The World Needs YOU
THE WORLD NEEDS YOU
Want to know what motivates me? It’s not money or status or simply being the best. I tried that and it didn’t last very long.
It turns out that I am motivated by fear.
Specifically, fear of failure. I’ve learned that most of my anxiety falls under this one fear.
I’m not talking about the fear of not being able to pay the bills (though some months, that is a real fear!) or even a fear of my business shutting down.
What I’m deathly afraid of and what motivates me to no end is the thought of not giving this life all that I have. No matter what you believe spiritually, I think almost all of us can agree that we get one life, and it’s not very long.
I don’t necessarily view this fear as a bad thing. It has brought a lot of good with it.
I’ll never forget the first time I experienced this fear. I was in 6th grade. I had to do a science project where you collected leaves and then identified them. At this point online search engines were in the early years, so you had to go to the library and read books about leaf species. I cannot tell you how badly I did not want to do this. Talk about torture. I would have taken solitary confinement for a few days over doing this project (I was never one to care about standardized academics.) While all my classmates were busy for weeks on end working on this project, I procrastinated it until the day before. I threw something together just so I had something my teacher could look at the next day. We both knew I didn’t put any effort into the project and my grade reflected that. But as I stood next to my project, knowing I didn’t put in an ounce of effort, a vision struck me. It was a vision of what an apathetic life would look like. I still have such a vivid memory of it to this day. As a 12 year old, I pictured what my future wedding and career would look like if I were as apathetic about those things as I was about this project. It was a bleak image and one that bothered me.
I’m telling you about one of my deepest fears because I know that each one of us was created with a unique purpose to use our gifts in this one life we have been given.
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
Or for some longer reading, try Matthew 25:14; the parable of the talents. I love that one.
Sometimes I think about what would happen if someone like Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison decided to give up their dreams or to not try at all. What if they chose to be apathetic with the life they were given? How different our world would be. Even if someone else had eventually done what Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison did, history would still be significantly different. You can’t deny that.
The phrase I started using “The world needs who you were made to be” is something I really believe. Mind, body & soul. There are many days when I feel like I have no place in this world but I’m reminded that my Father created me with care, intention and purpose. And not just me — every single human being.
Even if you don’t invent a computer or a lightbulb, we need you to do that thing you were created to do. We need people who are passionate and proactive about knitting socks or plumbing because you keep our feet warm and our water running.
Even if I don’t “make it” by the world’s standards, all I care about is this: knowing that I gave this life everything I’ve got. I stepped into my calling and my purpose to make the world a better place.
I hope you do too.
