What could you do more of?
When I was about 24 years old, I was in the college chorale at FCCJ (Florida Community College at Jacksonville). My mother had arranged an audition for me, and it had gone well enough that I was on partial scholarship. I absolutely loved the experience, so much so that I decided to change my intended major to music.
I figured that this would thrill my mother, who was a musician and who had been a music major herself. And she was happy, but she was also concerned. Was this an emotional decision? After all, I’d spent my whole life up to that point wanting to be a news reporter, so this was a huge shift. Instead of popping a cork and throwing confetti, Mom asked an unexpected question:
“If I took away one thing from you – writing or singing – which one would you not be able to do without? Which one would you miss more?”
The answer came quickly: “Writing.”
“Then do that thing,” she replied. “You can always sing, but you were made to be a writer.”
So, what could I do more of? Simply put, write. Life is so busy that I don’t get much time to do it. But it’s the thing I’m best at, and it’s what brings me the most joy.
Honestly, the key to happiness in life is to find that one thing and do it. Dolly Parton said, “Find out who you are, and then do it on purpose.” In “City Slickers,” Curly (played by Jack Palance) said the secret of life was “Just one thing. You stick to that everything else don’t mean s…”
Of course, our question is the same as the one posed by Mitch (played by Billy Crystal): “That’s great, but what’s the one thing?”
The challenge to us is Curly’s reply: “That’s what you’ve got to figure out.”
For Mom, that was music. For my wife, it’s dancing. For my Dad, it was being a newspaper publisher. For me, it’s writing. Of course, that doesn’t take into account the spiritual side of things, which matters most of all. But God gave us all gifts, and we’re most at home in our own skin when we’re using them. So we should use our greatest gifts the most of all.
(And I’m very happy right now as I’m writing the final line to my response to today’s question.)
