Come Alive

Howard Thurman is quoted as saying: “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.” Howard Thurman was a theologian, author, philosopher, educator and civil rights leader who influenced many people with his faith and wisdom. He is frequently quoted and I will include one more here. “There is something in everyone of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.”

I have found that it is hard for us to listen to ourselves, especially when we are feeling stressed with worries about the past or the future. It is like we only hear other voices and not our own. I wonder if this listening for the sound of the genuine in ourselves is like listening with our hearts [intuition?]in order to be able to hear what makes us come alive. I also believe that all of us are capable of listening and acting on what is genuine [essential?] for us.

I hope that we all make a committment to listen to the genuine in ourselves and support others to do the same.