{"id":470,"date":"2009-02-24T21:18:20","date_gmt":"2009-02-24T21:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/finding-something-bigger-than-yourself\/"},"modified":"2009-02-24T21:18:20","modified_gmt":"2009-02-24T21:18:20","slug":"finding-something-bigger-than-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/finding-something-bigger-than-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Something Bigger Than Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>These days I feel like an alien.&#0160; Could be a good thing considering our culture, our times and my grief.<\/p>\n<p>Mother Teresa and Nelson found something bigger than themselves.&#0160; Both paid a high price, but the mark\/legacy is indisputable.&#0160; They were not people of merely words, but of action.&#0160; I have to believe that God designed them to specifically leave an imprint.&#0160; <\/p>\n<p>I used to think that certain leaders were special.&#0160; Sort of the chosen ones who were given a green light while the masses just looked on.&#0160; I don&#39;t believe that anymore.&#0160; God doesn&#39;t waste DNA on anyone, but we do sometimes get watered down.&#0160; Who we are vanishes in a haze of success and pursuits.&#0160; Ever notice how a poor economy unmasks this act.&#0160; Take away the toys and who we are is on display.&#0160; <\/p>\n<p>I&#39;m rethinking the meaning behind economic downturn.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe all of the messages about uncertainty are true.&#0160; Maybe this is the best place we could ever hope to be in.&#0160; No more dependence on government (liberal or conservative), no more hope in Wall Street, no more turning away, just asking questions that are personal.&#0160; Questions like the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mother Teresa said that Calcuttas are everywhere.&#0160; If that&#39;s true then where&#39;s your Calcutta?<\/li>\n<li>If death is certain, then how do you cheat the grave?&#0160; Here&#39;s a hint: Do what my dad did, poor yourself into someone (<strong>me<\/strong>) without them knowing it.<\/li>\n<li>Have you found something that leaves you totally vulnerable?&#0160; Could be a person, vision, movement or organization.<\/li>\n<li>What are you afraid of?&#0160; This answer will reveal your greatest threat.<\/li>\n<li>Will anyone be the better for your contribution\/participation.<\/li>\n<li>Have you given up serving by proxy.<\/li>\n<li>Has your heart been broken?&#0160; This could the place to find your greatest imprint.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These days I feel like an alien.&#0160; Could be a good thing considering our culture, our times and my grief. Mother Teresa and Nelson found something bigger than themselves.&#0160; Both paid a high price, but the mark\/legacy is indisputable.&#0160; They were not people of merely words, but of action.&#0160; I have to believe that God&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,6,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leadership-development","category-learning","category-life-perspectives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}