"Do What Makes You Come Alive!"

I was reading a book years ago and the author said that a man by the name of Gil Bailie was told by his mentor: "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

It saddens me to hear that people think that they can't work and do what they love. Maybe you don't love your job or your career but that doesn't mean you can't go do things that make you come alive! This could be starting a new business, helping a single mom, volunteering at a homeless shelter, metal detecting with your kids, starting that new book you've always wanted to write, going camping with your grandkids, driving up to that old cabin that's been in your family for generations, etc.. It could be any number of things.

When my kids were young, I remember one time getting my work done early in the morning and deciding to take my boys and our dog "Bella" to the park for a picnic. There was a particular park that has tons of desert behind it so we could let our dog off leash. My older son decided to bring his metal detector to go look for "treasures" in the desert. Now, if you knew our dog, she loved to hunt. It's the one thing that made her "come alive". I was told by various dog trainers that you can't train this out of a dog, they either like to hunt or they don't. Bella (in particular) loved to flush out bunnies and lizards from bushes and boy were there plenty out there to chase!

In order to find out what makes you "come alive", you need to know who you are. Are you an outdoors type of person, a read a book in bed type of person or are you a thrill-seeking type of person?

Going back to Bella, we could never understand why she hated water but loved to hunt so much and she was fast. When she was chasing something, she ran at a whole other speed. When Bella was about three years old, my youngest son had yet another science fair at school that he had to do. Boooo!! Being good parents, my husband and I decided to buy our way out of the science fair by purchasing a dog DNA kit on Amazon and getting Bella's DNA tested. We wanted to find out what kind of dog she was because she was so unique; we couldn't tell. The best the animal shelter could tell us was that she was a Chinese Sharpei/Labrador. Well, don't Labradors love water? Our dog hated water. She wouldn't even go outside when it rained. It didn't make sense.

We tested Bella's DNA and found out that she was five different breeds: A Boxer, a Chinese Sharpei, a Chow Chow, a German Shepherd and a Whippet. This completely explained this dog to us! Whippets are some of the fastest accelerating dogs on earth. They can run 35 miles per hour and they can even top Greyhounds in some situations due to their acceleration!

We are ALL unique (like Bella was) and the world needs our contribution. The world needs our passion to solve problems and to get things done. Have you ever been around someone who is SO passionate about what they do, that you want to get in on it? I have and it's inspiring to watch. I have so many friends that are world changers! Some are church planters, missionaries, volunteers, foster parents, teachers, professors, small business owners, stay at home moms, homeschool moms, bloggers, writers, you name it! These people have decided that they aren't going to settle for a boring mundane life, they are going to get out there and make a difference. There is nothing more satisfying than to live out your purpose and come alive!! There is more to life than just paying your bills and a mortgage.

Many years ago, I remember attending a new church. I wanted to get plugged in as soon as possible so I found a group of people that were bringing a church service to a local boys' detention center. These boys ranged in age from 12 years old to 17 years old and it was a maximum security facility. To say I was uncomfortable was an understatement but I wanted to go. I was asked to sing three songs and then pray with some of the boys there. It was an incredible experience. I felt so much empathy for these boys and I grieved for their mothers who must have been completely devastated that their child was imprisoned at such a young age. It broke my heart. Some of the boys had committed serious crimes and yet intellectually, they were children. I volunteered a few more times until the detention center was closed. It was an experience that helped me come alive and see that one person could make a difference and trust me, they blessed me more than I blessed them. I still remember some of those boys (after I sang) telling me that I should try out for American Idol. I told them I was 32 years young at the time but too old, Idol wouldn't take me. But wouldn't you know it, another show years later would come on the air called "The Voice" that didn't care about your age. I remembered those boys and I ended up trying out for Season 2 of "The Voice" out in Irvine, CA. Nothing came of it but the fact that I went and tried out made me come alive!!

DeeAnn Bennett is the President of Ark Payment Solutions. She can be reached at info@arkpaymentsolutions.com.