In late February of 2013 I embarked on a two-year religious mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I came back in March of this year. It's nuts to think that I started that journey of spiritual growth nearly three years ago, and that in a few months it will be a year since I returned. That time on my mission was one of serious spiritual edification, and each day presented opportunities for growth, either through invigorating challenges that I faced or minor miracles that I witnessed. I daily felt the love of God and my fellow man as I strove to serve others, especially having served in Brazil, where missionaries are treated like heroes in many places.
That sense of spiritual empowerment that I felt as a missionary can be a little bit harder to find in the real world. There are a lot of tasks and responsibilities that we face, some good, some necessary, and some just distractions. But recently I discovered a small daily practice that has helped me to feel like every day is worthwhile and fulfilling.
You'll understand this daily practice better if you'll follow my Christmas tangent for a sec. In celebration of Christmas this year, my family watched "It's a Wonderful Life," where the character George Bailey has the unique opportunity to see what the world would be like if he were never born into it. George comes to realize that many good things would not have happened if he had never lived. But he couldn't see those things until they were explicitly pointed out to him.
Are we able to see those acts that, if left undone, would negatively affect ourselves and those around us? There are probably many good acts of kindness and benevolence that we don't do, and because they were never on our agenda, we do not even realize that these actions were left unfulfilled.
Hence the idea for what I call "The Daily Mission." The whole point is to add an additional task to the daily agenda at the beginning of the day, a small mission to accomplish. I usually do this as part of a morning prayer where I ask God to tell me about a simple mission that I can accomplish by the end of the day. Sometimes the mission is specific, or more vague, but both are satisfying. A specific mission means that I have to exercise my faith to find the specific instance to act, whereas a vague mission requires some interpretation and investigation to discover and fulfill my task. The acts are usually small, but I have found that my life is more fulfilling when at the end of the day as I pray before going to bed, I can say that I have fulfilled the daily mission that God had set before me.
This is a practice that is independent of religious denomination; just pray to know of your daily mission. If you are not of faith, take a minute at the beginning of the day and set a personal goal. There is great satisfaction in saying to yourself at the end of the day, "Mission Accomplished."