"Heavenly Business"

Last week, our language teacher gave us a Chinese name. She suggested two names and we could pick which one we liked more. For me, my teacher suggested the name Niǔ tiān yè      , which means heaven (tiān) business/work (yè). Niǔ is my "family name" which is cool because it almost sounds like the the beginning of Nuquist. 


When I was given the name, I was surprised how appropriate it was for me. I felt an immediate attachment to it. Being a Christian trying to live a Christian life and having God as a big part of my life, the given name almost seemed divine in itself. It is as if I can introduce myself and people can understand what I represent just by my name. Plus it is fun to say. 

The same even goes for the name Dylan, which means "man of the sea." Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the ocean. I mean you don't even need to know me that well. . . just look at my Facebook photos and you will see fish, the beach, boats, etc. 

With all that being said, our name is truly more than just something that people call us. Our name is something that represents the person we are and the person people will remember us as. It is something that helps others identify who we are and what it is that we represent. It doesn't have to be as literal as the actual meaning, but it is what you want others to think of when they hear it. For me, after people get passed the physical features of tall, blonde, and blue eyes, of course it would be nice if people could think of the things I try to convey: sincerity, tolerance, strength, boldness, courageousness, uniqueness, hard working, family oriented, caring, creative, serious, humorous, religious, academic, faithful, adventurous, etc. However, I realize I am not perfect at any of these things. . . I just try my best to improve them everyday and represent them the best way I can through my actions and words. 

All that aside, anyone can use all the adjectives they want to define themselves, however, what do they really mean unless we practice them? Additionally, with using all these adjectives and adding on more, it can become too much (even contradicting). So why not try to make it more simple by clumping all these adjectives to describe ourselves into just a few words that represent the rest. I mean when people hear the name Dylan Nuquist or Niǔ tiān yè, what do I want people to really think? To be honest it is just that, I want people to hear my name and think "he is someone who loves the Salt Life/Ocean and tries to live a life of Christian examples." In other words, a man of the sea who tries to convey heavenly business (to the best that I can). As for those adjectives, I will let you choose to fill in the rest.