Howard Thurman has said “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs – ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
This is often quoted in leadership books and ads for nursing schools or similar degree programs but is that all Howard Thurman refers to; our careers? What about motherhood, or fatherhood? It is clear the world need spouses who love each other, mothers who love being home to nurture their children and fathers that are involved with the home. Maybe coming alive at home is more important than being alive at work. I have worked in the same field for over 30 years and it is not the job that has ever made me come alive. Does that mean I have failed at coming alive? Not hardly. I am more alive when I am with my wife, my children and my friends. I am not saying that work can’t make you come alive, but rather alive people is what the world needs more.
If you are not alive then take some time to reflect on the why. Is it that you are doing the wrong things? Or are you doing the right things wrongly? Maybe your just not doing. Spending time in reflection is a healthy way to ask these types of questions. But don’t just ask yourself, ask God as well. And don’t be afraid to wait for the answer and remember waiting means just that. Some of you coming to this blog may not believe in God, but I know God believes in you and if you ask honest questions, even about His existence, He will respond.
Doing what makes us come alive is a spiritual thing. If we are alive then we are alert, if we are alert we are interactive and if we are interactive we are what the world needs and I believe this to have a spiritual connotation. Everything that makes us come alive is for our own spiritual healing and what would the world need more than spiritually healed people?
One footnote you may not know; Howard Thurma, was a pastor, and Life magazine called him one of the 12 best preachers in the nation.
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