I am in a singles ward of young adults who are all 4-year seminary graduates, returned missionaries and currently serve valiantly in their Church callings. They know the doctrines of the Gospel. They what will bring them happiness. And yet--gobs of 25-31 year olds are flying holding patterns in their lives. Why is this? What is keeping faithful YSAs from living the things they know to be true? Motivation! They lack the motivation to overcome their fear of landing.
Let's talk about a couple of things that motivate me:
- "Dating has never been a big priority for me."
- "There is no one is in my life telling me not to [do something bad], so..."
- "I'm lazy. [_____] would take effort."
- I will focus on marriage as soon as--
- I get a solid job.
- I finish school.
- Winter is over.
- this boy asks me out.
- [fill in the blank
Let's talk about a couple of things that motivate me:
- I feel motivated by the examples of great men and women that I look up to--both living and deceased.
- Captain Moroni--for creatively and passionately standing up for truth and freedom
- Jim Thorpe--for his example of sportsmanship
- Madame Marie Currie--for overcoming the many cultural obstacles to achieve her dream
- Confucius--for seeking harmony in a world filled with war
- Joshua Pope--for working 14 hour days in order to provide for his family.
- Everyone around me or that I learn about--almost everyone has a motivating story to tell.
- I am also motivated by great music. I recently attended my cousin's HS musical production of The Scarlett Pimpernel. I was moved by one scene in particular. Like many young men today, Percy, the main character of the story, was faced with a challenge that would have been all too easy to evade. However, he and his 11, British confederates faced off against the overwhelming forces of the French Revolution. Percy channeled his fear and used it as a motivation to act when he could have safely retreated behind the debutant delight of Cricket [read: Halo]. Here are some lyrics from his moving call to action:
(Arbitrary clip from YouTube.)
David walked into the valley
David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand.
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail
Into valleys, into waters
Into jungles, into hell
Let us ride, let us ride home again with a story to tell
Into darkness, into danger
Into storms that rip the night
Don't give in, don't give up,
But give thanks for the glorious fight!
You can tremble, you can fear it
But keep your fighting spirit alive, boys!
Let the shiver of it sting you!
Fling into battle! Spring to your feet, boys
Never hold back your step for a moment
Never doubt that your courage will grow
Hold your head even higher and into the fire we go!
That was such a puzzling clip to me. Was this your cousin's performance, or one found online? The ages suggested high school or college, but the orchestra was pretty awful, pointing back to college. But the lead had an incredible voice, one I've rarely heard the equal of in a high school.
ReplyDeleteI am also motivated by great music, thanks for sharing yours.
Heather, I've made some edits to this post. Daniel was a Bounder, one of Percy's men, in his HS production of TSP. This video was selected from Youtube because it most closely represented my live experience.
ReplyDeleteMuerte, I don't particularly believe that YSA's holding patterns to be simply of a lack of motivation. I have not met anyone that is not motivated to seek a relationship. I feel that we are all properly incentivsed to act. It just takes faith to act. And I know plenty of serial daters who are trying to part the red sea, however, as they walk out into the water they are drowning. Some just give up because they have exhausted all hope. Others accept Satan’s substitutes. And many succeed.
ReplyDeleteTo be motivated we need to be provided with a motive or given incentive for action. I think many of us have that. We just need to believe that our action will yield fruit. That is more application of faith.
Dave -- Thanks again for posting your comments. I am always excited to hear what you have to say.
ReplyDeleteYou may be right, that "motivation" is not the right word for this post. You suggested a substitute, "stronger belief" or "greater faith", both terms that I agree with.
Check this video out about research regarding how incentives affect motivation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc