My Ritual, Congruence, and Commitment

For me, my personal rituals are crucial to my development and keep me focused on who I am (congruence) and what I want to be (commitment). I guess I hadn't drawn the connection between the three until now, I guess it's good I'm writing this blog.

Many (if not most) of my rituals relate to my education. As is true for FIJI, for Knowledge is one of the five values, and of course, our motto is "Scholarship, Fraternity, Self." This aspect of FIJI and more have reiterated many of my personal rituals regarding academics and have instilled new ones as well. Outside of FIJI, personal rituals I have always had include making a list of tasks or accomplishments at the beginning of each day, always having a list of long-term goals either in sight or somewhere I can find and access, and making sure to read something everyday. My daily ritual of listing my goals for the day has changed my approach to life more than I could have ever imagined; this simple ritual keeps me constantly focused, determined, and committed to my classwork. Furthermore, my long-term goal sheet has proven even more influential, for it keeps me thinking about and questioning what I am doing, what I want to be doing, and what I will be doing in the years to come. Lastly, my daily ritual of reading something every day is rather simple; the easiest way to stay committed to education is picking up whatever and reading it. Preferably something intellectual, but we all know that doesn't always happen.

Another, kind of random, ritual I have is that I sing everyday. Not always, or actually, rarely is it good, but it is one of the best ways I connect with myself and my values. I guess, in general, music has been my ritual since I was a kid. From singing in choir in high school, at my church, and generally anywhere music is playing, I can forget all the stuff bringing me down in life. Singing keeps me committed to "staying the course" and not letting the little things in life take me astray.

As I mentioned earlier, I have sang in my church choir. In addition to this, I speak as liturgist pretty regularly, help out with lawncare, and general maintenance. Each of these rituals, though not as regular now that I live 2 hours away, have kept me connected with myself and with God. Oftentimes I have found myself being pulled from God by less important nuances in life, and the fact that I always have a church and a family to go home and worship him has been the most integral ritual of my life. Along theses same lines, my daily prayer has kept me constantly in search of myself and faithful to Him. Prayer has helped me find myself when I was lost, and has shown me the way to excellence in my life. So I guess, in that regard, FIJI has instilled the same value through ritual, Excellence. FIJI has taken a misled freshman who really had no clue what to do and set him straight on a path to excellence in school, in extracurriculars, and in the Greek community.

A last major ritual, at least to my (poor) memory, is the one goal I set out to achieve everyday - serve others. FIJI, through the genuine, selfless attitude of each Brother, has surely reiterated this value of Service. Whether it is simply holding a door open for someone, going out of the way to help someone with an assignment, or helping the elder neighbor by shoveling their snow, I have always made it a ritual to affect at least someone in some way throughout the day.

Here's a link to the best illustration of service I've ever seen. Read the summary of the video, too.

So I guess these are all my rituals I can think as of now. While I'm sure I have more, these are the true, central ones in my life that keep me committed to my goals and real to my values. FIJI has now become one of my rituals in itself, too. I realize now, my rituals keep me sane.