Do what you’re called to do
- Kyle Snyder: Live on Purpose
- January 26, 2022
- 770
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” —Zig Ziglar
It seems like there is a test for everything under the sun now — a test for this and a test for that.
Many of them are very good. They can tell us what illness we have and the best course of treatment to take, if need be. They also can tell us what to look out for down the pike. If a medical test reveals we have a risk of developing heart disease later on in life, we might change our diet, walk more, take up running or biking, among other activities, in order to cut down our chances of actually getting heart disease.
In the counseling course I took in college, they talked about personality tests — tests that help people see what they are good at and what might be a good fit for them. I have to say I was against the idea of personality tests because I know people who had gotten bad results when they took one and their whole personality changed based on what the results said. Now that I look back, I can see how such a test can be helpful to people who don’t have a clue what they want out of life. However, we need to keep in mind the results are to guide us, not change us.
We all have something in life we are not just good at, but great at. When we don’t use it, we would be robbing the world of a great gift we can help other people with. Look at music, how much it is a part of our lives and how it can capture our imagination. No matter what mood we are in, music can help lift us up. It helps our emotional well-being by making us happy when we feel sad. I think if someone has the gift of music, they are privileged to share it with the world.
I have done some reflection on my column over the past few years, about how I want to move forward. Many of my readers know I am a Christian. I have heard pastors get on the case of television pastors for watering down what the Bible says. Some Christians would say we don’t need more motivational speakers, but people who stand on the word of God.
I would feel bad every time I heard that because I felt like I wasn’t doing my part. However, I am learning I am on another journey, not as a pastor, but to encourage the discouraged, whether they normally go to church or not. I just try to use the principles I find in the Bible to encourage people of all walks of life.
God can use me more as someone who motivates people than he can as a pastor. Why? Because I am doing what he called me to do. Now what about you? Some if us know what we are good at, but we just don’t do it for any number of reasons: There is no money in it. I don’t have the right education. I have too many irons in the fire.
Well, take a few irons out of the fire.
We will never kill anyone by saying no to something we don’t have time for. We are not so special that we have to have everything riding on us. If we don’t do something, others will. Not having enough time is a great excuse at times because we will change our schedule for something we really want, but not to do what we are called to do.
What if we do know but are too afraid to step out? A valuable tool I use is YouTube. There seem to be videos on everything. We can hear people explain how to do what we want, watch it being done or have each step spelled out for us. We can have the right education in whatever we want if we just take the time to study on our own.
Did you know a study found if we drive 12,000 miles a year and listen to educational material of our choosing, then in three years we will have the equivalent of two years of college? We can get the education we need.
Everyone gets afraid in life, but baby steps are the keys to succeed. If we do one little thing to help boost our confidence and keep doing it until we feel like we can take the next step, we will see we can step forward little by little every day. We all have gifts the world needs. Know what your gifts are.