Remembering Your WHY

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One of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is, “What is my WHY?” In the hustle and bustle of life, it’s easy for this question to get lost in the shuffle, and for what’s important to get lost amidst the pressure and noise of what feels urgent (or easy).

There’s nothing like a bout of serious illness to bring this question to the surface, for causing a person to slow down and take time to focus on what’s really important in life. This happened to me recently, so I am speaking from experience. Recovering from an illness is great time to recover not only your health, but your WHY.

At first, of course, it is your health that’s most important, and the first priority is getting well again. But once that’s out of the way, it’s actually a terrific opportunity to take some time to be intentional about what to add back into your life and schedule after a hiatus:

  • TASKS that have been neglected and need to be completed, whether work-related or household-related.

  • PEOPLE you’ve not seen or talked to for a while, that you want to reconnect and catch up with

  • RELATIONSHIPS that need to be nurtured and given fresh attention

  • APPOINTMENTS you’ve missed that need to be rescheduled

  • MAINTENANCE on home, yard, automobiles, and possessions

  • PROJECTS that have languished and need to be completed

  • SELF-CARE, like prayer, Scripture reading, and connecting with God and your faith community

  • EXERCISE, of course, to help get your strength and energy back

I’m sure I’m missing something, but you get the point. Before you know it, life is FULL again!

I’m trying really hard to discipline myself to not just pile it all on again. To remember what it is that brings me the most joy, and that best serves God and the people He’s blessed me with in my life.

That is my first WHY. After that, I want to remember what it is that I feel I have been uniquely created to do, my PURPOSE, my second WHY.

And then, I can start to add in those things that feel urgent but really, in the scheme of things, can wait. As I discovered, the world didn’t end because I was sick and my task list didn’t get done. Everything and everyone are still waiting for me—a good thing to keep in mind!

Do you know what your WHY is? I encourage you not to wait until you face an illness and get knocked off your feet to ask yourself this question. In fact, I think we should all make ourselves take a few “sick days” here and there, just for the reset it brings to our priorities!

I’m curious what makes us all tick. I know each of us on our Inspira team have different things that inspire us and keep us going. We also have dozens of incredible authors with whom we work who have compelling purposes and missions that get them up in the morning and inspire their life work (and their books!). Over the next few months, I plan to query some these people with this question (“What’s your WHY?”). We’ll be sharing those with you in this newsletter and on our Inspira blog. I think we have a lot to share with one another and help spur one another on!

Here’s to remembering our WHYs,

~Arlyn