Resume vs Eulogy

So I recently read an article that made me think… like hard.  It was debating resume virtues vs eulogy virtues.  Which should you live for?  Basically resume virtues are just that, you put them on your resume.  They are skills you bring to the marketplace and the eulogy ones are, funnily enough, the ones that get mentioned in your eulogy.  They’re deeper, they define who you are as a person, the nature of your relationships, what are you like?  Are you deeply good?  Bold, loving, dependable, constant?  So which should I live for? 

I’m at that point in my life where I’m attending friends’ weddings rather than family ones.  I support myself and have a clear idea about who I am and where I want to go in life... I’m actually becoming an adult *internally screams* and I’m actually kinda loving it!  I’m about to cease being a Uni student, balancing full time study and a part time job.  I’m about to join the ‘adult’ working world, well, a profession that I have worked my butt off to become a part of.  Nearly six years at University and it is nearly over.  That’s a resume virtue.  To be a successful member of contemporary society you need to sell yourself.  Ok, not completely literally, but hear me out.  Think about social media, Face Book and Instagram, the idea of these networks is to highlight yourself, tell the world about who you are and what you do.  Isn’t that the point of the resume?  I decided to commit six years of my life to higher education (resume goal), to get myself a job that I could help people in, one that would make me happy… that makes it a eulogy virtue.  So why can’t I live for both?  Nobody is stopping me, I can be who ever I choose to be.  You can be who ever you choose to be.  It’s your choice, no one else’s.  The question is whether or not you’re willing to put in the hard yards, to work towards your goal.

On this blog, I’ve mostly written about my health and fitness goals and achievements.  This year I haven’t had a solid health and fitness goal.  It has become such an ingrained part of my life that I no longer have to set myself the goal to get to the gym five days a week, or eat nutritious meals.  As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been sick on and off for a lot of this year so my fitness goals have taken a backseat.  So what am I focusing on this year?  I’m working on me and securing my future.  As mentioned above, I am so close to completing my degree however I’ve been at Uni for longer than I was in high school!  I’m feeling rather burnt out, combining nearly a full time working load, full time study and maintaining a home and all of the relationships in my life.  But that is nearly over and I’m thinking about the future.  Who do I want to be?  I want to live for my resume but also for my eulogy.  I choose to be a constant loyal, kind and caring person, for my partner, friends and family.  I choose to help people where I can and to put smiles on the faces of those around me.  I want to inspire people to be the best that they can be, and I’m going to be able to do that in the profession that I have chosen.  I am a good person, and that’s who I want to be on my resume and how I want to be remembered when I am gone.

Liz Xox