Last week, I spoke with a group of young men from a nearby university who are reading through my book over the spring semester. In preparing for our time together, I thought through how I approached my senior year of college and a series of conversations I had about heading into the next season.
Heading into the fall of my senior year, I wrote to half a dozen men I had somehow crossed paths with. These were the grandparents of campers I counseled, parents of friends from home, my step-grandfather, and men I admired. I wrote, offering to buy them coffee, asking if they would be willing to spend an hour with me to answer three questions:
Who are your heroes and why?
What habits have served and sustained you well in life?
What would you tell me at 22?
These men met me for coffee, breakfast, or a meal and shared their stories. They encouraged my heart and helped set the trajectory of the next decade of my life. I vividly remember sitting across from them and hearing about how they pursued the thing before them and took the next opportunity when it arrived. They sowed into their families and communities, shared their gratitude for God’s provision, and shared their regrets along the way.
Predictably, having shared the story of these conversations with these college students, the last two questions came back to me during our time together. They read a book I wrote on spiritual discipline, so it makes sense I would have a list of habits to convey that have served and sustained me in life.
Yes, I have that list, but since we were (and are) talking about limits, it’s not how I answered the question.
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