Recycle Joy At the end of my life, I want to be remembered by my character and how I helped others. In today’s world, it is hard to find time to discern your path and find your joys in life because it is so fast-paced and focused on achievement. We will all eventually die, most of the things we once idolized not mattering anymore. If we focus on serving others though, we will make a lasting impact that will carry on after we die. A life well-lived for me is one where you focus on being the best person you can be and use your gifts to better serve others. Since the world is very achievement oriented, it can be difficult to step away and search for your joys without getting lost in your work. However, it’s very important that we take breaks: “The more time I spend away from my work, the better that work will be, most often” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Iyer – Moreau FYE Week One). Iyer promotes spending time alone in stillness without the quickness of the world around us. Technology has sped our world up, and this creates problems in our lives. Recently, I have been asking myself the question: What life am I living? Too often I get caught up in the lightning-fast processing speeds of the world and the technology that is at our fingertips. It’s important for me to take breaks to find what I love and pursue them so I can use them to serve others. I don’t want to live a life where I am constantly working just to keep up. I want to live a balanced life, and one that includes using my talents and my joys for the good of others around me. My value system is very important to me, and I want to be remembered for it when I die. I need to constantly check-in on myself throughout my life so that I can continue to stand firm in my beliefs and values: “Remember the roots you grew up with, not lose sight of yourself as you’re presented with the many challenges life has to offer, and keeping a tight grip on your values which can help lead you to the people that will help you be the person you want to be” https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146492 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146492 (“Domer Dozen” -- Hillmer – Moreau FYE Week Two). Michael Hillmer lists this as a piece of advice for the young adults learning to navigate life in college and especially after. When watching the film Hesburgh, I found Fr. Hesburgh inspiring because he was confident in his own values of what it meant to live a good life, and no matter the political troubles, he was consistent and courageous in standing up for the basic teachings of Catholicism. He never got swept up in the world of politics in the sense that he was advocating for humans and providing a moral perspective rather than picking a side. This is what I want to be known for too, I find it refreshing that someone else finds value in standing firm in their morals instead of trying to sacrifice their values to fit a “side.” To see a figure like Fr. Hesburgh, take on challenging issues without taking a side and instead being steered by his values is admirable and has inspired me to live a life where I am focused on being the best person I can be. In order to live this life that I want, I need to jump into action. The things that I find joy in doing will not come knock on my door and ask that I start enjoying it. I need to go out and seek it out and look for ways to help others with it: “‘Contentment is an obstacle. Joy always pushes us forward. It’s an impulsion, a pressure to move forward, to do more, to expend oneself more deeply, more richly, to open one’s talents even more widely than one had before’” (“Three Key Questions” by Himes – Moreau FYE Week Three). Fr. Himes explores the question of what brings you joy because it is the backbone of how we live, or should live, our life. This quote by Marianne Moore sums it up nicely because joy is what makes us continue to live life. It’s different than just happiness, it comes from deep inside each of us. It’s important for me to ask myself every day what I enjoy because once I find those things, I won’t have to rely on happiness, but on joy. I need to actively find these things and then help others with my talents. https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146500 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146508 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146508 I need to constantly be checking-in on myself to make sure that I am on the right path in life, and that I am solid in my values: “It’s important to keep in mind that it’s [career development process] not always linear; these steps don’t take place in a nice, neat order. It’s a developmental process that will recur throughout your lifetime and you’ll move between stages as you learn and grow” (“Navigating Your Career Journey” -- CCD – Moreau FYE Week Four). When thinking about a life well-lived, it can be easy to try and put everything in a nice box or start to define with certainty what it means to live one. This quote assures those who think there is one right way that there are actually a multitude of ways of living a life well-lived. Everyone faces the ups and downs in life, but never in the same way or at the same time as someone else. You can’t look around and start comparing your journey to another person’s journey because it is unique. That’s why reflecting on yourself is so important because that’s the only journey that matters in how you live your own life. When completing the reflections, I felt like I had a better understanding of what it means to go through the process of discernment to a certain extent. It was hard and required a lot of soul searching, but it is so important if I want to pursue something that will bring me joy. It helped me solidify that I want to live a life where I am remembered for my character. When having the conversation (“Week Five Discernment Conversation Activity” -- Moreau FYE Week Five), one of the things that stood out was that I am very driven by my values, and they are my “why” in a lot of what I chose to do. I push myself to be the best I can be at whatever I set my mind to; however, it must align with my values. I also value authenticity from myself and others; it shows that they are solid in their values which I believe is the key to living a life well-lived. When I am in “the zone” is when I am using my gifts and living according to my values. Some easy examples are golf and softball for me, but even by just being https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146535 in the presence of family and the people I love, I am relaxed and being myself in a genuine way. To me, traditional values are important to me, especially in our culture today where our values as a society are shifting. I’ve always thought that I have a voice and believe it is important that all views are heard whether they’re popular or not. I am very centered around what is right and wrong which comes from having a solid foundation of values. This sense of justice is a great strength of mine, but it can also be my greatest weakness. It can make it hard to operate in the gray areas in life when I am locked into the black and white. I want to be able to use this strength of mine to serve others and leave a lasting impact on those I will serve. To continue to ask myself takes the right kind of questions; questions that cause me to reflect and grow from that reflection: “Why questions can draw us to our limitations; what questions keeps us curious…Why questions trap us in our past; what questions help us create a better future” ( “The Right Way to be Introspective (Yes, There’s a Wrong Way)” by Eurich – Moreau FYE Week Six). When we ask ourselves why something failed or why we are the way we are as flawed human beings, we will of course get defensive. The key is to ask ourselves what this failure or experience taught us. We can keep living in the same cycle of why’s or we can look to learn and grow which will eventually lead us to the joys in our lives. I have the tendency to overwork myself and self-reflect way too much. This is only hurting me; I need to be able to focus on having a growth mindset and being able to fairly evaluate myself to grow from any mistakes I may have in life. This will ensure that I stay strong in my values. Helping others will fulfill us because it is what we are made to do as human beings: “When one realizes that life, even in the middle of so many contradictions, is a gift, that love is the source and the meaning of life, how can they withhold their urge to do good to another fellow being” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis – Week https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146547 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146562 Seven). Love is important in our lives and infectious when we embrace love as the meaning of life. Through love we can find solidarity, and through solidarity we find peace. We need to break down the barriers of judgment that keep humans from embracing each other as brothers and sisters in order to reach solidarity. The one thing that stood out to me was Pope Francis’ take on Hope. It’s not just this word we fling around like “I hope this will happen”, causing the word to lose its true effect. It’s built over time and can be nurtured into something worthwhile. One of my favorite quotes is about kindness, and it talks about how a single kind action is not an isolated event, but rather an event that causes more and more kind actions to happen. It’s like how Pope Francis describes Hope where it is infectious and will cause others to gain Hope. All of this to gain solidarity and peace with one another. Loving others and building a foundation upon Hope and solidarity is what brings people together. Being remembered for my character and values is something that I find important. I want to serve others as well and believe that doing it through the things that bring me joy will lead to a truly fulfilling life.