Ever have one of those moments in which you question why you are doing what you are doing?

I have. In fact, this morning I was reminded of an afternoon last fall during which I sat at my kitchen table surrounded by notes, textbooks, and computer screens…all for a statistics project due at the end of the week. I sat at that table for 3 days straight! By the end of the third day, the only thing that I could think  was: Why am I doing this? 

I haven’t thought about that fall afternoon until this morning while I was meeting with a statistics guru discussing an upcoming project that I am working on for my own research. That’s when I had the “click moment.” I was able to follow everything that this statistics guru was saying! I knew what he meant when he threw his statistical jargon at me…something that I would not have been able to do without doing all of the work that I did (the statistics project, the statistics course, and the 4 other statistics courses that resulted in a graduate certificate in applied statistics). I sat in that office this morning, content.

Then, on the way back to my car, something else clicked. I realized that I have asked myself why I am doing what I am doing in just about every area of my life…work, relationships, fun, you name it.

The relationship part, in particular, stood out to me. I think that we are all subject to those moments in which we ask ourselves: Why am I putting all of this time, effort, emotion, etc. into this relationship? Especially when we are encountering one of those icky relationship moments (the occasional disagreement, realizing that you wronged your partner or that they wronged you, etc.).

We all know the answer to that question, though. We put the time, effort, emotion, etc. into the relationship because we know that it is worth it. We know that, despite the negative, our lives are better because of that person. We know that we are going to go through the icky and arrive at the moment in which the “click moment” happens. The moment in which we are content.