The Thing That Burns Inside You Is the Thing You Were Meant to Do

There must be a million blogs and videos about how to find your purpose, as if a life with no divine purpose isn’t worth having. Do we all need to have some great thing to accomplish in order to be fulfilled? I could be wrong, but I think not. I think most people are ordinary and that it is all they were ever intended to be, but we each have a gift and our own kind of extraordinary that may have nothing to do with changing the world or inspiring greatness in others. I haven’t taken a survey on this, but I suspect most people just live and never feel the need to do more. I’m here to say there is nothing wrong with that, and I do believe that if somehow you were meant to do more, you would know it deep inside you long before you ever discovered what it was.

I guess it was just over 20 years ago that I came to the realization that I was not put on this earth to live my life in mediocrity. My journey has been a rather interesting one during which time I have learned many things about myself, yet for many years, I wondered how things would unfold for me. What would “my outstanding” be? I knew that the role of teacher would remain alive and well inside me and that I had the ability to see things on a much deeper level than they appeared to others. I knew that I always wanted to help people to be the best they could be. I knew that I possessed a certain wisdom that others did not. I knew that I had a way about me that made people feel very at ease and that I could easily gain the trust of anyone I met. People tell me all sorts of things all the time. Even complete strangers confide in me. Yes, I felt the fire smouldering inside me for a long time.

Circumstances in my life took a turn that necessitated my moving to a town where I knew no one. So here I am. Just me and my adult son who lives with a mild form of autism. As I made my way about the town, I noticed an unusually high rate of obesity and morbid obesity among people of all ages. I go to the gym five days a week, so I have a certain passion for fitness, but even more than that, I have a passion for helping people be the best they can be. That’s the teacher in me, I guess. As I looked around, it occurred to me that Chatham, Ontario is filled with people who have given up on themselves and they are passing that mentality on to their children.

Studies show that between the ages of 25 and 44 men and women gain 3.4% and 5.2% each year, respectively. In other words, if you weigh 160 lbs, a man would gain about 5 lbs and a woman about 8 lbs, but the additional weight gain causes a snowball effect, so over time, you will gain more each year. I remember reading somewhere a number of years ago that the average person over the age of 30 gains about 5 lbs per year if they don’t over eat or exercise. If either of these studies are true, then you can imagine the effect of not caring about your weight and your health over a span of 20 years. If you gain 5 lbs per year, it is only half a size each year, but over ten years, you will have packed on 50 pounds and gone up five more sizes. If you are 50 pounds overweight at 30, then you will be 100 pounds overweight at 40 and 150 pounds overweight at 50. Continuing on that trajectory means you will likely be dead before you turn 55.

It didn’t take me long to decide to make it my mission to bring health and wellness to the municipality of Chatham-Kent. This mission burns inside me and I feel compelled to keep it going no matter what. Most people wouldn't care how others live and normally, I wouldn't either, but I am here in Chatham and I feel like this is something I need to do. 

The owner of the gym I go to told me that he wanted to include life coaching as one of the services he offers to his members, so I told him that I would get my certification. At the end of this month I will be a certified life coach and executive coach. In fact, I am now in the process of developing a six-week program that will show people how to overcome their inner obstacles to success. My belief is that once you heal the relationship between your inner and outer self, you will be able to successfully manage any change in your life and achieve anything you want to achieve, from weight loss to business success. The most important relationship in your life is the one with yourself, after all. Nothing else will work very well if you can’t love and be kind to yourself. I have learned how to do this and now I want to show others.

In the coming weeks, I’ll tell you more about my course and my mission to bring health and wellness to my new community.

Check out this short video about my mission!