Matthew Kavanaugh
4/19/22
Moreau FYE
Integration 4
The Pursuit of a Life Well-Lived
	My personal mission statement is as follows: As a devout Catholic, I strive to spread God’s word and do my best to create good in the world. I will seek to gain understanding, to enlighten myself on as many things as possible. I will attempt to form relationships with those who may be different from me. I will do my best to help as many people as I can. Not only those who need it, but I will try to give my assistance to all those around me. I am a responsible son, brother, and friend. I look out for family and friends, and I am always there for them, in good times and in bad. In my professional life, I am responsible for all of my decisions. I will always choose to act with courage, dignity, and respect. I will be humble, and I will never settle for anything less than greatness. I will pursue success with a passion, never resting until I reach my goals. I value my personal freedom and opportunities. I will always fight for those oppressed against, and I will sacrifice myself for the greater good of others. Finally, I will choose love above all else. Every decision I make will be out of love, and I will judge the success of my life by the amount of love I am able to spread to others.
	When I think about my personal mission statement above, I think of all the things I want to accomplish throughout my life. Our lives here on Earth are so busy that we must take a step back every now and then to reflect on what we’re doing and the life we are trying to live. When we reflect, we must ask ourselves the difficult questions. “Why questions trap us in our past; what questions help us create a better future.” This quote by Tasha Eurich in “The right way to be introspective (yes there’s a wrong way)” illustrates to us the benefit of reflection ("The right way to be introspective (yes there's a wrong way)" by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week Six). Instead of asking yourself why certain things in your life are happening, you must always have a positive outlook on life, as optimism can carry you through some of the toughest times. I’ve learned to manage my emotions and therefore, became a better person because of it. Reflecting on what my feelings really are has helped me become more self-aware and I am now able to better manage my emotions. The benefits of meditation are incomparable to any form of self-reflection. “It's been found by scientists that meditation can lower blood pressure, help boost our immune system, and even change the architecture of our brains.” This quote by Pico Iyer in “Why We Need to Slow Down Our Lives” encourages us to instill meditation into our daily lives ("Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). Iyer explains the benefits of meditation and how we as humans far too often omit meditation and reflection in our lives today. In my personal life, I try to take 15 minutes when I wake up and 15 minutes before I go to bed to pray and reflect on my life. I try to meditate on what is going well, what isn’t, and what I need to change about my life. Always making time for meditation has put me in a good place mentally and increased my overall well-being.
	Another thing I think about when picturing myself living a life well-lived is evaluating the effect I have on others. I strive to make a positive impact on the lives of others and do my best to support those around me. A word I now like to use when talking about affecting others’ lives is “accompaniment.” “To accompany is to help the person take their own destiny in their hands and allow that their voice is heard.” This quote in “Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” explains to us what it means to accompany others and how we can support others through their difficult journeys ("Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together"  by Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week Nine). Accompanying someone does not mean doing everything for them or taking control of their life, but rather it is about supporting that person and showing them that you are there for them. The best thing a person can have going for them when they are struggling is the support of another individual that they care about, so we should always strive to support those that need us in order to accompany them throughout the journey of life. One experience I look back on was when one of my high school friends got a DUI. He did not have many people pulling for him, but I knew I had to make a difference in his life and support him. Everyone makes mistakes, and I told him if he ever wanted to talk about anything that I would be there for him. Just showing others you are there for them can go a long way in helping them through their struggles. In choosing to accompany those around us, we should also choose to form meaningful relationships with as many people as we can. “Quite a few years of life have strengthened my conviction that each and everyone's existence is deeply tied to that of others: life is not time merely passing by, life is about interactions.” Pope Francis explains in “Why the only future worth building includes everyone” how relationships and interactions are imperative to a meaningful life ("Why the only future worth building includes everyone" by Pope Francis- Moreau FYE Week Seven). The relationships we make throughout our lives help shape us as a person and what we stand for as an individual. We all need influential figures to look up to and emulate, while we can also be role models to others that may look up to us.
Comparing Notre Dame’s Mission Statement to mine, I notice a similarity in prioritizing accepting all people and accompanying them in daily life. “We welcome all people, regardless of color, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social or economic class, and nationality, for example, precisely because of Christ’s calling to treat others as we desire to be treated.” This quote in Notre Dame’s “du Lac: A Guide to Student Life” perfectly represents how we as human beings should treat each other in the world ("The Spirit of Inclusion at Notre Dame"  by Notre Dame du Lac - Moreau FYE Week Ten). It should not matter whether or not someone is white, black, gay, lesbian, poor, rich, etc; we must treat each person we encounter in a positive and loving way. Jesus teaches us to treat others how we want to be treated, and there is no excuse to abandon that principle based on a characteristic held by the individual. As a current student at the University of Notre Dame, I must do my best to represent the school’s mission in accepting everyone and being a positive presence in the world today. Whether that’s lending out a helping hand whenever possible or just letting other students know that I am there for them, I am in a position to represent the University and should do so in a positive way.
	One thing that hinders us from accompanying others is our innate nature as humans to judge others, especially those who are different from us. Listening to the podcast “Passion Isn’t Enough” really highlighted for me how to approach someone different from me and how to treat them as a person. Eltan Hersh said on the podcast, “Instead of hating the other side, instead of hating a random person who says they're Republican or says they're Democrat, they would say, hmm, is this a neighbor that I can convince to move in my direction?” He explains to us how we should approach those who share different beliefs than we do ("Passion Isn't Enough"  by The Hidden Brain Podcast - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). We do not accomplish anything by hating the other side of the spectrum. There are obviously going to be people in the world who disagree with you on major topics. Hating the other side and ridiculing them does not accomplish anything besides causing more turmoil. Rather, we must respect their beliefs and do our best to explain our side, in hopes that they would move their beliefs to our direction. There are way too many people in politics today who only care about what they believe that they are ignorant to the beliefs of others and cause extreme polarization throughout the country. Politics is just one example of how something so polarizing can separate individuals extremely on both sides of the spectrum. Another individual I look at for motivation from stopping that separation between groups is Dean G, Marcus Cole. He said in his article published in the Notre Dame Law School online that “one thing that each and every one of us can do is to end the cycle of hate by ending the separation that leads to it.” Cole explains a big step we as individuals must take to end the cycle of hate and racial bias: we must end the “separation” that leads to it ("'I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something.'  by Dean G. Marcus Cole- Moreau FYE Week Twelve). Cole encourages us to make an effort to get to know those that are different from us. When we start to form relationships with those who differ from us, we begin to expand our circle and dive deeper into the lives of others. We can introduce ourselves to strangers at the dining hall. We can talk to people we normally don’t talk to in our classes. There are many things we can do. It is then when we will begin to realize the struggles some people have to endure, and we will subsequently be able to sympathize with them rather than prejudice against them.
	Thinking back to my mission statement, I’ve come to realize the main path to living a life well-lived lies within the way I treat others. What will people say about me when my time on Earth is done? Will they say I changed their life for the better, or was I just another ordinary individual who only cared about the well-being of themselves? As my time as a first year student at the University of Notre Dame comes to an end, I stand here today motivated as ever to be a good person and have a positive impact on the lives of others every single day. It is then, when I truly begin to have a positive impact on the lives of others, that I will be able to say I am living a life well-lived.