Are You a Creator or a Victim?

“There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling.  Its why you were born and how you become most truly alive.”  Oprah Winfrey

I was thinking this morning about how every person has a calling…a unique talent, gift, dream that is only yours.  But people let their dreams die because they don’t have the emotional strength to carry on, or we think our dreams are unattainable.  Somehow we sabotage our own awesomeness because of we lack something inside that what we have to offer may not be important.  I don’t believe that.  I believe we all have something wonderful to offer our world to make it a better place.

You have to trust in your intuition and your passion, and that will lead to your purpose and fulfillment in life.

And back to emotional strength.  What about the times when Life hits you in the face with change or tragedy.  How does that fit into the picture?   People do awesome things with their personal pain. 

I remember reading years ago about an African American lady who lived in South Central, Los Angeles, and lost her sons and husband to gang violence.  My heart stop for a second thinking about how painful that would be to lose your whole family. You would think that such a tragedy would cause one to call it a day and just give up on life. Instead, she took her pain to the streets of South Central and started a campaign to stop gang violence.  She walked the streets alone to spread her message.  She gained empathy, respect, support and admiration from her community.  And in an area where crime and violence is ominous, no one ever harmed her.

The founder of MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, started her organization after her child was killed by a drunk driver. 

These Mothers had experienced deep pain…enough to make one wonder about the meaning of life. But their hearts were bigger than their pain, and so they did something wonderful with pain instead of giving up.  What they did was turn pain into a calling.  If people who have experienced such deep loss can find a calling, so can’t people who have not.

“A man who is master of himself can end sorrow as he can invent a pleasure.   I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions.  I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” Oscar Wilde

In an article I read about the late Christopher Reeves, who lived the last few years of his life after a spinal cord injury, he made the comment that because of their thinking, “some people are more disabled than me.”  Think about that…because it is true.

Everyone has a calling and a purpose.  You can be a victim of circumstance or you can be a creator from circumstance…it’s all us to YOU.  Remember YOU have a unique gift to offer the world.  Don’t let it die inside without sharing it.