Continuing some thoughts from yesterday’s musings about life: unscripted, it seems important to elaborate on how I fill the unscripted part of my day(s) in ways that might not be so unscripted after all. I think it’s really important for all of us, and particularly those of us who are faced with situations that may dramatically affect the predictability of our lives, to have a good grasp on why we were put here on this planet, what purpose will our lives have and what are our highest values in living out that purpose, in other words, the main thing.

This is not a new subject for me. I’ve actually written about vision, mission, values and purpose for individuals and businesses on many occasions in my personal and business blogs over the years. What is new though, is what those vision, mission, and value statements look like for me with the significant turn my life has taken. And there’s a related question, have they changed?

Who am I? I’m an introverted, optimistic, practical, pragmatic, pensive thinker, observer, planner, administrator, teacher, and writer with a boundless curiosity and passion for technology and the natural beauty and awe inspiring achievements of my God in creating this planet. An almost impossible to imagine creation which includes vast and undiscovered resources, and such an incredible variety of life from the smallest single-celled living things to the most complex living beings, humans, in all of their richness and diversity.

My vision is to share with my family and friends a joy-filled eightieth celebration of what I hope will have been a fulfilling life making a difference for others. I’d like to repeat that at eighty-five, ninety, ninety five, and one hundred, if God, my health, and chance allow me those added years.

My mission or purpose in life is to make a difference in peoples’ lives through being present for them, and by sharing my own life’s perfect moments, and the ideas and experiences I’ve gained along the way.

I’d like these values to inform every decision I make and action I take throughout my life:

• Keeping myself physically and mentally able to live an active and fulfilling life.
• Striving to live the best humanly possible example I can be as a follower of Jesus Christ.
• Being the best husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend I know how to be.
• Being present and living into my self-defined characteristics of family and friends.
• Living my life in a way that helps protect the fragility of our planet and all of the life it sustains.
• Experiencing the places, activities, and senses in life most important to me (my bucket list).

The related question I mentioned is, have these elements directing my life changed over the last year or years? Maybe. Twenty-three years ago I defined my purpose this way: My Personal Mission Statement. Do you think it’s changed that much? I think it’s more that I have kept most of its features and expressed them more simply and understandably for myself and others.

So, for the parts of my day that I live “unscripted” I’m writing that better script a little each day by …

Trying hard to keep the main thing the main thing – Pops