Just Keep Swimming

Last week my daughters and I were talking about motivation.

M said that what motivates her in life is her relationships. I totally get that. God made women to care for others, to be helpers. We enjoy the process of getting to know someone, of sharing with others, of loving others. My mom is like that too; she loves talking and getting to know people.

K said what motivates her in life is work. In a different way, I get that too. Her dad and granddad are workers. Her grandmother managed a store and continued to work until just recently to make sure they had insurance. Her great-grandfather and great-grandmother worked their butts off in Kentucky raising seven children and owning a grocery store. Her dad's side just has this trait in their blood and she inherited this quality; I saw it in her even as a small child.

What motivates me? Is it relationships? Or work? Or something else? As a teenager, I struggled with hard questions. What was the point of it all when you have a freaked out Nazi that could put Jews in concentration camps? What was the point of it all when you had oppression in Soviet Bloc countries? When you had huge boats that would run into an iceberg and capsize? When you had small children being abducted from no good reason? I read, and I read, and I read, and tried to make sense of it all, crying all the while. Yes, I spent hours in my room reading about the Holocaust, the Titanic, and communism. I have always had a serious streak even though I am a little wild occasionally. Thankfully (by His grace), I learned what the point was.

But, I realized this weekend that what motivates me is learning. I love learning about life, about people, and trying to see what makes them tick. If I'm not learning, I can't teach. If I'm not learning, I'm not challenged. If I'm not learning, I am bored.

This is what keeps my days from falling down flat right now. And I'm grateful.