Day 28: How Do You Chart Your Life?

Today, we discuss making a LifeMap. A LifeMap is a simple way to chart where you have come from in your life journey so far. A LifeMap can help you see how Father God has been at work in your life up to this point. It can also help you form a vision for where you are heading.

This guide is intended to help you start making a LifeMap. As we begin, there is one point that is absolutely crucial in this process: Your LifeMap is your own. You do not have to share the work that you do here with anyone. There will be some things that you record and write about that you would not mind sharing. There will be other things that you would not want to share because they are too painful or seemingly shameful. Your LifeMap is first and foremost something you are going to work out with your Heavenly Father. In time, you may want to share more of what you discover, but at the beginning it is very important that you feel safe and secure, able to be completely truthful with yourself about that has happened in your life so far.

Use the button below to download the LifeMap materials. You will need them to take the next steps 

The Past and the Future

On the left-hand side of the LifeMap, write the year of your birth in the horizontal line that is right above the chart.

Now, on the far right-hand side, write the year that is 100 years after the year of your birth on the horizontal line that is above the “100” mark. This allows you to see the general span of your life. If you were born in 1973, you would write 2073 on this line.

Now fill in all the other horizontal lines on the chart with the appropriate years that would come in 10-year segments. Again, if you were born in 1973, the dates would be 1983, 1993, 2003, etc. This gives you a framework for charting out your LifeMap. Now take a look at the chart of dates and draw a vertical line at the appropriate place on the chart for the current year. Write your current age on this line. This line divides your past from your future. 

The High Points, The Low Points

There are two things that touch us more deeply than anything else – beauty/glory and pain/suffering. Father God uses both of these “tools” to shape us. On our LifeMap we are going to begin by charting out how our life has been touched by these two realities. We are going to chart out some of the most significant high-points in our lives up to this point and also some of the low-points. These significant points in our lives center around significant people, places or events. 

Take some time now (you may reflect on this more deeply later) and think about the “high points” of your life. These are your best memories. These are the times in your life when things could not get much better. Now, pick three of the most significant high points of your life to map out. In the space above the chart of years, write a “1:” with a one or two-word identifier of this high point and a line descending down to the approximate year on your time line when this occurred. Do this for all three of your high points, “2:” and “3:”. Do these in the order they come to you; we are not “ranking” them in any order yet. 

Now take some time and think about the “low-points” of your life. These are times of pain, struggle, difficulty. These are times that felt like your life was coming unraveled. Now, pick three of the most significant low points of your life to map out. In the space below the chart of years, write a “1:” with a one or two word identifier of this low point and a line leading up to the approximate year on your time line when this occurred. Do this for all three of your low points, “2:” and “3:”. Do these in the order they come to you; we are not “ranking” them in any order yet.  

On the back of your LifeMap, there is a space for you to write out a few thoughts about both the high points and the low points as you reflect on them. As you think, remember, and reflect you will have more things you want to chart out. In the space provided, write a few sentences about what emotions you experienced during these times. Write out anything that comes to mind about these experiences: questions you struggled with, fears that surfaced, life-lessons that you learned. The more you just let things flow out, the more impactful this exercise will be.

Here is a sample LifeMap:

More Questions

Below is a list of 40 other critical life questions. These are helpful to work through over time to really dig into your life-story. We are going to be using your LifeMap throughout the other studies in MilktoMeat. Keep your LifeMap safe. It will be a helpful tool in your spiritual development. 

1. What did my Father contribute to my life-story?
2. What did my Mother contribute to my life-story?
3. What did my siblings contribute to my life-story?
4. What did my grandparents contribute to my life-story?
5. What did my extended family contribute to my life-story?
6. What did my teachers contribute to my life-story?
7. What have my best friends contributed to my life-story?
8. What have my “enemies” contributed to my life-story?
9. Who have been the most positive influences in my life?
10. Who have been my “heroes”?
11. Who have been the most negative influences in my life?
12. Who has shaped the direction of my life the most?
13. Who or What has brought the most joy in my life?
14. What people or events have caused the most pain and hurt in my life?
15. What have been the greatest disappointments in my life?
16. What sins have I struggled with the most in my life?
17. What addictions have I struggled with in my life?
18. What events or experiences in my life would be the most difficult to talk about with others?
19. What “roles” have I played in my life (son, father, daughter, mother, helper, victim, bully, abused, etc.)
20. What responsibilities have shaped my life the most?
21. What people or experiences has Father-God used the most to reveal Himself to me?
22. How has Father-God drawn me closer to Himself in my life?
23. What brings me the greatest joy in life?
24. What are my hobbies?
25. What do I think about the most?
26. What do I not want to think about the most but find myself thinking about?
27. What am I passionate about?
28. What makes me upset, angry?
29. What are my talents that others have recognized and encouraged?
30. What have been the most significant life lessons that I have learned up to this point?
31. What have been by greatest accomplishments so far?
32. What have been my greatest failures so far?
33. What are my greatest fears?
34. What are my greatest dreams?
35. How do I see Father-God’s hand at work in the people He has brought into my life?
36. How do I see Father-God’s hand at work in the events that have shaped my life?
37. How do I see the hand of Father-God at work in the things I have experienced in my life?
38. Who would I like to be and what would I like to be doing 10 years from now?
39. Who would I like to be and what would I like to be doing 25 years from now?
40. Who will I be and what will I be doing 500 years from now?

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*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.