WingIt - How has your life prepared you for what's to come post RV?

by **Ssmith** Tue May 24, 2016 7:07 pm

Amarok

Veteran Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 34
Date: 3h ago

How has your life prepared you for what's to come post RV?

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I wanted to do this for myself and thought I'd share with you folks. We are the sum of our experiences. Have yours uniquely prepared you for this gift? Here's mine.

How is it that I became privy to such a secret; that a few pieces of worthless foreign currency would soon enable me to follow a deeply felt calling and change the lives of millions? Why me?
My life, like most others has presented me with ample opportunities for personal growth. One of the greatest catalysts of personal growth I know is adversity. I’ve chosen to see moments of great strife in my life as preparation for helping others going through the same challenges. Like growing up without a father figure in the 60s, and having deep respect for all my Mother’s sacrifices and successes raising three kids alone. I grew up alone, but with the support of a strong, connected extended family. I attended four high schools, and two universities, and in my final year of college was humbled as I accepted the generosity of a friend for my meals, and slept on the floor in his dorm room.
I found my life’s purpose serving rural communities in West Africa with the Peace Corps for nearly four years. No matter how hard I perceived my life had been, I’d been rich by comparison to those I now served. Isn’t it true that we learn most about ourselves when we are confronted by such contrast? I learned to love the diversity of cultures, but quickly realized the real goal of “development” is to change cultural perceptions that encumber meaningful change. There, I learned the most important lesson of my life, that the only limitations any of us truly face are self-imposed. Create a vision of an outcome you desire, determine the incremental steps or actions that will lead to that outcome, and begin… step by step. There will be hurdles along the way, but the outcome is inevitable.
Since leaving the Peace Corps I haven’t worked as an employee, relying totally on myself over a 28 year path as an independent contractor in direct sales. One can’t live in a bubble when dealing so closely with the public, and I learned that there are as many perspectives as there are folks to talk to. I also learned to adapt, to listen to what folks actually say, to learn from conversations, and that I best communicate benefits once I understand a person’s “why”.
As a Search and Rescue volunteer I learned how an integrated community of talented people in common cause can save lives. By representing my homeowners association on its Board of Directors I learned how to work effectively within the politics of self-interest while protecting the rights of those I represent. Four years ago I helped create a nonprofit dedicated in service to youth, which last year served more than 3500 meals in a free after school program. As its Executive Director I came to understand that our world is full of individuals that want to help those in need, and experienced firsthand how hard these wonderful people had to work simply to generate enough funding to exist, let alone flourish. And it was never enough. While filling out a United Way grant application I was confronted with the fact that my volunteers had spent thousands of hours in fundraising, that could have been better spent on the youth we came together to serve. And anchored in my career for the last 20 years I have lamented my unrealized potential as a force for good in the world. It was I think the perfect storm of intent vs circumstance, of creation.

Long before the rumblings of a GCR I chose to believe the paths I’ve walked and hardships I’ve overcome were in preparation for helping others in similar straits. Esther Hicks channels Abraham, and describes the Universal Law of Attraction, where you attract into your experience that which you focus most on. I believe I came to this globally historic event because the next stage of my life experience is to empower benevolence, and erase the financial limitations imposed on great causes. From one moment to the next at the exchange center my life and that of my family will suddenly shift to a new paradigm. The experiences that have shaped me are guideposts I’ll reference as I focus on creating great outcomes for kids, the hungry, the homeless, the hopeless, and… well, who knows. For the first time in my history there will be no limits.