Class November 7: A Useful Life

In class on November 7, different approaches to life were discussed. Different approaches to life include trying to achieve a happy life, a successful life, a good life, or a useful life. I was unable to attend class on November 7 due to a meeting that I had to attend. However, I have given much though to the type of life that I would like to accomplish during my time on this earth. I believe that the most important approach to life is achieving a useful life. While being happy and successful are very crucial to life, I believe that having a life that is useful to others leaves the biggest impact and allows your legacy to live on, even after you pass.
Don't get me wrong, I want to be happy and successful and I want to live a good life. But, I think all of these things will follow if you live your life for something other than yourself; if you're useful for something other than working to better yourself. The truth of the matter is, no matter how successful we work to be, no matter how rich or how famous we become, no matter how happy we make ourselves, all that will disappear after we pass away, and our life will be nothing but a drop in the ocean. People come and people go and generations rise and fall. This has been going on for thousands and thousands of years and to be quite honest, my single life is very insignificant in the midst of all of this. This is why I believe that it is most important to live a useful life.
What is a useful life? To be useful, you must work for something other than to better yourself. You have to make a difference for something more than to make yourself happy or successful. For myself, this means living for something higher than myself. I live for the One True God, who created all things and desires a relationship with me. I live in order to glorify him and to show as many people as possible his love and mercy. This is how I chose to live a useful life. I have purpose to my life because of this, and hopefully, I will make a difference in the lives of a few others because of it. However, living a useful life does not imply faith for many people. Living a useful life can mean feeding the hungry, reading stories to children who can't, or helping others in some way. To be useful in life, you must help others out of humility and love. Working to help others instead of to help yourself is the way to live a useful life. By doing so, you make an impact on those around you, and you leave a legacy as someone who made a difference. By making a positive difference in the world, your life becomes a little more significant in the grand scheme of things.

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