Life. It seems so complicated and multiple faceted. How can it ever be simple? There are so many parts. What do you mean there are only three? Huh?
Nature is a good teacher. Trees that grow too tall for their roots are toppled by the wind. The forest provides shelter and food for many animals. Organisms have exactly what the need, nothing more and nothing less. Life that thrives in nature has structure, community and purpose. The three legs of life in nature is true for the human as well.
Develop Structure
The unstructured life is a mess. Any small addition event is seen as a crisis. There is nothing to support all what goes on from day to day. The person without structure has problems finishing tasks on time, has a harder time learning new skills and ideas, will continue to be late and lacks any semblance of balance.
Structure is what one uses to produce a life full of completion. Structure must exist for one to fulfill their potential, give meaning and provide satisfaction. Without structure, one will continuously miss the mark.
Consider the well tuned athlete. Is it simple genetics? No. It is strict routine. Not for a day. Not for a year. For many days; many years. Everyday is planned to ensure all portions of the workout and nutrition are met. Everyday is planned so that every minute is used and nothing is wasted. Structure is what creates the well tune athlete.
Community is support
In 1624, John Donne wrote Devotions upon Emergent Occasions. The following lines are from Meditation XVII (written in modern English):
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
Here Donne illustrates that each of us are better as part of a whole. We feel for one another. We laugh together. We cry together. As part of a community, we have more resources for learning, for teaching, for growing. Being a part of a community gives each of us far more than we have alone.
Community is a key to growth and understanding. Find the community you need to grow the ways you desire. Listen. Learn. Speak. Teach. Grow.
Live a Purpose
Ever wonder why you are? What your purpose in life is? Tired of wondering around in a haze, not knowing where up and down are? The human was designed to have a purpose. You have one.
Purpose gives one’s life direction and dedication. The athlete who has been shaped to run the marathon will never fulfill that goal without purpose. Purpose is what causes the need for structure to appear and the desire to seek community. It is a sense of purpose that keeps one on course when all else has gone by the way. Purpose creates the drive, the desire, the persistence. When one knows and lives their purpose, no obstacle will be seen as too great to overcome. Have purpose. Find purpose.
Use all three legs of your life. You will be complete.
Related articles
- Live of all three legs (bryonlape.wordpress.com)
- John Donne, priest and poet, part 1: love, conscience and martyrdom | Roz Kaveney (guardian.co.uk)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls by John Donne (lettersfromthetop.wordpress.com)
- Does Your Life Have a Purpose? (pukirahe.wordpress.com)
