I was pondering the joys of life the other day, and found myself reflecting on what really matters. 

With your permission, I thought I’d share a few of those as follows:

• Participate — British poet Wilfred Owen served in WWI, was wounded, and subsequently returned to service and was killed shortly thereafter. At some point, he was the likely voice of one of the few legitimate sentiments for fighting a war – “It is important to participate in the events of your time and people.” His observation has direct value in deciding whether we should be involved in today’s war for our culture. Of course, we should.

 • Skepticism vs. cynicism — In today’s slick world, there’s so much chicken manure marketed as chicken salad that it’s tough not to be pessimistic. Don’t take the bait. Healthy skepticism keeps your lights on, but stops you from losing your joy and sense of adventure. Being cynical may keep you from being taken in, but it will bury you in a dark basement.

 • Serve — Burnout is a danger for about any role, job or function. In my profession, many of us hit that wall within a decade. This November, I’ll complete five of those with no wall – excepting natural mortality – in sight. The answer for most of us? Keep a close watch on firing up your servant’s heart. Pennies, power, prestige, popularity  and pretense are all temporary motivators, at best. It doesn’t matter what you do or where you do it – an attitude of service will keep you doing it.

 • Do something — Speaking of doing, make sure you do just that. A life of feeling and thinking sounds good, but that’s like having a nail and a board with no hammer. Doing something to add to the world around you as one of the best medicines for almost anything that ails you. If you don’t believe that, watch people who sit out their days and note that they’re melting into their recliner.

• Success deceives — Ask most people about the key to happiness — and “success” at one thing or another will be a likely answer. That’s wrong on most counts. Success won’t make you happy, confident, fulfilled, or much of anything else for long. At best, wealth, fame, power and/or other accomplishments will serve as temporary distractions or fixes. Life is more about internal development than external validation. Bruce Lee once said something just like that – “You don’t find peace, you chose it.” 

 Fear and worry kill — Two of the most natural things in the human experience are two of the worst things in the human experience. The Bible speaks against them 365 times for a reason. Both are the interest we pay on trouble, and rarely do either accomplish anything constructive. Most bad habits, mental health issues, drug addictions, suicides and other human dysfunctions find their traction in a mind and heart burdened with fear and worry.

 • Attitude of gratitude — Gratefulness — to God, our country, loved ones, friends, employers, and anyone else who participates in our arena — is smart. Gratitude supports positivity, antidotes the poisons that surround us, and keeps our heart, mind, body and spirit in better working order. If you know any angry, critical, mean-spirited happy people, please let me know.

 • Man does better living in faith — Yes, I know there’s an army of intellectuals out there who poo-poo our nation’s historical attachment to Christianity. I wish they were right. Life would be easier – in theory – if we didn’t answer to God. I have an intellect of my own that works reasonably well. It tells me that I can’t get to God through my narrow mind, but get to him I must.

 • Avoid negative, dishonest and biased people — We live in confusing times. Check out how sloppy we’ve become in our manners, dress, attitude and ethics for a snapshot of today’s slippage. Keeping a healthy countenance and focus requires placing limits on how many negative, dishonest, and/or biased exposures you absorb. Too much from acquaintances, the news, politics or other sources can steal your mojo. For sanity, look for the opposite. 

• Grow —  I watched a video the other day of a group of 80-year-olds doing a 100-yard sprint. Impressive. To a man, these guys were clearly sucking everything they could out of every day they had. They were into refirement through growth vs. retirement through inertia. A good rule? Do things to cultivate your head, heart, hand and spirit – a little bit – every single day. Those who stop the process of living get lost in the process of dying – and age has nothing to do with that error.

 A final thought?

 We all need to matter.