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In school, I wanted to fit in with my classmates—especially the guys. I decided that joining the school track team might be one way to build camaraderie and boost my sense of personal accomplishment. So I signed up and practiced every day, working hard to improve my performance times as a distance runner. With high expectations I started running. Then reality came crashing down.
Despite my efforts during practice, I came in last in nearly every race that season. I didn’t have the endurance and pacing needed to win long races, and I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong.
Refusing to be discouraged, I ran with the track team the following year—as a sprinter! To my surprise, I won virtually every race, and was selected as the team’s Most Valuable Player. It seemed I had found my niche in this sport.
Sometimes life follows this same pattern. We struggle to identify and determine how we can use our aptitudes for the greatest success. It takes experience to gain a sense of what we want to do with our lives, yet we must make some decisions about our futures now.
Personal values also play a role in this struggle. Do we value job security and steady income over the risks and rewards of entrepreneurship? Do we want to hold off on marriage and family while we build our career?
With all of these factors to consider, finding your niche in life can seem like a daunting task. Here are some tips that may help you simplify the process.
- Start researching available options now.
Seek current, reliable information. This includes market predictions for job availability and salaries, typical working conditions and educational requirements. To begin, visit www.jobhuntersbible.com for a comprehensive look at today’s job market.
- Clarify personal values.
Our values can have a significant impact on our vocational choices. For example, the Bible teaches keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. If you are going to follow this instruction, don’t choose a field that requires being on call seven days per week. It is essential to clarify your values before making final decisions about your future. True values will be the most important determinants of your happiness.
- Seek learning opportunities.
To get a firsthand perspective, talk to those who work in a particular field of interest. Some will even let students shadow them for a day or volunteer in their department. Applying for internships or low-level positions can provide real-world experience. Consider taking some time off before, during or after college to explore all the options.
- Ask for guidance
Finding our place in this world is hard enough. Doing it alone is next to impossible. Ask your parents and other trusted relatives for their opinions. Talk to school guidance counselors and church leaders about what they recommend. Most importantly, get vertical advice—talk to God about your plans and dreams. Ask Him for wisdom to make the right decisions and learn from mistakes. As Psalm 37:4 advises, “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
Finding your niche in life is a difficult challenge, but it can be done. With the right knowledge and values in hand, you can take positive steps toward a happy, successful life. For more information on this topic, request or download the free booklet Making Life Work.
–About the Author–
Sean Yarbrough is an occupational therapist with Tampa (Florida) General Hospital’s spinal cord injury program.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana, 1863-1952).Is history doomed to repeat itself? “No, it isn’t!” “Yes, it is!” This argument never fails to create contention in the historical community. On an individual level it is sometimes important to leave the past behind and forgive. The same is frequently true on an international scale. But forgiving the past and ignoring the past are not to be confused: one is good; the other is dangerous.
Historical trends develop from the repetition of similar events. War is a historical trend; wars happen repeatedly from similar causes. We wouldn’t have had World War I without the economic upheaval and violent, nationalist sentiment rampant in Europe in the early 1900s. And 20 years later, without similar economic turmoil and nationalist crazies, we wouldn’t have had World War II.
God created people to make choices, and the ultimate choice is to follow God’s excellent way of life. But He does not coerce us, so people tend toward moral equivocation, which we call “human nature.” In other words, mankind sits on the fence a lot and sometimes falls off on the dark side—often making the same mistakes over and over.
History helps us study human nature on a vast and endlessly detailed scale. To people who enjoy it, it is a bottomless supply of stories and fascinating facts. To those who would rather not absorb history books by the ton, it is still a productive pursuit, providing countless case studies of human nature and how to avoid its failures.
As a historian, let me show you how to acquire a taste for history. Start with a period of history that interests you: the Old West of America, the culture of medieval knighthood, life in Georgian England, World War II society or the exploits of the Yuan Dynasty of China. Next, choose a significant person from that era like Wyatt Earp, King Robert the Bruce of Scotland, Jane Austen, Winston Churchill or Kublai Khan. Find and read a good short- to medium-length biography of that individual. You will be surprised how quickly history becomes interesting!
In our technologically advanced era, the study of history is essential to staying morally grounded as a tsunami of digital information washes over each of us. Whether sifting wheat in an agricultural society or tapping keys and scanning Web pages in a digital culture, humans are humans and subject to the same moral pushes and pulls that they have faced since creation.
“Should I be doing what I’m doing?” is always a valid question when asked in reference to the 10 great commandments listed in the most well-preserved history resource in the world—the Bible. To better comprehend this incredible and historic document overflowing with biographies of real people and graced with the divine analysis of God, request or download your free copy of How to Understand the Bible.
God started history, but He lets us make choices about its progress. He gave us a precious gift—the impact we make on the lives of others. To use that gift wisely, we must study the historical record of those who came before and learn the lessons they reveal. The most ancient, elemental and essential record is the Bible; scan its pages of time to learn the true wisdom of history.
–About the Author–
With a degree in history and art history from the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon, Amanda Stiver lives near Columbus, Ohio, and works as a freelance writer.
