I did read a fascinating and quite inspirational book on my Cancun vacation, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.
Greg was a world class mountain climber until he failed to summit K7 in 1993. Barely surviving the aftermath of that climb, he ended up in a tiny Pakistani village when he got lost on his way out. The people were amazingly generous and cared well for him in spite of the fact they had almost nothing themselves.
Greg spent some time with the villagers and slowly realized that this “mistake” in his navigating had brought him to his own destiny. He promised the people he would return and build a school for both the boys AND the girls of that small village.
Having no background in fund raising, Greg first wrote letters to hundreds of American celebrities asking for assistance. He received only one small check from Tom Brokaw. He then started talking to all the ordinary people he knew, especially those involved in the climbing community, and in this way found his first major donor.
From very small beginnings, he slowly built the Central Asia Institute to advance his personal mission: to promote peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan through good works and education, offering the people hope instead of more armed conflict.
Greg’s journey is one amazing example of how we might all search to find our destiny, the reason why we are here. But I wonder how many of us miss it when it unexpectedly pops up in our life. Sometimes the worst or most life threatening experience may be just the catalyst we need to show us our path.
Listen to your own failures, those times when the answers don’t come easily. Those are the times when true soul searching occurs. In those times when we feel there is truly nothing left to lose, we are most likely to find ourselves and our own reason for being.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This was already on my must read list…thanks for the nudge.
Yes
I have found that my “failures” (in my thinking) have been my platform for growth and have found that it is a path to finding your life purpose. I had a spiritual experience many years ago which led me to creating a free workbook that has helped numerous people transform their lives. It leads people through a process of identifying, releasing and transforming limiting thoughts… which then helps people transform their lives and realize their lives’ purpose.
Kerri
http://www.healingcenter.com
I like to think of it as my destiny finding me, rather than me finding it, since it’s likely to look much different from what I think it will.
The challenge is getting out of the way so our destiny can make itself known to us. It often takes a crisis or life-threatening event for that to happen. (In spiritual terms, that’s part of what “surrender” is about.) As a Katrina survivor, I am intimately acquainted with the gifts catastrophe has for us, if we’re open to them.
And thanks for the heads-up on this book. I’ve just added it to my next online book order.