A GREAT LIFE

There is an adage which says, "If it's going to be then it's up to me". This is so true. Too often we tend to abdicate personal responsibility for developing the "true us" and instead we commute responsibility, for this, to a good friend, a mentor or personal life coach, an employer, religious guidance, et al. Now of course people can speak into our lives, but really they cannot be responsible for developing "the best me that me can be". For each one of us we have got to picture in our mind a sense of personal destiny.

Nobody can hope to experience a truely fulfilling life and a life that can be labelled "GREAT", without pursuing personal destiny. Now if destiny is not fate and it can be designed then we have the opportunity, each one of us, to design a GREAT life.

For many people a GREAT life is about money, material possessions, personal accomplishment in business or some other field, power, etc. In as much as these things may be good and they may bring a sense of personal satisfaction, can they give an absolute assurance of a GREAT life? I venture NO as an answer. So, how does one define a GREAT LIFE?

1. PURPOSE - I have come to appreciate that to live without a compelling WHY is futility in manifestation. Life has got to have a grand purpose. It's about living "on purpose" for "a purpose". Nothing hit-and-miss, trial and error or stumbled upon. A GREAT life is a life that lives for something bigger than itself. What is your purpose for living? Why are you here?

2. CONTRIBUTION - Each one of us is gifted with a skills set, inherent talents, and in general personal tools that can change the lives of those who come into our sphere of influence. It should be a driving force that we add value wherever we go and to everybody that we meet. Nobody should encounter me and stay the same thereafter. Of course, we are talking about positive impact. A GREAT life makes a difference, it makes a statement, it is a catalyst for change and for action.

3. LEGACY - It is my personal mission to ensure that my children and their children go further than I have been in life. It is my desire to spur others on to bigger, better, more, further, etc. This requires taking leadership (first personal leadership) and getting people to follow me and to teach them to go beyond where I am and beyond the limitations of their thoughts. The next generation must be inspired by my life - motivated to dream of GREATER and challenged to action.

There is GREATNESS inside every human being. As you read this ...... STOP!!!! Take a moment to affirm yourself and look deep inside of yourself. YOU ARE GREAT - it's time to live that GREATNESS.

"Somewhere along the line we discover who we really are, and then make our real decisions for which we are responsible. Make that decision primarily for yourself because you can never really live anyone else's life" - Eleanor Roosevelt.

Destined "for life"

Victor Frankl is an internationally renowned psychologist who endured many years of torment in Nazi death camps, and yet survived to excel. His suffering led him to develop an approach to psychotherapy known as logotherapy. The foundation of this approach is the belief that man's search for meaning is his primary motivational force. To quote Frankl, "Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself".

I am constantly amazed at the number of people whom I meet who, in their advanced years, still struggle with finding expression for their real selves. It's almost as if they have never quite found their true identity and the questions of, "Who am I?", "Why am I here?" and "Where am I going?" remain burning questions that pose a challenge to them being able to play their music in the orchestra of life.

Frankl's assertion that success is partly a "by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself" strongly supports the idea of a Higher Power being that "person". After all, is it really possible to surrender to any human being and expect sustainable success to emanate from that surrender?

My personal conviction is that the Bible has an answer. Matthew 6:33 states that we ought to seek first the Kingdom of God and then all these things shall be added to us. Surrender to God will bring success?? In so far as my life purpose goes, what better scripture verse than Jeremiah 29:11 which states, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to PROSPER you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and A FUTURE"!!!!! Destined for life ..............

Destiny is not fate. Destiny is the framework within which we exercise our freedom and without which freedom would be meaningless. I was born a black male in South Africa and I have certain physical characteristics with a certain body type and brain capacity. That is my destiny. I cannot change it. What I do with it is my freedom.