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The alarm clock sounds. You roll over and hit the snooze button. Most begrudgingly your brain begins to come to that point between sleep and awake. By the time the snooze goes off again, you have awoken to the thoughts of another billion things on your to do list. Between work, school, chores, family, friends, and the rest of life, you plug away, hardly able to remember the last time you actually felt like you accomplished something. Then you get that twitter update from RevMedia, tell you about what projects the are working on with philan - however you spell that word - art. If it's not bad enough, they also challenge you to do something yourself. Yeah. Right. Not even Stephen Covey's 7 Habits will help you sort through life enough to get to that point.It may seem like the above is a good description of your life. But to be completely honest, I wasn't imagining a bunch of random scenario's from your life. Truth be told, I was describing the circumstances of my own.
Wait. Aren't I, like, the head of RevMedia?
Actually...Yeah.
The last 6 weeks has found me w.a.y. in over my head. Pick any area of life and you will find it a really interesting place. My family is moving. My friends are starting relationships. My business [finally] is growing. My ministry gaining momentum. My health declining. My projects - while rewarding - are demanding. A littler of puppies and a family accident completes it all.
This to say, my time has been spent in and out of touching all those areas, and at the same time, I feel like I've touched none at all.
This is a pretty tough place to be for someone who wants to be a World Changer. In fact, life during these times seem more like a complex survival season of Lost than they do of impacting the world.
At this place, when you try, and try, and try to clear away the lists, to make time and room for "changing the world", it's a good time to re-center on something.
A World Changer is someone who has been made aware of their affecting power and consciously taken up the identity of an "influencer" in the world around them.
World Changing may at some point in time involve breaking out fellow believers in restricted countries, but in all honestly, the life of a disciplined World Changer is consistent. It is continuous. It starts where you are and it builds from there.
World Changing is simply the acknowledgment that you are an influencer - today, right now - and a commitment to influence your world for the good.
On one hand, this gives us all an incredible freedom - not to pine away for opportunities or abilities that may never come our way - rather to embrace a passionate, visionary lifestyle even as it involves doing dishes, packing boxes, taking portraits, or making plans. This idea gives hope to our desire of making our life count - even as we work at a hospital, study chemistry, or plan a wedding For in a these situations, we influence dozens, if not hundreds of people. What kind of World Changing are we attempting there?
The challenge is not entering a new World Changers lifestyle, but submitting it unto the life you are leading right now.
At some point, you may have been able to point a finger at me and accuse "that's easy for you to say". But today, as I lay aside my philanthropic projects to take care of my injured mom, and plan a photography class for ladies, it's not easy to say. It's not easy for me to say as I lay aside my desire for traveling this year in exchange for building roots in my business and ministry administration.
Attempts at World Changing are never easy - no matter where you are. It sounds more glamorous and impressive to say our World Changing took place in Africa as opposed to a conversation over dishwashing; but there is equal merit, reward, and responsibility in both. World Changers tale these moments and attempt to influence as best they can.
So here's the challenge: Influence someone today.
Make an attempt at World Changing.
We can try it together.
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I love you. Thank you for your perspective.