I am sure you have asked yourself many times, "What am I doing with my life?" and I am sure this life is telling you that you need to grow up, and fast. But the best question to ask ourselves is, "Why am I here?"
"There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why." -William Barclay
Once we figure out why we are born, we must continue to stay true to that reason. We all have a dream or a passion that has grown in us since we were little kids. I was the kid in the backyard pretending to make the game winning shot for the Lakers in an NBA Finals game. I wanted to play in the NBA. No matter what people told me, I worked hard to achieve that dream because my passion for the game of basketball cannot be matched. Did I make it to the NBA? No but I made it to division I basketball, not bad right? I got to be apart of great learning experiences throughout my path to the NBA. Even though I fell short of my dream, I learned a lot about myself along the away.
After my basketball playing career ended, I looked back and reflected on who I became since I first picked up a basketball at the age of 4. One, I became a WINNER. I was apart of a lot of wins, since 5th grade up to college, I was apart of teams that did not accept losing. Loses hurt, they brought anger, brought tears, brought disappointment; to where I never wanted to lose and have those feelings. Two, I became a hard worker; not only on the court but off the court. If I wanted to play, I had to be smart. If I wanted to play, I had to prove every single practice, game, conditioning workout, weight lift workout; that I belonged. I don't know any other way, you ask me to do something, I will work hard for you. Three, I want to be the best...I want to be the best coach, the best follower, the best leader, the best motivator, the best worker, the best friend, the best boyfriend, the best husband, the best father, the best person. If you don't want to the best you can be, then what is the point? You should want to be the best at what you want to do.
So overall, I identify myself as a winner, a hard worker, and wanting to be the best.
It is up to you, identify yourself, because only YOU know yourself best. You cannot identify yourself based on other peoples' opinion. Be UNASHAMED of who you are! If you live a life based on "right or wrong" and NOT on "good or bad", you will be able to identify yourself through the right things you have done and the wrong things you have done. If you identify yourself on what you do good and what you do bad, you will tend to think the good makes up for the bad. Some people KNOWINGLY do bad things, and know it is wrong, but they think it is okay because they have done enough good. No one will do enough good to make up for wrong things. But people can do the right things and be forgiven of their mistakes. We are to learn from our mistakes, to where we don't make the same mistake twice. We are to live a life of righteousness, to where we continue to do the right things no matter what other people say!
I'm telling you...the best way to figure out what is right and what is wrong..is reading The Bible. Humans could not keep a standard so God set the standard. As long as you follow The Word, you don't have to worry about what others say about you. If someone tells you that you are doing something wrong, but according to The Word you are doing something right, ignore that someone. You are to follow a standard set by the Almighty God who gives you COMPLETE FREEDOM. If you follow His ways, He will set you free and give you eternal life. If you do the wrong things, you become a SLAVE to the devil. There is no in between, you are either a FREE MAN/WOMAN or a SLAVE. Freedom gives you life, slavery takes your life away. It's your choice...many of us do the wrong things, and many of us will continue to do so. But God loves EVERYONE so much, that He sent His only Son to die for those mistakes, die for those sins. He knows that we are born sinners, and He gives us a chance to be born again once we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, repent of our sins, then live in complete freedom FOREVER!
I promise you, you will have a better view of your life when you ask yourself the question, "What am I doing with my life?" If you have a Biblical worldview instead of a political worldview, you will better your identity. Don't worry about people liking you, if you do the right things, the RIGHT people will like you. Popularity is not a necessity, having people care for you and support you is what is necessary. Ask anyone, would you rather have people praise you and only be there for your good times, or would you rather have people in your life that will care and support you through thick and thin?
Apart of your identity, is to identify your true friends. Which ones are only there for you sometimes, and which ones are there for you all the time. Be caring and supportive to anyone that crosses your path, but make it a priority to be there for someone that is there for you. Because that is a friendship that can and will last a lifetime. We don't want to spend the rest of our lives with someone that we are just physically attracted to, we want to spend the rest of our lives with our best friend.
It has been awhile since my last post, so I want to remind readers that you do not have to believe in what I believe in. If this does not work for you, ignore it. But if it helps you, I am glad because that is my one and only intention. Never writing to hurt ANYONE, or else everything I write would be hypocritical. Please ask me any questions, I will do my best to answer them. Leave comments, feedback to me is very important, especially on things I need to do better. Also if you have any suggestions on future and potential topics, I am more than open to writing about things that you want me to talk about! Thanks for reading!
Chris Perez
