n e w c h u r c h l i f e : j u ly / au g u s t 2 0 1 5
share in your joy, and also perhaps share in similar goals for themselves.
It is also important to thank all those who helped you get here. You can
never personally say thank-you enough, share a few hugs, send a few thank-you
notes or make a few thank-you calls to those who can’t be here with you today.
Successful people celebrate with joy, humility, appreciation and recognition
that through the Lord’s Divine Providence, they were able to achieve a goal,
and celebrating should be a form of thankfulness.
After the celebration is over, consider what has just happened. Ask yourself
in an honest way what did I do well? What could I have I done better? Did I
help others along the way to this achievement? You will be proud of what you
accomplished. But you should also look for some areas where you fell short,
where you could have done a better job, and recognize a weakness that could
be improved on.
Remember, you can always do better and reflection with self-examination
is an important step to take. Think how you will apply what you learned both
to your professional and personal life. You are ready to pursue your life’s use.
Write down a few notes on what has been most important to you, inspired you
and made you useful. Stay humble, stay hungry and stay focused. You will be
challenged but you must also remain confident.
Professional life is a competition. Our modern society constantly
introduces new technology, new operating methods, new practices and
increasing levels of expectations. You may become disheartened at times with
the speed and level of change that will face you. But change for the better good
should be embraced and preparing for change is an absolute requirement. So
taking time to reflect is a necessary step for you to evaluate what you have
achieved and what you must next prepare for in pursuit of your life’s use.
The next logical step is to begin days of planning for what you want to
accomplish next. This planning will involve using the problem-solving skills
that you started to learn in college. Remember, nothing can get accomplished
without a good plan.
Many people can become discouraged or have a pessimistic outlook on
life if there are problems or obstacles to be dealt with. But an enlightened
leader looks at problems as points of opportunity. This is the Lord doing His
work of leading us to learn how to master adversity and serve our neighbor.
Solving problems is not easy and will seem overwhelming at times. You
will make mistakes and I assure you that you will experience humbling failure.
But remember, failure teaches you how to be successful. All successful people
will admit they had to experience failure at times before realizing true success.
Now I would like to introduce to you another approach as future planners
and problem solvers.
Many years ago a dear friend of mine, whom I knew only as a wonderful
378