Thoughts Of A 52 Year Old On The Way To Becoming Alive

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. ---Theodore Roosevelt

Knowing what makes you come alive isn’t a one stop process like buying a burger. It’s a series of stops, starts and turns with some dead-ends tossed in. Speaking of tossing it may even resemble a salad more than a burger; a combination of different items that fit together as one. The search will be incredibly rewarding. The search will be demoralizing as well because fully coming alive isn’t an earthly possibility.

I’m fifty two years old and still searching. Wonderfully I know much more now about what makes me come alive. Part of me feels I should have it down pat by now. Yet the list of artists and inventors that had ‘epic fails’ before massive success includes: Henry Ford, Soichiro Honda, Harland David Sanders, Winston Churchill, Oprah Winfrey and many others. There is significant comfort to be had in that. There is great delight in the pursuit and perseverance of a life alive.

One pictures Jacob wrestling with God until he was blessed. The narrative states that Jacob’s thigh was dislocated by God. Perhaps our search for coming alive through our gifts, talents and convictions requires a wrestling with who God is knowing that we may be bruised (or worse) in the process. At the end Jacob was blessed and so we shall be as well.