Courtney Cabano

Prof. Gasaway and Prof. Canuteson

LEAD 1301

27 October 2014

Leadership Reflection #3

My personal mission/philosophy is to recognize, develop, and use the talents God has given me to impact the lives of others and grow in goodness, love, compassion, and wisdom. By doing this, I hope to inspire others to do the same. I want to be a part of God’s plan and bring him glory in everything I do. I want to live every day with integrity and honesty and try and make a positive difference in my life and the lives of others.

Honesty/trust is something that is really important to me and that I value highly. I want to know that the people I’m around are trustworthy with anything I tell them and that they will be honest with me no matter what. I have been in numerous situations where someone close to me has lied to me about an instance or has spread information that I had confided in them. This bothers me more than anything else. If I am honest to someone and trust them, I expect them to uphold that trust and be honest in return. If they are not, I do not respect them nearly as much because they have then broken what I believe is the foundation of a person’s personality and reputation. This is reflected in my personal mission statement when I say that I will live every day with integrity and honesty in the forefront of my mind.

Another thing that is really important to me is helping others. That is my passion. Anytime that I have the opportunity to help someone, I try and take it. I believe that even the smallest action can mean the world to someone. You never know what they are going through or dealing with. They may really need someone to just be nice and help them by giving them a random act of kindness. I can personally attest to how much a small helpful action can alter someone’s mood or even their mindset. When I was little, my dad left my mom and I for a while. I didn’t quite understand what happened until my mom explained that “daddy and mommy got in a fight and he was too mad to stay at the house”. This basically broke my heart since I trusted my dad with everything. My neighbor saw that I was really upset and she gave me a huge hug and asked me to come play with her to make me feel better. That one simple question made me realize I was not alone in that situation. I still had people that loved me, even though my dad chose to leave. That affirms my belief that even the smallest action of helping someone else can be an important moment for them. This is why I value helping others so much.

Last but definitely NOT least, I want God’s will to be seen through my life. When people see my actions, I want them to know that everything I do is for God’s glory and not my own. I want my life to be a living testimony. There is a quote that says, “Our lives may be the only bible a person ever reads”. My actions reflect my beliefs and how I live reflects my God. This inspires me to try my hardest to live out every aspect of my life for God and make sure that others realize this.