| There lies in the heart of every man a quiet hunger. | | | | darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, |
| A longing for an earth shaking significance. It can be | | | | Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, |
| heard in the quiet, most unedited times like when our | | | | fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are |
| head hits the pillow at night. As the pressures of the | | | | a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the |
| day fade away the voice catches our attention. "I | | | | world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so |
| was meant for more than this, there has got to be | | | | that other people won't feel insecure around you. We |
| something more." | | | | are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born |
| This calling catches us by surprise at the strangest | | | | to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. |
| times. We have felt it as a fire-in-the-belly as we | | | | It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as |
| watch movies like Braveheart and Gladiator. We | | | | we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give |
| remember the zealous times of our youth when our | | | | other people permission to do the same. As we are |
| ideals and passion seemed to rule us. The world, | | | | liberated from our own fear, our presence |
| however has ended up cold and somewhere along | | | | automatically liberates others." |
| the road something was lost. | | | | Most men spend years running from their purpose. |
| Many men and women alike have learned to accept a | | | | Many spend years in waiting for their purpose to be |
| life of quiet resignation, committed to maintaining the | | | | revealed. But it is on the battleground of life that you |
| status-quo. But still, in the times we least expect it, | | | | find your role in the larger story. The script will not |
| we hear that distant call again. A call for meaning, | | | | be delivered before the next scene, but it will come |
| purpose, passion, significance. It continues to haunt | | | | to you in your courage. |
| us, to stalk us, and as we try to silence it with | | | | If you are ready to find your purpose, find the voice. |
| reason and maturity we find that indeed, it is a fire | | | | Go back to the places that you have heard it most |
| within our bones and it will not yield. | | | | clear. For some it comes in the early morning, before |
| Our suspicions are correct. There is a larger story and | | | | the cares of the day have drowned them out. For |
| we have a role to play in it. It has been said that | | | | others it comes through music, or movies, or books. |
| what a man does during his life shall echo throughout | | | | For others it is found on a walk through the woods |
| eternity. Regardless of whether we choose to or | | | | or on the side of a mountain. Find the voice again and |
| not, we will leave a legacy. We will leave either | | | | listen. Allow it to stir you up again. Then begin to |
| blessings or curses to those that follow. | | | | move in the direction it calls. |
| Nelson Mandela wrote, "Our deepest fear is not that | | | | Your legacy is written on you heart, it's up to you to |
| we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are | | | | write it on the hearts of others. |
| powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our | | | | |