Finding Peace

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you having a great day as a glorious new opportunity begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! :)

I am going to start this Happy Friday with a challenge for all of us: I challenge all of us to live this day in such a way that when we lay our heads on our pillows tonight, we are proud of how we have lived this day, that we have complete peace in our spirits. That's it...

So easy to understand, so difficult to actually live out! But why? As we sit here and look forward to this day, have you ever thought about all of the things we have no control over? I don't mean that as discouraging but rather as freeing - it's kinda hard to beat yourself up over something that you could not control and yet, we spend inordinate amounts of time trying to control the uncontrollables, and sacrificing our peace in the process. We have absolutely zero control over how any other human being walking the face of the earth will act, what they will say, what their attitude will be, etc. and yet we have complete control over how we act, what we say, what our attitude will be...and how we will respond, or unfortunately react, to those annoying people. :)

Have you ever thought about your job? Think of all the things that determine "success" in your line of work that are completely outside your control. Oh yes, we can control doing the things we should be doing, putting things in place to enable success, and yet, at the end of the day, there are so many things outside our control that ultimately will determine whether something was a success - however you want to define that - or not. 

I am not going to keep going down this rabbit hole however all I want to clearly establish is that our peace at the end of this day is not dependent on any other person, the job you have or any of the other countless things we chase in our pursuit of peace. The peace I am talking about is dependent on and found solely in one person - the one reading this right now. :) Gotcha!

I want to unpack this with two short quotes. 

"Animals are born who they are, accept it, and that is that. They live with greater peace than people do." - Gregory Maguire

How do you and I live? Do we accept who we were born to be? We don't have to look very far to see how many in this world live however this is not about them, it's about us...each one, individually. Please remember, we have no control over anyone other than ourselves. You and I can choose to accept who we are - all of it! - and become the best version of who we were created to be. Just as a fish would look ridiculous trying to be a bird and a dog would fail miserably at trying to be an elephant, you and I will ultimately fail at trying to be anything other than who and what we were created to be. And this constant striving to be something we were never created to be in the first place will lead to discontent which means we have no peace. It really isn't that hard to understand...

Look, I might not know you personally however I do know that my Bible tells me that every single person - please read that again! - is fearfully and made, created on purpose for a great purpose for which they are perfectly equipped, lacking nothing. That means YOU are not a mistake! YOU were created on purpose and thus, your life has a purpose! YOU have everything within you to become all you were created to become. Oh, Sweet Friends, please let this Biblical truth wash over you again and again. And that brings to mind a question all of us are going to have to answer at some point in our lives: who do you believe? Are you going to believe what the world says or what the God of the universe says? And are we believing it in word only or are we actually living it out? Each one is free to choose, each one will choose and what ultimately hangs in the balance? Our peace. My fervent prayer for all of us is that we will not sacrifice our peace believing lies about whose, who and what we are!

"Live your life, sing your song. Not full of expectations. Not for the ovations. But for the joy of it." - Rasheed Ogunlaru

Have you ever watched 4-year olds color, draw or paint? They truly believe every piece of art they create is a masterpiece. Why? Because nobody has told them yet that it isn't. They haven't yet been beaten down by a world telling them that their gift is dumb, stupid or useless. They haven't yet heard that they are inadequate or not enough. Sadly, in a few short years, they will be told these things and they will quickly stop doing this thing that has brought them such great joy.

What brings you joy? What is the thing - singing, dancing, writing, drawing, woodwork, encouraging, teaching, speaking, etc. - that brings you joy? Are you doing it? Maybe it is metaphoricaly buried under tons of dirt, hidden in the deepest recesses of your heart. I don't know what it is however I know that every single one of us has a passion for something and that we have an aptitude to do that thing very well. And I simply want to encourage all of us to develop every talent, gift and ability we have to the fullest potential we are capable. When we do this, our soul comes alive and we live an incredibly inspired life.

Some will read this and say something like, "That's just positive thinking stuff" or "What a bunch of junk!" I certainly respect their right to have their opinion and I also respectfully disagree. As we go about our days, grinding away, we lose sight of whose we are, who we are and what we were created to be. From time to time we need to sit back and find ourselves on the map of this beautiful journey called life. If we do not intentionally remind ourselves of whose we are, who we are and what we are created to be we will slowly start drifting off course until we are lost. I simply hope each one of us will be reminded today of how truly special we are and that we will pursue our individual greatness today. When we do this, peace will meet us at our pillow.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families and please stay healthy and well.

Kev