LIVING A PURPOSEFUL LIFE-TOM BERKEDAL

HOW TO LIVE A PURPOSEFUL LIFE- TOM BERKEDAL Brooke Bronkowski was a 12 year old who wrote an essay which she titled, “Since I Have My Life Before Me.” I’ll live my life to the fullest.  I’ll be happy.  I’ll brighten up.  I’ll be more joyful than I have been.  I’ll be kind to others.  I’ll loosen up.  I’ll go on adventures and change the world.  I will be bold and not change who I really am.  I’ll have no troubles.  But instead help others with their troubles.  You see, I’ll be one of those people who live to be history makers at a young age.  Oh I’ll have moments good and bad but I will wipe away the bad and only remember the good.  In fact that’s all I’ll remember, just good moments nothing in between, just living my life to the fullest.  I’ll be one of those people who go somewhere with a mission, an awesome plan, a world-changing plan and nothing will hold me back.  I’ll set an example for others I will pray for direction.  I have my life before me.  I will do my best.  Brooke was a pretty spectacular 12 year old.  Unfortunately on October 22, 2000 Brooke and her friends were headed back from the movies when the driver of the car lost control and crashed in to a tree.  Brooke was pronounced dead the next morning at the age of 14, but her impact did not.  Her message went viral and thousands have shared Brooke’s message.  She lived a life that mattered.  She considered others over herself and she didn’t really care very much about what others thought about her.  She wasn’t concerned with the stress or disappointments of this life.  All she was concerned about was her mission on earth.  Brooke Bronkoswki lived a purposeful life.  Purposeful is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as having a purpose, determined, resolute, full of meaning, significant.  The question asked is that we all must ask is do our lives meet that criteria?  People don’t join an organization like Rotary unless they want to make a difference.  Rotarians are determined to have a positive impact on the world and we are succeeding.  Leading a purposeful life is not easy.  Our lives are about so much more than just Rotary.  We have family, obligations and most of all we all have work responsibilities.  Many Rotarians are involved in other non-profit organizations.  We are all pulled in so many different directions that it is hard for us to prioritize our daily activities…much less our life’s purpose. The word “purposeful” can be defined in many ways and the fact is that only you can define your purpose in your life and only you can determine your level of success in achieving that purpose.  So what does this all have to do with Rotary?  All of us are her because we made a personal decision to be a Rotarian.  The question is, How does being a Rotarian fit into our life’s purpose?  According to the most recent club survey over 70% of us are a Rotarian primarily because of the fellowship and networking opportunities.  Only about 18% are here primarily due to a desire to be of service to others.  Rotary’s motto is “Service Above Self” and it seems that when we define our life’s purpose most of us would list being of service to others ahead of fellowship.  As a general rule we tend to be more givers than doers in this club.  When it comes to our Rotary involvement we are all very thankful for the generosity of past and current Rotarians.  In the past seven months Tom has traveled to 42 clubs from our district.  How does our stack up?  Very well!  No other club comes close to ours in the terms of financial impact that we make in our community year after year.  Primarily through our great foundation and the proceeds from Rotary Shines.  In the last year our foundation gave away over $51,000 and over the past 10 years our foundation distributions have totaled over $534,000.  The foundation awards $15,000 in scholarships each year to high school students and post high school students, $2,500 in art scholarships, $3,000 to the World Service committee to fund an international project, over $20,000 to organizations involved with helping children with disabilities, $3,000 to the Community projects.  Add that to the approximately $30,000 in Rotary Shines proceeds and we give away over $80,000 every year and we should be tremendously proud of that.  Being proud doesn’t mean that we should not be looking for ways to be even better, to make a greater impact.  There is no better fellowship opportunity than one that involves working together on a project that makes a meaningful difference in someone else’s life.  As a club we need to guard against the thought that the foundation and Rotary Shines proceeds do so much good in the community that we as members do not really need to devote our time in service to others.  Rotary is like any other organization…the more we put into it…the more we get out of it.  Mahatma Ghandi once said, “to find yourself you must lose yourself in service to others.” Ghandi would have been a great Rotarian.  Other clubs do not have the kind of money our club has to donate to other organizations and individuals but they find the time to provide great service to their communities.  Throughout our district there are Rotary signs on playground equipment, park benches, beaches, roundabouts, stretches of highway that Rotarians have volunteered to keep clean all projects sponsored and serviced by Rotarians.  When you drive in to Appleton you do not see any sign that Rotary exists.  The Rotary Club of Appleton will be celebrating its Centennial year in 2017…wouldn’t it be great if our club would celebrate by originating a project in Appleton that would fill a community need, provide a fellowship opportunity through service to others and also create Rotary awareness?  It is much easier to volunteer locally than it is to be directly involved in a project overseas and yet the Rotary International Foundation provides many opportunities to participate in service projects all over the world.  A donation to the Rotary Foundation in an amount that is affordable to you helps to make all of the good works Rotarians do possible.  It is also important to diversify.  We all want to help our own communities, churches, schools, local non-profits and we should.  It is also important to donate money to the neediest of the needy in the world and if helping others and make the world a better place is a part of your life purpose there is no better way to do that than through an affordable annual donation to the Rotary Foundation.  So let’s bring you back to Brooke Bronkowski as a 12 year old who already laid out her life’s plan and purpose sadly Brooke’s life, although impactful, ended way too soon.  Life is fragile and unpredictable and too important to live by chance.  If you haven’t done so already create some quiet time and reflect on your life’s purpose.  Consider writing your own brief essay entitled “Because I Have My Life Before Me.?  As Rotarians we are fortunate to have countless opportunities to live our purpose by enhancing the lives of others.