My Philosophy of Life

Hey e-friends......I'd love to have your feedback on this. I am participating in a six-week fitness competition at our health club and as part of our team building, our coach has asked us to write out our philosophy of life and then share it with the team. I thought I'd start here and get your feedback before I share it with my fitness team. Would you comment on what you like, agree with, disagree with, would change, etc. I'd totally appreciate it. I'm just curious what others think of what I am thinking. Here it is:

My Philosophy of Life:

Wow. This is such an interesting question and exercise. I guess I define “philosophy of life” as my purpose in life, the answer to why I am here, and the legacy I want to leave. It should be the driving force behind all that I am, choose, say, believe, do, etc.

I believe the purpose of life is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. My life should be so characterized by love, that I put “skin on Jesus” and point other people to Him. Jesus said that His true disciples would be known by their love. He didn’t say they would be known by their religion. So I want to leave a legacy of love, not a legacy of being perfect, or following some set of rules out of duty, but to live a life that is marked by love.

A lot of people think they are giving me a compliment when they say “Becky, you are so religious,” but to me that isn’t a compliment at all. I see religion as man’s attempt to approach God on our own terms and traditions and rituals, when what God wants is relationship and to accept Him on His terms. In order to do that, I need to study the Bible and really live it, not cafeteria-style, picking and choosing only what I like or agree with, but the way God, the Maker of all, said it should be. It would be so much more of a compliment to me to say, “Becky, you are a friend of God.”

So, I want to not just know about God, I want to know Him, and I want everything I do, including my fitness journey, to be about pleasing Him and pointing other people to Him. When Matt talked about this journey being the “Path of Most Resistance,” I guess that is the philosophy I have most recently embraced. I think it will refine my character and make me more like Jesus. I also know that if when people chose to follow Jesus they were exempt from the trials of this life, the heartache and pain, then no one would choose Him for Him, they would choose Him as a “get out of jail free card.” So, lately, my mantra has been “Pain is not the Enemy.” It produces in my life the good fruit that I want others to see, it makes me more like Jesus who embodies everything I want to be, and when other people see that because I belong to Him, I’m carried through the tough stuff, that will bring other people to Him.

So, I guess my philosophy of life boils down to these values: Jesus, family, other people, love, and following the narrow path less traveled.