Capstone Integration Moreau FYE April 27, 2022 Road Map to a Life Well Lived Throughout this semester of Moreau, I learned different steps in order to live my life to the full potential through a vast number of class discussions, readings, and videos. During the 13 weeks of this semester, I was able to be guided through a path that of a fulfilling life. I was able to reflect on and share ideas of how with others, gaining valuable information. These included what a life well live is, what to consider while trying to live a life well lived. I also was able to learn the struggles and obstacles that I must endure and the skills I will need to have in order to live a life well lived. For me, living a life well lived includes staying true to my personal mission statement. Pulling from my mission statement, I “strongly believes in equality for all” and “stand up against hate”. I also “believes that having an open mind and taking risks” (Week 13) is important to living a good life. The first step into living a life well lived is understanding what a live well lived and what comes along with it. In order to do so, we must answer a few questions. The first thing to consider is “What is the source of your joy?” (Meet the nun who wants you to remember that you will die, Week 3). It can be very hard to figure out what brings true joy, but important to figure out. It is much easier to find out what gives us instantaneous joy, like being with friends and family, but the true challenge is finding what gives long term happiness. In order to does so we much ask ourselves “What is something you are doing when you lose track of time?” and “If you knew you couldn’t fail, what might you most like to do?”(Exploring a Life Well Lived, Week 4). Putting these questions into perspective allows us to truly understand what gives us joy. If we find ourselves choosing to play and listen to music in our free time, maybe the best choice for our life is to pursue a life in music. Choosing what gives us the most joy can be scary. It may be worries about money or social approval, but we must know it is our life and we should choose what gives us joy. Additionally, to what finding what brings us joy, in order to live a life well lived we must find what brings us inspiration. One thing that inspires me is making a positive impact on others. This is like Father Ted. Father Ted was driven by the impact he was able to make on others (Hesburgh, Week 2). If it is making an impact on others like Father Ted or not, we must find what motivates us. This will ultimately help guide us to a life well lived. Once we can find what brings us joy, it is important to consider the people we surround ourselves with. Being able to live a life well live includes finding and sustaining meaningful relationships. It is very difficult to get through life without people who care about us to help. One characteristic of a meaningful relationship is a relationship with someone that supports us. Many people we meet can be very judgmental about who us, making us feel like we should be someone we are not. A meaningful relationship is one where we can get support and encouragement to be ourselves true self. The support of relationships allows us to more easily overcome our struggles. In the video, Pope Francis said, ‘“that we all need each other, none of us is an island, an autonomous and independent "I," separated from the other, and we can only build the future by standing together, including everyone”’ (Why the Only Future Worth Building Includes Everyone, Week 7). This is saying we do not have to go through our lives by ourselves. It is much easier to get through the lows when we are with people who are there for us. It is also much sweeter to celebrate our successes with the ones who care about us. we need to remember that we never have to get through anything alone. Many times, these relationships also guide you to making different decisions. Meaningful relationships allow us to ask people you respect and trust for advice. Many times, the people that know us, know us better than ourselves. I was able to talk to my RA for advice in selecting a major. This decision seemed daunting to me at first, but after talking to someone I respected and trusted, I learned that it was not that big of a deal. My RA said it was “very easy to switch majors” and that he himself “switched his major 3 times” (Rogba Ayoola, Week 5). It is important to seek advice from the people around us, most likely it will guide us to the right decision. While we gain lots of support from the ones around us, in order to live a life well lived we also must reciprocate that care and be there for others. In Steven Reifenberg ‘s lesson, he emphasizes that we must “to accompany another – whether a friend in need, a colleague, a sick child or a dying parent” (Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together, Week 9). A meaningful relationship goes both ways. Not only can we take the support from others, but we must also give back in order to live a life well lived. While striving for a life well lived, we are guaranteed to come upon obstacles. One obstacle is managing obligations. Although throughout our lives we have many obligations we must accomplish, one obligation we have is to take breaks and relax. “It’s precisely those who are busiest who most need to give themselves a break” (Why we need to slow down our lives, Pico Iyer, TED, Week 1). We will come across many different stressors that it is important to take a break, so we do not burn ourselves out. Another obstacle we will face are personal struggles such as self-doubt. In a video by The Grotto, we learned of the story of Dr. Kim. Dr. Kim’s got into a very serious accident, injuring him and pausing his pursue of becoming his dream of a sushi chef. This caused lots of self-doubt. He believed he would never be able to live out his dream. Dr. Kim was able to overcome this adversity and eventually become a professional sushi chef (5 minutes, Week 6). We must learn from Dr. Kim and be able to overcome personal obstacles such as self-doubt. This will lead us to living a life well lived. This can be very difficult, but by seeking the right help and support it can be done. As we pursue a life well lived, we must learn a few different skills that will help guide us. The first skill is to embrace diversity and be open to everyone. Many times, we feel uncomfortable in situations and hope to be embraced by others. This means we must also seek to embrace others. This relates to the story written about in the Grotto article on being Catholic and Gay. In this article they write, “He embraced the Church’s teaching about marriage and sexuality. And he accepted and embraced the fact that he was attracted to men. He did not fit into any of the categories I had constructed” ("Growing up Gay and Catholic” (Jacob Walsh, Grotto, Week 10). In this situation the young man felt like an outsider in the community he believed he belonged to. Although he was different than many of the people in this community, nobody should feel like an outsider. It is our job to embrace others. This action of being inclusive to everyone is a step to living a life well lived. Many times, embracing others means sticking up for others. It is not okay to be a bystander and watch hate happen. In order to live a life well lived we must stand up for what we think is right. In the Holy Cross mission statement they state, “Christ was anointed to bring good news to the poor, release for prisoners, sight for the blind, restoration for every broken victim. Our efforts, which are His, reach out to the afflicted and in a preferential way to the poor and the oppressed” (Dean G. Marcus Cole: 'I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something. ,Week 12). This emphasizes the importance of not waiting for problems to find us, but to seek problems out that we want to solve. In order to live a life well lived we must be selfless and always have others in mind. In order to do so, we cannot trap ourselves in a echo chamber. An echo chamber is when we intentionally surround ourselves with people of similar backgrounds, beliefs, and identity (“How to Avoid an Echo Chamber” (Dr. Paul Blaschko, ThinkND, Week 11). If we find ourselves in an echo chamber it is impossible to be able to understand others and be able to help and support. Avoiding echo chambers leads us to living a life well lived. Living a life well lived may not always be the easiest choice, but it will be the most fulfilling. Using the skills, we learned throughout Moreau, we have been able to envision a path to such life. It is now our job to utilize these skills and put lessons into action. We must find what brings us joy, surround ourselves with meaningful relationships, and learn how to embrace others even when they are different from us. Most importantly we must stay true to ourselves and our mission statement.