Maxwell: Living a Useful Life
What are you doing with this gift of life?

John C. Maxwell July 6, 2010

When you are 80 years old, sitting in your porch rocking chair and reflecting on life, questions such as Did I live a useful life? will cross your mind. There’s no doubt this question will be important to you at 80, so it really should be important to you now.

Unfortunately, a lot of people make a habit of postponing life. They think that somehow, some way, somewhere at some time, life will get better. This rather poignant saying helps illustrate my point:

First I was dying to finish high school and start college. And then I was dying to finish college and start working. And then I was dying to marry and have children. Then I was dying for my children to grow old enough so I could return to work. Then I was dying to retire. And now I am dying and suddenly realize I forgot to live.

Isabel Moore said, “Life is a one-way street. No matter how many detours you take, none of them leads back.

And once you know and accept that, life becomes much simpler.”

I’ve understood for some time that the only day I have is today. Even so, having a heart attack a few years ago crystallized that concept in my mind. Life is a one-way street. This isn’t a dress rehearsal—it’s a live performance.

We need to take special care to live a useful life, starting now.

So what does it mean to live a useful life? For me, the usefulness of my life is determined by:

• The relationships I form
• The decisions I make
• The experiences I encounter

The Relationships I Form
Relationships help us define who we are and what we can become. More than almost anything else, relationships determine the kind of a life you lead. In fact, most people can trace their failures or successes back to pivotal relationships.

Our relationships with others fall into one of four categories:

1. Addition—Some relationships add to who we are.
2. Subtraction—Some relationships take a little bit out of us.
3. Multiplication—Some relationships can multiply our strengths, results and contacts.
4. Division—Some relationships can divide us.

Think about the people in your life. Where do they fit into these categories? I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to put names beside each category, right? Many of the sorrows we experience spring out of relationships with the wrong people. But it is also true that some of the greatest joys we experience in life develop as the result of our relationships with the right people. With that in mind, work to increase the time and energy you invest in the relationships that improve your life.

And, perhaps above all, work on becoming a person who improves others’ lives.

The Decisions I Make
Our decisions also determine the usefulness of our lives. One of my favorite quotes on making decisions comes from the great John Wooden, who said, “Make each day your masterpiece.”

There are two ingredients necessary to make every day a masterpiece: decisions and discipline. Decision-making takes care of goalsetting, but discipline also takes care of goal-getting. Decisions and discipline can’t be separated; one is worthless without the other.

Since I’m talking about living a useful life, let me share what I consider to be a few of my own life-changing decisions.

• I am committed to continual personal growth. I believe growth is happiness, it is essential. Out of my growth I live, and out of my growth, I give.
• I will give and serve on the front end. Many of the blessings I enjoy today are the result of the decision my wife, Margaret, and I made to try to live a life of giving with no strings attached.
• I will exhibit a great attitude, regardless of the situation.

Virginia Satir said, “Life is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.” It’s not the circumstances life deals us that determine our success or failure. It’s our response to it.

The Experiences I Encounter
Finally, the experiences we encounter on a daily basis impact our ability to live a useful life. Joseph Campbell put it best, “People say that what we’re all seeking is meaning for life…. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive.”

Our experiences determine how fulfilling our life is, and there are four realms to every experience:

1. Entertainment—Absorbing experience through the senses
2. Educational—Participation of a person’s mind or body, sometimes both
3. Escapist—Completely involves the person, like going to a theme park
4. Esthetic—Immersion in an environment but not affecting it

Jim Gilmore was spot-on when he said, “The richest and most compelling human experiences draw from all four realms.” If you are a leader or a communicator, ask yourself: When I am communicating with or leading people, do I involve all four experiences?

Final Thoughts
If you’re not doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is. If you’re doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is. Life does not consist of years lived, but of its usefulness.
If you are giving, loving, serving, helping, encouraging and adding value to others, you have a useful life!

its never too late to impact others!

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it
(1 Corinthians 10:13).

A young Christian lady once asked if it was a sin to
go to work on Sunday, instead of Church, since the nature of her job demanded it. No, it’s not a sin but you’ve got to learn to create opportunities to accommodate such challenges. The Bible says in Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” This is very instructive about attending Church services in your local assembly.
The case of Christians living in Arab countries for example readily comes to mind in reviewing such peculiar cases. Now, in many of such countries, Sundays are workdays, while Fridays are set apart for religious activities. So, main service days for most of these Christians would be on Fridays since they go to work on Sundays. Is that then a sin? No! They’re only making the best of the situation.
So, likewise, if as a Christian you find yourself in a situation where your job makes it difficult for you to attend church service on Sundays, what you need do is to bring the Church to your place of work. You can start up a cell; talk to your pastor and discuss the possibility of starting a fellowship at your place of work.
That way, you and your Christian colleagues who may be facing the same challenges can then come to work, perhaps an hour before the scheduled time of resumption or at break time and fellowship together! By so doing, you’d have solved not only your problem but that of several others. Then you’d also have successfully turned a challenging situation into an opportunity for the Gospel, to the glory of God.

Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for my spiritual senses are sharpened to see and know when a door of opportunity opens for me. By your wisdom, I make the right choices and decisions and take full advantage of every opportunity you give me, in making impact in my world with the Gospel, in Jesus’ Name. Amen

Storms Bring Out the Eagles,
But the Little Birds Take Cover"

When the "storms of life"
Gather darkly ahead,
I think of these wonderful words
I once read.

And I say to myself
As "threatening clouds" hover,
Don't "fold up your wings"
And "run for cover."

But like the eagle,
"Spread wide your wings"
And "soar far above"
The troubles life brings.

For the eagle knows
That the higher he flies,
The more tranquil and brighter
Become the skies.

And there is nothing in life
God ever asks us to bear
That we can't soar above
"On the wings of prayer."

And in looking back over
The "storm you passed through,"
You'll find you gained strength
And new courage, too.

For in facing "life's storms"
With an eagle's wings,
You can fly far above
Earth's small, petty things.

When the "storms of life"
Gather darkly ahead,
I think of these wonderful words
I once read.

And I say to myself
As "threatening clouds" hover,
Don't "fold up your wings"
And "run for cover."

But like the eagle,
"Spread wide your wings"
And "soar far above"
The troubles life brings.

For the eagle knows
That the higher he flies,
The more tranquil and brighter
Become the skies.

And there is nothing in life
God ever asks us to bear
That we can't soar above
"On the wings of prayer."

And in looking back over
The "storm you passed through,"
You'll find you gained strength
And new courage, too.

For in facing "life's storms"
With an eagle's wings,
You can fly far above
Earth's small, petty things. by
~ Helen Steiner Rice ~

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There is a special place in life,
That needs my humble skill,
A certain Job I'm meant to do,
Which no one else can fulfill.

The time will be demanding,
And the pay is not too good
And yet I wouldn't change it
for a moment -- even if I could.

There is a special place in life,
A Goal I must attain,
A dream that I must follow,
Because I won't be back again.
There is a mark that I must leave,
However small it seems to be,
A legacy of love for those
Who follow after me.

There is a special place in life,
That only I may share,
A little path that bears my name,
Awaiting me somewhere.
There is a hand that I must hold,
A word that I must say,
A smile that I must give,
For there are tears to blow away.

There is a special place in life
That I was meant to fill,
A sunny spot where flowers grow,
Upon a windy hill.
There's always a tomorrow and the best is yet to be,
And somewhere in this world,
I know there is a place for me!

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