Our #MyMagisMessage for the week comes from Alana Okuley, a junior Psychology major from Sylvania, OH!
At which service sites / community partners have you served or been a student liaison?
I have served with Rainbow Connects, Carroll Reads and YouthAbility.
If you had to state your life mission off the top of your head, in one sentence, what would it be?
Be the change you wish to see in the world and live each moment to its absolute fullest, spreading peace to all beings everywhere.
To me, the word Magis serves as a reminder to always go an extra mile, past the extra mile. We hear this simple phrase so often in life, in many different contexts, and from many different people. We hear it from our parents, our professors, our friends, our coaches, our bosses, and the wild family members at holiday parties. "Always work you hardest and put 110% into everything you do." It is an extremely valid tidbit of advice, but I also think there is a larger piece missing. My family has our own little magis motto that we like to live by. There is not a conversation with my parents that goes by without hearing "work hard, play harder." Yes it's important to work hard, but also to find the joy in doing so. This is something that I strive to incorporate into my everyday life, especially when it comes to service.
This past summer, I decided to get my certification to teach yoga. A huge part of our training process was the importance of Karma, being of service to others. When we started discussing various ways to serve others through our practice, I was super excited because this was a familiar and comfortable topic for me. It, however, did not take long before I was back to the unfamiliar and challenged in my thoughts. We talked about the importance of serving others, but also serving ourselves. This new way of looking at service, through a yogic point of view, helped me to finally gain a better understanding of how service is a two way street. In order to give others our best, we also have to give ourselves our very best. This goes right back to working hard, but playing even harder.
Impact is a big word. I think everyone out there wants to make an impact. We all want to do something with our lives, make something better, help others, and serve a purpose. In order to do this we have to also serve ourselves and ultimately create the opportunity to play harder everyday.
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