I recognized the key decisions of living a consequential life is: Why am I here? What will I do? How will I do it? It’s a series of questions that we repeat all of our lives, especially during seasons of change. When we find the answers, then we are assured that we are on the journey to live a consequential life. These three fundamental, but crucial questions are the map.
From: http://www.deeannturner.com/a-consequential-life-part-2/
One of the tributes I recently heard relating to John McCain, late senator from Arizona, was from Doug Ducey, current governor of Arizona. Ducey described McCain as having lived a consequential life . . . That was a new phrase to me and one that has resonated with me in the days since. A consequential life . . .
In beginning this blog entry, I googled what is a consequential life? . What came up was a bit disconcerting: consequential life cycle analysis (CLCA). CLCA is not about a life philosophy, it is about the impact on a variety of industrial outputs when an element of that manufacturing process is deleted. ???
Of the 10 pages of google results that I reviewed, I found one reference each to Barbara Bush, Arthur Schlesinger, and Bernard Bailey as having lived a consequential life. Not what I expected. I was hoping for a variety of opinions on what living a consequential life might look like to various folks. I discovered Dee Ann Turner’s essay on the questions one asks about one’s life path on that 10th page.
The idea of one’s life being consequential is akin to living one’s life in such a way to leave the world better than how you found it. A consequential life is an intentional life, a life lived with questions and reflections on which path of many is consonant with one’s values and goals.
A definition of consequential offers synonyms like important, significant, major, momentous, weighty, memorable, far-reaching, serious. Regardless of one’s political loyalties or religious practices, We can hardly disagree with the assessment of Barbara Bush, Arthur Schlesinger, John McCain having lived consequential lives (I don’t know Bernard Bailey’s story). Most of us will not find ourselves in the public eye nor have opportunities to impact our world as Bush, Schlesinger, or McCain might have. But in my mind, I can live my life with the intention of leaving my community and those with whom I interact (family, friends, acquaintances, everyday passersby) in a better place than when I arrived on this earth. I do that through striving to glimpse the Light of God within each person I meet. I desire to do no harm — but more than that, to do as much good as I can through reflecting on my relationships, my resources, my time, my energy. And I know I will fail miserably quite often — but I will try anyway.
If you subscribe to the butterfly effect (Edward Lorenz: small changes can have large consequences), perhaps any encounter we have with others at any time — no matter how fleeting — can deliver unexpected consequences — can be consequential. Yes, the briefest of encounters — how we treat a check-out clerk, whether we wave another car to go ahead of us at the 4-way stop, how we respond to a harried mom with a fussy child throwing a loud tantrum — a frown? or a quick “I’ve been there, I understand”? Silly examples, perhaps, but consequential to someone’s day and also to mine.
I had to call an insurance customer service line this morning because something had triggered their system to reject my pharmacy bill. The wait was long, the music on hold was too loud, I was annoyed and my tone of voice would have conveyed that if I hadn’t been thinking about this blog entry. After a countdown (“you are the 4th person in line, please hold for the next available representative . . . you are the 3rd person in line, . . .”) that seemed interminable, a live voice asked how she could help me. She couldn’t spell Moravian or Theological or Seminary and after asking me to spell them, she apologized for being “so dumb” — I told her she wasn’t dumb, just unfamiliar with the words. She breathed a sigh and thanked me for being gracious. I could tell that she was more relaxed and smiling — as was I because I had responded out of my better self. We finished our business with good spirits and I felt heard and served well — no need to be irritable and pushy as I would have been had I not been thinking of the person on the other line.
If you are still reading this, I thank you. To many folks such reflections on what is a consequential life may seem pollyanna and unimportant. But it helped me be intentional with at least one small connection today with someone on the other end of a business call. And I think it helped shape her day.
Jane+
Pilgrimages and Paths 