Tonight, I was involved in an interesting discussion. Each week, I take part in a DISCOVER group, where a group of us sit around and talk about a hard question, or some other topic. This week, we started out by watching the beginning of "Jerry Maguire". We then discussed our own personal Mission statements.

Now, I have never written a personal mission statement. Sure I've written ones for fake companies, and one which will soon be earning millions of dollars, but never one for myself. I figured that I'd give it a first pass on the same night I first heard of the idea. So, instead of writing about the core values and future vision of a company, I'll try and do it for myself.

When asked in the discussion about one thing that might be in my personal mission statement, I first thought of how I enjoy enabling others. This is something that I can see myself doing in the future as well. I'm sure that many people are grateful for the generous donations of other more fortunate people. But to actually help someone in need is much more rewarding I think. In 2004, when I went on an immersion trip to Mexico, I didn't just pay the money for the supplies for the house, I actually went down there and built the thing. It was amazing getting to interact with the family that we were building the house for, and having them put some effort in to it as well. I don't think I could stand trying to help the less fortunate if they didn't want to improve their own lives as well.

As I was laying in bed trying to go to sleep, I just kept thinking about this mission statement. Several more values came to mind. One that may not be the greatest value in myself, but one that I can't really get rid of is having a vision of the future. Now, sometimes it gets in the way of enjoying the moment (another value that was brought up in our discussion), but I seem to have more control over that now. A few years ago all I could think about was getting out of school and into the real world. Having gotten a few tastes of the real world, I can still say I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also enjoying my time in college more. Still, there is always that vision of the future that I have for myself that always reminds me to do certain things and not slack off. Having something to work for always helps.

Another value of mine is not wasting time being mad. If you know me, alot or a little, I try not to spend too much time being mad at things. There's not enough time to throw away at stupid little things. I'm sure there are tons of people out there who get mad at someone or something and just won't let it go no matter what. This impacts their every action! This, to me, seems just silly. I just found out that I'm not going to be an ARD next year. Was I upset? Sure, for a little, but then I got to thinking about how not a big deal it was. Being a CF for another year isn't exactly bad. Plus, already having three internships means I'm not exactly struggling for resume material. So, all in all, keeping a level head about things usually helps.

One interesting topic came up in our discussion about how one of the students thought she was good at a lot of things but not excellent at any one thing. This could not have hit closer to home for me. I feel the same way. I'm good with technology, but there are plenty more people who know a ton more than I do. I'm ok at school, but plenty more people are smarter than me. I'm alright at sports, but you don't see me on ESPN or anything. It seems to be the story of my life that I just have to accept. As we discussed, it might not be such a bad thing. Those who are fortunate enough to be exceptionally good at a particular area sometimes envy those of us who have a broader spectrum of ability. I had always thought of myself as a jack of all trades, but I believed there was something wrong about that. Apparently not. So perhaps I was wrong and should be thankful of my wider scope. If that is the case, it is obviously an aspect that I would not want to lose.

I guess that will do it for the first draft. While it doesn't match up to Jerry's 25 pages, I'm also just 20 and have plenty of time to figure out the rest. Plus, this isn't a movie...