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Making your life count forever |
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Published Sunday, March 23, 2008
KINGSTON, Jamaica
By O. Stephen Peart
"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing."
— Benjamin Franklin, 1738 O. Stephen Peart
As I learn, to be.
In service to my fellow man;
For each day given, is for eternity.
– O. Stephen Peart
Are you just here to live day to day and strife to be rich or is there a deeper meaning to life? If you are thinking or waiting for another life changer to come, start looking within, for it takes only one person to make a difference and that difference is you.
We are all uniquely and wonderfully made. If you were to travel the world to find someone exactly like you that search will come up fruitless. However, there is one thing that is constant for all and that is the ability to make your life count forever. That ability is within you; the result is how you use that God given ability to fulfill your destiny. It doesn't matter where you are from, what matters in Whom you believe and recognizing who you are in Him.
We all face many obstacles and challenges that might deter us from achieving real meaning in our lives. However, staying the course and acknowledging God in all our ways, He will absolutely direct your path. This truth was evident in the lives of some ordinary people who recognized a need and stepped outside their own comfort zones and made their lives count forever. Let`s look at some ordinary people that did extraordinary things.
Mother Theresa
August 26, 1910 - September 5, 1997
Standing at about 5 feet, Mother Theresa had a heart that expanded across the world. For over forty years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries. This little woman was tall in her exploits to making a difference in her world.
All her achievements were driven by her own philosophies, as she so eloquently states them, "I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness". "Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies". "Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person". "God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try". Making your life count starts with faithfulness.
Mahatma Gandhi
October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to have control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away" (Mahatma Gandhi [Last Phase, Vol. II (1958), P. 65]).
Gandhi was a simple man, who throughout the course of his life searched for simple truths and in his pursue did simple things that resulted in extraordinary impact. "There is an indefinable mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it. It is this unseen power that makes itself felt and yet defies proof, because it is so unlike all that I perceive through out the existence of God to a limited extent" (YI, II-10-28, 340).
"I am but a poor struggling soul yearning to be wholly good-wholly truthful and wholly non-violent in thought, word and deed; but ever failing to reach the ideal which I know to be true. It is a painful climb, but the pain of it is a positive pleasure to me. Each step upward makes me feel stronger and fit for the next" (YI, 9-4-25, I26). Making your life count is built on truth.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
July 18, 1918 –
Spending 27 years of his life in prison, Nelson Mandela did not allow the physical boundaries to bind his passion to be an extraordinary human being. His message was clear, "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others". Mandela epitomized his words.
He unselfishly worked for the good of others, by doing, giving and living, "And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same", he said. So if you haven't gotten it yet, Mandela asks this question, "Does anybody really think that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?" Making your life count has no boundaries.
Albert Benjamin Simpson
December 15th, 1843 – October 29, 1919
"People must always dream dreams before they blaze new trails and see visions before they are strong to do exploits."
Simpson, a Canadian, was a successful clergy man. However, following a firm refusal by his board to accept 100 Italian immigrants to become members in his church, Simpson founded the Christian and Missionary Alliance where everyone was welcome, regardless of race, income, denomination, or social class. Making your life count does not have to be popular.
Martin Luther King Jnr
January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968
Do you really want to make your life count? Dr. King inspired a nation to be a part of a dream to be great. His message transcends colour, culture and creed. His message was a message that everyone can be great for all it takes to be great is to serve and everyone can serve.
"If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.
And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, (Everybody) because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant".
Excerpted from Dr. Martin Luther King`s speech,
The Drum Major Instinct - February 4, 1968
To make your life count is in serving. TEU
O. Stephen Peart is an entrepreneur and author of Released Expressions – The Journey Begins. He is an avid writer of music and poetry.
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