Finding a Purpose

I believe that I have found the reason that I do not enjoy my education.

But I need to take the story back a few years to explain.

So let us start at the beginning.

I really enjoyed my education as a young child. I hated school. But I loved the learning. And that made school worth it. It was exciting to learn how to put my thoughts into words and my words into characters on a page. It boggled my mind that night my Dad sat me down and taught me how to stack my numbers when I subtracted rather than putting them to the side of each other. <-- I legitimately still remember that day. Learning was enthusing to me. And back then my purpose for learning was learning just for the sake of learning. I was happy with that reason, and didn't need another.

But then I started getting older. About the time I turned 12, I started forming this dream.

It was simple at first. A little house on a hill. A happy family.

Then I started to realize that there are practical sides and pieces of life that have to be figured out in order to live. Things like food, water, clothing, and ways to obtain these commodities in a sustainable manner. So I looked into them. And thus my dream started to fill with basic things like solar panels and livestock. But more than that was needed. Livestock need food. Money is needed to buy solar panels. More importantly, money is needed to buy land. So a plan to make money ensued. 

But I decided that I didn't want to be dependent on a piece of paper to prosper. So I set out to find ways to do all of this sustainably, and I found permaculture. I learned that I could plant food forests that would be almost completely self-sustainable. Swales would help keep the water that comes to my land stay on my land, and even give me an abundance of this uncommon resource. Managed correctly, livestock can take care of themselves and each other, as well as keep the food forest in good shape. 

And that was it right there. The ultimate in sustainability. My dream could then be a reality.

But my little house with my family and my farm isn't my whole dream.

When it comes right down to it, my dream is about joy.

I want to be the happiest person alive.

And my dream isn't complete until everyone else's is too.

Because the thing that brings me more joy than anything else is seeing my friends succeed and knowing that I was a part of that success.

But success on a massive scale of individuals requires freedom.

And I fear that we are losing freedom in America. I fear that it will be soon gone. 

So the question then is, "How do I fix my country?"

Well, I go into politics. Or I go into radio. Television. The media. Maybe be a religious leader. As has been said many times by Glenn Beck, the way to change a country is to change it's culture. So to turn the country around from heading to less freedom to heading to more freedom requires a cultural shift. 

Ouch. That's difficult.

I don't want to be a politician. I don't want to be Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh. I don't want to be a religious leader.

I want to be that nice old man who lives with his sweet old wife in that one little house on that hill a couple miles North of town. The one who's home you always leave with a smile on your face and a renewed passion for life in your heart.

I want to change the world one person at a time. Because I believe that is the best, and most effective way to change the world. I believe it is the longest lasting.

But I don't have time. Because there are 7 Billion people on Earth today.

I won't even live as many seconds in my entire lifetime as there are people alive today.

But, I have a dream. And I have a mission in life. That mission is to change the world for the better in preparation for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. So whether my calling is to be the wise old man on the hill or the martyr in the street I will stand ready to serve my God. Because I love him.

I have changed in the 45 minutes that I have been writing this post. The original intent going into this post was to explain how I now see my dream as unattainable, and thus I see no purpose in my education. Because I don't have a reason for it. I don't have a vision of where it will take me. And thus I can have all the drive in the world, but without a knowledge of where I'm going I'll only be driving. But I've changed my mind.

I do have a purpose for my education. 

The purpose of my education is to change myself. To make myself more useful to my God. So that he can work through me to change the world. 

Because I am going to change the world. 

Remember?

I invite you to change the world with me. Starting today.

Today is Easter. We will celebrate the overcoming of death and sin by the Savior. It is a symbol of a new beginning. So start one.

Begin with yourself. Clear your conscience of any regret or doubt. Educate yourself. Become what He wants you to be.

Once you've come to honest terms with yourself and your God, you'll know what to do. I don't know what you should do. But you will. 

Then, together, we will change the world.

But it starts,

Today.