The Right Gifts

My daughter has been listening to “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott recently, and at one point Amy scolds Laurie for wasting all of his gifts and talents because he couldn’t have the one he wanted. Instead of making the most of what he did have, he squandered his time and life in self pity, which did not change his lot in life at all, but only served to make him unhappy.

 

A Futile Way of Life

There are times when life seems pointless, or some endeavor we undertake appears to not be worth doing. Futility is that vain, pointless struggle, literally defined as being pointless, incapable of producing anything useful. Sometimes life feels like that, but for different reasons. Sometimes it is just because it is difficult. We hit a season where life is a struggle, we seem to be moving backward instead of progressing, and things just aren’t working out, yet. But eventually our hard work comes through and we achieve victory. Other times, it is because our efforts themselves are not suitable for what we are trying to accomplish. What we want to do is good, but we are going about it the wrong way. What in our lives is futile?

 

Where You Want to Be

 

I was thinking this week about how many people are not where they want to be. They may have talents or skills that are not being used, or desires that are not being fulfilled. I fall into that at times, feeling like my skills are being wasted staying at home not using them. Is that the right mindset to have? Should we pursue what we want or where our skills lie, or is there more to the equation?