Coming Alive

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

-Howard Thurman

focus quote - as with all focus quotes, feel free to read the above statement and let it speak what it will to you. Read no further if the quote alone stimulates enough thought. If you want more inspiration for journaling or conversations with others, then read on. Most of all, enjoy!

Most of us have, at some point in our lives, encountered those people who are alive. I mean truly alive! They exude passion, drive, enthusiasm, and direction. They have a sense of meaning in their lives, they know they are doing what they were made to do, and they have a sense of satisfaction about themselves. The Howard Thurman quote above seems so insightful because it reminds us not to try making ourselves into something we are not. The world doesn't need you to be anyone other than who you were made to be.


Instead, so often we try to transform ourselves into what we think others want or who we think they will accept or love. Before you know it you have become something artificial, superficial, inauthentic. Your true self has been hidden under the facade that you have erected to win the favor of those around you.


When I talk with people who have tried to turn themselves into what they think others want, a sad thing is often true for them: They don't like who they are, they may not like those around them, and their life is no fun at all. They are surely not bursting at the seams because they are so full of life. Rather they seem down, hollow, angry, depressed, fearful.


About what subjects do you get totally jazzed and energized? What brings you joy? What gifts do you have that you jump at the chance to use? What job or project would you volunteer to do if you had the time and money to do it? The answers to these questions help you know what makes you come alive. If you can't come up with answers to any of these questions, you may want to ask those close to you when they have seen you most passionate about something.


As you rediscover who you are and what makes you come alive, don't be surprised if more people are drawn to you, ask you what has changed about you, or notice your spirits are a bit higher than they have been in the past. It is so enjoyable being around someone like that. Someone who knows themselves, their gifts, and what they have to offer this world. Enjoy the process of coming alive!

Beauty

Sometimes it is difficult to see the beauty through the many things in this world that fall short. Other times the beauty refuses to be overshadowed. It bursts forth and demands to be marveled at and enjoyed.

I have been blessed to see beauty in a handful of places these last few weeks. My newborn son's grins and smiles, butterflies floating around the flowers in the backyard, the warmth of the summer sun, the hospitality of a friend that went above and beyond what was expected. Each one of these beauties evokes something unique in me, but all of them fill me up with more life and the strength to live each day.

When I stop to think of the places I have seen beauty recently I make a conscious effort to focus on the things that bring me joy. Since it's an enjoyable thing to do, one would think I would do it more often. But, it's hard for me to slow down sometimes, or to stop focusing on things that need problem solving. I think I resist slowing because it takes faith on my part. If I stop, pause, and am still, I have to have faith that life will wait. My problems won't overtake me, I won't fail, I won't be seen as lazy or unproductive, and I won't miss any once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

In fact, the complete opposite is probably true. I will be filled up, experience rest, be able to listen that much more fully to what God has in store for me. I will have more hope for things in this life, more to give others, and a beauty in myself that will exude out to be seen by others that could call them to be more as well.

I hope to be still more often. To search for the joy and the beauty that is waiting to be realized. To have the faith and security to let the rest of the to-do list wait. To practice this more and more so that it comes naturally to me.

And I hope that for you as well.