's mission. It may not draw the discouragement of teachers like Mr. Disney's mission. It may not result in a single Nobel Prize, in the spirit of Ms. Curie's achievement; nevertheless, its value is just as great.

Even though it is your mission, it is not for you to determine its value. The people you serve with your daily mission will benefit from it and it is up to them to place value on what you do.
Through the years, countless people have laughed at cartoons of flowers with faces, at dancing bees, and talking mice. It is the value those people put on Walt Disney's work that gave birth to an empire! Walt Disney would be an unknown name if you and I didn’t enjoy what he did daily.
Your mission has the potential to affect one person's circumstances, changing their world, or it may affect the entire world in which we live. Let your mission see the light of day. Believe in your mission, and believe in yourself enough to let others benefit from what you do.

Mission has multi-faceted rewards for those that purposefully seek and live it out. You will grow in knowledge as you seek to become better at what you do. You will grow in reputation as you grow in knowledge, and people will seek out your advice and counsel. You will feel like your days have a reason. People will benefit from your mission and that will feel like the best part of the reward! All I can say now is… FIND YOUR MISSION! Tally ho, the mission!

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