Its not about you. Its not bout your own personal fulfillment, your goals or your achievements. Nor is it about the title that comes after your name, the big corner office you sit in or the big shiny car you drove to that office.
American historian Christopher Lasch calls it the "culture of narcissism" a society of total self absorption where people have retreated to personal preoccupations. Its a world of "self actualization", zen, and of too much getting in touch with feelings, eating healthy foods, working out and reading self-help books.
Too often we crave to be admired more than to be loved making us increasingly impoverished when it comes to intimate, close relationships. Many of us who are busy and overworked complain incessantly, but it is often with an undertone of boastfulness with the hidden message that I'm so busy because I'm so important. Coupled with the fact that in today's society there is a growing determination to "live for the moment" and an attitude of instant gratification, its no wonder that an estimated 19 million North Americans suffer from depression.
Despite the self help manuals, the diets and the exercise they are not happy with their situation, they lack fulfillment, they are alone. This is also apparent in the dissolution of families and a lack of community and authentic intimacy. There is in all of us a void nothing else can fill. A need for human relationships, for community, a need to connect with others. This need for community and deep connectedness with other people has no substitute. Not money, not achievement, not busyness and not self. That void that is in all of us can only be filled with one thing, LOVE. Because its not about you . . . Its about LOVE!
In 2002 I fell ill and was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), a poorly understood variably debilitating disorder of uncertain cause/causes. CFS often manifests itself with widespread myalgia, cognitive difficulties, chronic mental and physical exhaustion, often severe, and other characteristic symptoms in a previously healthy and active person. There is no known cure for CFS and only 5 - 10% of all cases are ever fully resolved.
With time I came to consider my illness a great blessing and a phenomenal opportunity. My struggle with CFS has bestowed upon me a passion and fascination for all things that have to do with overcoming and triumphing in the face of challenges. Ordinary Miracles is about showcasing that passion through real-life inspirational stories, a positive, can-do attitude and the application of life-changing concepts such as Emotional Quotient (EQ) and Relational Intelligence(RI). For me having to "play injured" has become a privilege, the benefits of which vastly outweigh any downside brought on by my illness.
Its my hope and prayer that Ordinary Miracles inspires not only you to do great things but for you to be an inspiration to others to achieve greatness.
The surest way to happiness is to lose yourself in a cause greater than yourself.
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