Monday, February 23, 2009

From One Generation to the Next

Last week we had the opportunity to spend 2 hours with Bob Buford at his office. Bob wrote the book Halftime, which greatly inspired me 10 years ago.

The tag line to his book is "Moving from Success to Significance." My dad had the book on his desk 10 years ago and for some reason it caught my attention and so I read it. Keep in mind, I was 20 and had reached no degree of "success" ... but I longed to be "significant."

That book was a major force in launching The RightNow Campaign in 2000. What Bob had done for his generation, I hoped to do for mine. We have a long way to go, but the conversation with Bob last week was affirming. I love that his desire is to pass down insight and wisdom so that our generation can "get it now" and not wait until a midlife crisis to figure things out.

I left rejuvenated and ready to dig deeper to understand the core issues and questions that face our generation of 20 and 30-somethings.

Here are a few questions that Bob posed in his book. Are these the questions that you ask yourself at night in bed looking at the ceiling? If not, what are you asking yourself?

1. What do I wish to be remembered for?
2. Is this really as good as it gets?
3. How was it that I could be so successful, so fortunate, and yet so frustratingly unfulfilled?
4. If your life was absolutely perfect, how would it look to you?
5. What is my passion?
6. How am I wired?
7. Where do I belong?
8. What will I do about what I believe?
9. Who am I?
10. What do I value?
11. What gifts has God given me? How can I use them?
12. What would I be willing to die for?
13. What injustices do I see in the world, that I simply cannot stomach anymore?
14. What is it about my job that makes me feel trapped?


Please drop me a comment and let me know how these questions hit you and what questions you would add.

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here are the ones that stick out to me:

What is my passion?
How am I wired?
What do I value?
What gifts has God given me? How can I use them?

Some other questions that come to mind are :

At the core, am I really living for God or for me?
What opportunity/challenge am I not seeing/pursuing/acting on/etc?
Life has a million things I could do, which handful should I do?
Life is tough … what is God doing through this? –or conversely– Life is great … why should I be so blessed?

Anonymous said...

Do I matter?
How do I change life’s path?
What does God want me to do

Anonymous said...

I ask myself #1, 7, 8, and 11

Anonymous said...

I ask 5,7, 8, 11 and 14.

Anonymous said...

They all resonate with me to some degree. I have definitely pursued my American Dream...what I thought it may be that is. Two and a half years into it, I feel more stressed, trapped, miserable, and confused than I ever have been in my life. I know God had some purpose in this...he does in everything. Yet, I feel that the stress has pushed me from where I need to be for his honor and glory.

Anonymous said...

I sometimes ask myself what do I want to be remembered for, if my life were perfect how would it look, and how I can help someone or do something unexpected to add a bright spot in their day.

Anonymous said...

I have thought about this and there are two things I think you are missing.

1) The first is similar to #11 “How can I use them?”

a. The one I find myself asking on my drives back and forth in my territory is “HOW can I get off this treadmill and maintain my responsibilities as a husband and father?” This stems from our having a one income family and not enjoying my job as I have in the past. Making the move to another industry or position I am finding is extremely difficult, especially in the current economic environment. Big time feeling of “stuck in a rut”.

2) The second involves the question of ‘WHAT’. I am personally struggling with what is next in my life based on God’s will – much harder to figure out than ever before!!

Anonymous said...

What do I wish to be remembered for?
What is my passion?
Who am I?
What gifts has God given me? How can I use them?