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Howard Thurman
said, "Don't worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you
come alive and do that. Because what the world needs are people who have
come alive." Are you doing
things that don't make you come alive? You may be thinking you must do
what you're doing even when it is deadening your soul. Who are you going
to help with a dead soul? Oh yes, I have
done things that deadened me to the bone. Sometimes you do it to get
through school or to run in place until "come alive"
work can be found. Sometimes you do it because you really don't know how
well you will like it and it is more of an experiment. No matter why we
do work that doesn't make us come alive, all the time we are doing it we
need to be tuning into our own soul to see what it really wants to do.
We need to be putting on our parachute to be ready to jump into
"come alive" territory. Every time an
election nears, there are those who urge me to run again. Few people
have a natural feel for politics and I do. They know it and I know it. I
also love people and actually love campaigning. I appreciate the
confidence of those who push me to run but right now politics is not my
chosen work. When I ran in '78
it was. I was aflame with desire to work for the progress of my
hometown. It was a powerful passion. I did it with great zest, literally
pouring myself into it. Some may believe all politicians desire
nothing but to feather their own nest but I am telling you my one and
only desire was to get some things done for my people. I told the Lord,
"You help me get elected and I will go at it with all my heart,
soul, mind and strength. I will be honest with the people's business and
will tell them the truth." I kept all those promises and have never
had a cleaner, deeper satisfaction than the day I left office. Yet, there were
aspects of that work that took a heavy toll on me. I burned out. I knew
I needed to do things that I was not burned out on so I returned to
writing and recording my music, writing columns for the local paper and
IPS Features. Music and writing have been two consistent loves of mine
from my youth. I decided to spend some of my life exclusively writing
and performing. Some disparage my
choice. They seem to think politics is important work and writing and
performing are not so important. I differ. Nothing is more important
than writing and music. I came alive in
1994 when I chose this work and if Thurman is right and the world needs
people who have come alive, then give me a call to perform for your
group. Maybe my bank
account will come alive enough for me to finish a book of my
favorite columns. If it doesn't, I will probably do it anyway! Dalton's website
is www.DaltonRoberts.com
and his writings are gathered at www.ipsfeatures.com.
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