What does Tiger Woods, Donald Trump, Michael Jordan, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Victor Hansen, and Dr. Ben Carson all have in common?
I know; you may agree with the fact that they are all rich and famous. And, you are absolutely correct in your personal assumption. You could even say that each of these individuals have achieved something notable. I will not argue with you about that. However, there is something else…a quality that these and other not-so-rich and famous people have acquired. They have all discovered the one personal characteristic that billions of people have yet to discover. You heard correctly, I said Billions with a B.
People spend their entire lives thinking of what could make them happy. Regrettably, over ninety percent of the population thinks having more than enough money would make them the happiest people on the planet. I personally differ with that opinion. I am not saying that these people do not know what they want, but what I am saying, is that they haven’t the faintest idea of what they need to actually fulfill their lives. The only reason an overwhelming percentage of the population, especially those living in the United States, feel like money is the solution to their misery is because they have not discovered their true passion. Hundreds of people have won hundreds of thousands and even tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in some lottery game, and yet in five years or less, close to eighty percent of those winners are broke.
The previous list of people I mentioned, have one thing in common, and it’s not money. What they all have in common is that they have discovered the one thing that lights up their eyes more than money itself. Money is important but not that important. It’s just unfortunate that in this nation, money is how we keep score. Purpose, destiny, passion and/or a dream is more valuable than money itself to those who breathe their ‘one’ thing. It is what keeps them getting up in the morning when nothing is going right for them.
When you realize what it is you were called to do, you’ll find that you would rather be happy in the right place doing what you love, with hardly anything going right for you at that moment, than to be in the wrong place and feeling miserable when everything is picture perfect. You can never be yourself until you know yourself.
“The people who make it to the top – whether they’re musicians, or great chefs, or corporate honchos – are addicted to their calling … [they] are the ones who’d be doing whatever it is they love, even if they weren’t being paid.”
~Quincy Jones
So, have you discovered what it is you were called to do? Some people can have an inkling of their true calling, but for them there are too many obstacles, too many distractions, and too many people standing in their way. The cost is too much for them to pay and they feel they have too much to lose.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said something so profound in one of his speeches that when I read it, it dropped deep within my soul and exploded and I have never recovered from this truth, neither do I ever want to recover. This quote helped me to focus my life with purpose and escape the mediocrity of a blurred vision.
“Deep down in our non-violent creed is the conviction there are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they’re worth dying for. And if a man happens to be 36-years-old, as I happen to be, some great truth stands before the door of his life–some great opportunity to stand up for that which is right.
A man might be afraid his home will get bombed, or he’s afraid that he will lose his job, or he’s afraid that he will get shot, or beat down by state troopers, and he may go on and live until he’s 80. He’s just as dead at 36 as he would be at 80…”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Never, ever apologize for doing what you love and what you believe you are called to do, even if what you love doesn’t meet the specifications of a loved one. Never settle for a paycheck to ignore your passion…which has no equal value to your dream-worth. And, never let anyone talk you out of what you believe God has placed deep down in your heart. What you know to do in your heart has greater value and purpose than what you think you know to do with your life.
If I were you, I would not rest from my search of discovering my purpose until I was totally convinced of what I was created to perform on this planet, or life just will not have the same worth.
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