Somewhere in the land of cyberspace, my beautiful roommate Christine Kaufman has written a similar blog post. But since I cannot find said blog post, I wanted to write my own thoughts on a subject that has become a buzzword in our household and among friends. You can’t live without it; you must live by it. Without it, your actions seem wayward and meaningless. It’s an explanation for all your actions, or at least it should be. It can help you make major life decisions. It’s a life motto.
Now before you write life mottos off like some sort of new years resolution you never stick to, hear me out. We take these very seriously, as you will soon see. Here’s a taste of a few ....
I’ll start with my own, that only seems fair. If you know me, you may have heard me say this once or a thousand times. “If it feels right, do it.” This is a branch and tiny expansion of my response to the constant question, “Why’d you do that, Rae?” It felt right! Now this statement requires a strong moral compass and ethical values, neither of which I have. I’m kidding - sorta. This life motto is neither godly nor super inspiring. I could’ve chosen the golden rule, something about it being more blessed to give than receive, or live like you’re going to die tomorrow. Whatever. I like mine. I live by it, and it hasn’t failed me yet. Yet. Or has it?
“If you feel it, do it. / Do what you feel.” by the wonderful Katuschka Rakovec. It may seem slightly similar to mine at first glance, but this life motto fully captures who she is. If you feel something, do it. And do it like you feel it! Don’t hide. Don’t be fearful. Show your emotion. Do it big. Be passionate! If you need an example of how to do this, just watch her.
“Fake it till you make it.” by the great and brilliant Jonathan Janos. I really like this one. How many of us feel this way? Like we’re faking it all the time - we’re not that confident in what we’re doing. But if we can make people believe that we are, maybe, just maybe, we’ll make it. You may hate this one. I think it’s hilarious. Jonathan is on his way to Germany to serve us as an engineer in the army for the next three years. He has now made it, and I don’t know if there was actually much faking involved.
“You win some, you lose more.” by my favorite Paige in the whole world. She is now ready to kill me, because this isn’t her actual life motto. But you may hear her say it every once in a while as a joke. Her real life motto is, “For His glory and my joy.” Borrowed from John Piper, we’ve now moved into the more godly realm. She really does live her life this way, though, to the best of her ability. It’s inspiring to me every day.
“Where you invest your love, you invest your life.” by my best friend Mary Griffith. Also a borrowed quote, from the band-craze-for-a-good-reason Mumford and Sons, this one rings so true. She’s practicing that daily. We all are, really. If we invest our love in ourselves, we invest our lives in ourselves, which proves empty. If we invest our love in the Lord, we will reap what we sow. A lot of times that looks like investing our love in other people, that they might know the truth.
“Perspective is everything; God is good.” by the aforementioned Christine Kaufman. I love, love, love this one. Chew on that all day. Perspective is everything absolutely. Attitude can be a choice. And when you know and trust and believe that God is good, there is always beauty rising from the ashes. Always. God is always good, so life is never hopeless.
I cannot currently remember Katie Crosby’s because it’s long and inspiring and borrowed from a catechism maybe, but just know that it’s good. And godly. Like her. I’ll take this opportunity and say she’s a person I feel so privileged to have spent some time with so far this year.
Why do I only have girls’ life mottos on here besides Jonathan? Maybe I just haven’t asked the males I know. Or maybe they don’t buy into it as much. Mistake. You should think on your life motto. I always want to hear other people’s if they have one.
A few suggestions if you’re struggling for one -
“No pain, no gain.” Good for work-out nuts and discipline freaks.
“Hey, it’ll make a good story some day.” To be used with discretion.
“No risk, no reward.” For all you dreamers.
“Hakuna Matata.” Ohh, Timon, you are so wise.
“It’s better to be hated for who I really am, then loved for who I am not.” A-freakin-men.
Why did I write this silly blog post? Refer to the title. Works every time.
5 comments:
such a great post, rae! many will be blessed by what you said. my ultimate favorite - “It’s better to be hated for who I really am, then loved for who I am not.” i have the same reaction to that as you do; A-freakin-men.
"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." Helen Keller
"Be the change you want to see in the world." Mahatma Ghandi
i haven't really thought about it, but i'd probably subscribe to helen keller's... =D
Rae, hey sis (just in case candice is reading) - awesome blog. Loved the ladies' mottos... Quick thought about the dude's quote, with respect - the only people that ever "make it" are the ones that realize they don't need to "fake it." People who fake it have something to fear, we don't - Jesus paid it all, we are free to fail. Grace lets God love us just as we are - and that's what ends up getting us to change for the better. We won't ever really make it this side of heaven, but that's why He came. It's like you said in the post below, it's about more than appearances - a new heart, changed from the inside out! So we have to continually admit our failure AND continually believe Jesus is enough. We can love, live and even lead out of that brokenness - it's messy, but it's powerful and authentic. Loved this one, "It’s better to be hated for who I really am, than loved for who I am not.” As long as we fake it we're saying we don't need mercy, but as soon as we give up the act - Jesus is there.
"fail, repent, believe... fail harder"
why is this blog post so dang good?! i've read it 3 times. yeah, that's real life. i just felt it, you know?
It seems to me “fake it till you make it” and "fail, repent, believe... fail harder" could be sister mottos depending on how you look at it. Unauthenticity and deception are, as John aptly points out, products of fear and shame. Incompleteness however, not in who we are but in the fruit of our lives, is “faking it” just as it is “failing repenting …”. We are images of God, not the real thing, we’re not faking in the sense of con-men, rather we’re children imitating our Father.
Was it CS Lewis who said acting lovingly towards God, or someone, even if we don’t feel it will tend to engender real love? Could that be faking?
The great thing about mottos is they’re only really understood in the context of the person who uses them!
“It Builds Character” … “America!”
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