Escaping Average, sermon.
"I woke up this morning and thought to myself: “Gee, my life is average”. I remember, at one point as a teenager, that there was/is a website where one could go and write about how his/her life was just… blah. Normal. Nothing going on. I thought to myself: “I wonder if there is a large population in the 1st world that has an ‘average’ life.” I looked up the statistic. Turns out, though, there isn’t a statistic for People who are Average. I realized that this could only be because Average is personal for everybody. Each person has an internal scale of percentage that determines their Average from their Horrible from their Awesome. As Jedi, I think it’s high time we got around to finding our Awesome and decreasing our Average.
In order to find our Awesome, we need to define it. There’s only one problem, I can’t define it for you. This is a step that people tend to hate. They want to open a self-help book and be TOLD “Hey, this is what AWESOME is”. But, again, if there was a distinct AWESOME, then we would know and there would be a statistic. There isn’t. So we need to perform something called an Average Audit.
I got this idea from a man named Jon Acuff. His book, Start, is a brilliant book and a great way to begin finding your Awesome. It also goes into detail about how to develop that awesome in action-adventure style. I hope you read it since I’m NOT going to write a book for a sermon.
How do you perform an Average Audit?
First, take stock of the Seven Areas of Your Life: Physical, Spiritual, Financial, Family, Social, Intellectual, and Career. Write out in each of those areas how much you are AWESOME and how much you are Average. Don’t feel any pressure to make one look conventionally successful. If you are perfectly happy having one really amazing friend, and you don’t need nobody else *snap*, then feel free to put that you are Awesome in the social category. If you wish you had a better relationship with your father? You are average in the Family category.
Does any of this mean that you need to change? Yes. It does.
So many times, I see spiritually enlightened people who praise contentment over hard work. They say: “why work so hard? Why can’t you be happy with what you’ve got?”
I am happy with what I’ve got. I have the capacity to grow and change. THAT makes me happy more than most things. I am content in the land of changing. Contentment isn’t about staying still as a rock in the midst of a storm. It doesn’t mean you have to stay frozen forever and live like a hippy in a jungle. It doesn’t mean you have to resign to be homeless. It doesn’t mean you have to give up a high paying executive job for a minister position. It means you constantly realize more and more what makes you happy, and you are content to follow it. If, for some reason, you end up CEO of Google and you realize one day that you are meant to guide in a church… then sure, give it some good thought, try it out, and see if giving up money for happiness is worth it. (I’ll give you a hint, if it truly brings you happiness, it’s worth it).
Life has a way of guiding you to your happiness in one way or another. It is up to you to recognize those signs and to grab hold. This is why we do the Average Audit.
Once you’ve found your average, then ask yourself: What debts are holding me back? What will it take to make this area AWESOME? What role models can I follow and research? What assets do I already have that will make this jump to AWESOME easier?
It’s ok to be unrealistic. It’s ok to be afraid. To put BIG thoughts on the paper. Maybe if you’re a musician, you want to meet John Williams. That’s HUGE, especially if you live in Russia. It would take SO MUCH effort to do it. But, maybe if you let yourself dream like that, you might find your true passions buried beneath the social conditioning of reality. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll realize you want to write film music… and you’ve been a lawyer for 30 years.
Take your Average Audited Areas, and list out: What is the first step to making one of these areas Awesome?
Do it.
Write on a post-it-note: “Some is better than None”. And, put that post-it-note EVERYWHERE. On your alarm clock. Your iPhone. Make a T-shirt. Put it on a billboard. I don’t care. But make sure you see it every day. Make sure you remember that taking the first step is the hardest.
It’s so freaking cheesy, but BELIEVE in those wild, unrealistic dreams. Why? Because underneath all that dreaming? Watching Dancing with the Stars every night? Reading Buddhism books every day? Running two miles every day just to feel the wind in your face?
Those are all notices from life: “HEY, your Awesome is waiting right outside this door… Answer the door. Please.”
May the Force be with you.
-Rev. Connor Lidell, Licensed Minister of the Force."
