What is it that defines you? Is it your Job that defines who you are? Is it your money that defines who you are? Maybe it’s your stature, your looks, or your title? It might even be who you’re married to. If any of these define who you are, BEWARE! They all can be taken away.
Change your definition
If you define yourself by works, material possessions, or even your name (if I were a Kennedy, I might feel entitled), then maybe it’s time for you to change your definition of you!
So what are you worth? That is a loaded question. If you believe your worth is tied to any of these things, you are fighting a losing battle. You will never be able to do enough, have enough money, or even have a title high enough to be immune to the world’s definition of failure. I’m not saying that money, great works, or nice possessions are wrong. But if you place your worth in these things, one of two things usually happens: you’ll either find that there is never enough, or you’ll soon find out that you cannot be content without them.
Define your worth in your purpose
Defining yourself in what you do or what you have will eventually lead to a great big failure. You’ll never be able to “do” enough to feel complete. It is a thirst that can never be quenched, so you’ve got to change your definition from your “stuff” and your “works” to who you were created to be.
It’s not a feeling or a title that will fill your soul, it is serving others that will fill you up! The Beatles had it right when they said, “All you need is love.”
It’s a way of life. You see, if we spend our time trying to do things to make us feel good, or we think that if we have what we want we’ll feel worthy, then we’ve got it all wrong. It’s in our being that defines who we are. That’s why we are not human hav-ings or human do-ings – we are human BE-ings! We must learn to reach deep inside of ourselves to find our worth. Validation cannot come from outside of us. And it can’t come from only you. But alongside a God that has defined you with an infinite worth, you’ll find your purpose.
Two lines stand out to me in The Beatles song, “All You Need Is Love”.
The first is “Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.”
The second is “Nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.”
Do you want to change your definition of you? I do. Look around right where you are – not where you wish you were – and find an area to serve or a person to help. Through that you will quench your thirst, and possibly stop trying to quench it with other things.
Each month in The Journey Training we meet people with a false or low opinion of themselves. Often they are oblivious to the changes that need to take place. Invariably, by the end of their Threshold weekend we see them leave invigorated, ready to change the world that they are a part of – right now – which in turn is a stepping stone to being who they really want to be.
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Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!
Let’s turn the clock back to your childhood.
Remember the house you grew up in? What did it look like? What smells were there? Did it have paint or wall paper? Did you have a backyard to play in? Where was your bedroom?
Now let’s revisit your hopes and dreams.
What was it you wanted to do? Did you want to become a veterinarian or be a musician? You may have wanted to be a teacher, astronaut, pilot or even the President of the United States! Where did those dreams and passions go?
I believe that they are still there, along with the belief that you could actually achieve them. You just left them behind – just a dream put on a shelf, just a thought you put away. The great news is that you can wake those dreams up again and on some level find success in the very things you always wanted to do! It just may not look exactly like you thought it would.
I remember being in my backyard with an old wooden tennis racket and our stockade fence. I had just watched an incredible Wimbledon Championship Tennis match between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. It was the most incredible match I’d ever seen. I went outside after Borg won the title and there I was, serving for the win in the final set at Wimbledon. I know, I was in my backyard – but I believed I was there – and I believed that I could do it!
I also remember being a kid and playing my sister’s guitar. I would be in the closet playing, but in my mind I was on stage in front of thousands, with TV cameras broadcasting my performance to millions, inspiring them to a better place!
It wasn’t long after that I lost those dreams to other things. One might call them diversions, but I call them life. When we are children, we know what’s right and wrong, we feel the desires in our hearts, and we don’t have the worries or hustle & bustle to take our minds off those things. We have our imagination to keep our dreams alive.
What is your dream? What is your passion or your mission in life? Go back to those desires of your youth, couple them with what should change in the world, and you’ll come up with it! It might not be a veterinarian, but it might be volunteering at the local animal shelter. It might not be the President, but it might be the leader of your local PTA chapter. And you could find yourself helping transform your world one person at a time, beginning with fulfilling your mission in life!
So just like me you might find your purpose mixed within your childhood passions! I found myself just like Bjorn Borg, winning it all on The Biggest Loser, writing and playing music on the show, and now on an infinite speaking tour around the world with the purpose of awakening the dreams in others! Because, after all, each hardship you’ve endured in life is a stepping stone to the purpose you were created for. The first step is actually choosing to see that it lies within your heart and not somewhere in the distance.
At The Journey Training, we are passionate about helping you find your passion and purpose. The training is centered around bringing those true, innocent memories alive and starting you on a path to your purpose. Let us be a stepping stone for you!
FREE Mini Journey Training
Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!
