{"id":273,"date":"2012-09-13T17:44:15","date_gmt":"2012-09-13T17:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onfire\/?p=273"},"modified":"2012-09-13T17:47:44","modified_gmt":"2012-09-13T17:47:44","slug":"but-i-dont-fit-anywhere-i-hate-to-tell-you-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onfire\/2012\/09\/13\/but-i-dont-fit-anywhere-i-hate-to-tell-you-this\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBut I don\u2019t fit anywhere!\u201d (I hate to tell you this\u2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onfire\/files\/2012\/09\/468502417_7b9356e195FlyingSinger@flickr.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-274\" title=\"468502417_7b9356e195FlyingSinger@flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/332\/2012\/09\/468502417_7b9356e195FlyingSinger@flickr-300x223.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"223\" \/><\/a>Perhaps you thought when you grew up you\u2019d inherit your father\u2019s business. Carrying on the family legacy would be your contribution to bettering the world. But it didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you planned to be a wife and mom with a bunch of kids and you would fulfill your purpose by having a wonderful family. It didn\u2019t materialize. Or the family broke apart.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps you grew up in church and you always saw yourself as one who would love God and people by serving in a church. But the place of worship you attend has a stellar staff who have it all under control. The job they\u2019ve offered you is a rotational communion server on the balcony left-hand side for the third Sunday of the second quarter. You feel left out of God\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you\u2019ve tried and tried to find a non-profit organization or some type of helpful endeavor to be a part of, but nothing seems to stick.\u00a0 You don\u2019t fit.<\/p>\n<p>I hate to tell you this:<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Fit.<\/p>\n<p>The reason you don\u2019t fit is because the world has changed and is changing\u2014at break neck speed.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The previous forms of work, types of companies, products made and sold are vastly different than even ten years ago.<\/li>\n<li>Families are under great stress. The institution is morphing.<\/li>\n<li>Churches are often large entities that offer nurture but not necessarily involvement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Plus, as we are currently witnessing,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A video created and produced by an individual on one side of the globe can incite bloody violence on the other side. The biggest change afoot is this: <em>We are one planet now<\/em>. Over 200 countries make up an extremely diverse community struggling to live together on this planet\u2014the world God created and loves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>So does this mean we can all go home now and hide out until the end comes?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>No.\u00a0 Rapid change requires all of us to:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Know what our talents are, embrace the cause we are called to, and get in the game. The new game.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>God has shaped you for something\u2014the parts of you that are healthy and strong mixed with the parts that are neurotic and weak. You have a role to fill in God\u2019s big game of loving and healing people everywhere. If you will open your mind and heart, He will show you ways to get involved.<\/p>\n<p>Pursuing your purpose may look very different than it did in the past. Now the playing field is the whole world. The tools are everything from hammer and nails to iPhones and facebook.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.\u00a0 What do you do?<\/strong> (teach, build, design, write, feed, dance, organize, code, consult)<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.\u00a0 Who is your target audience?<\/strong> (children, your neighbors, immigrants, the military, the rich, the poor, random readers on the world wide web, prisoners, the Chinese)<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.\u00a0 What is broken in the world that you can work on fixing or improving?<\/strong> (a specific type of ignorance, prejudice, poverty, hunger, loneliness, slavery, homelessness, unemployment)<\/p>\n<p>Do what is timeless: Pray. Seek out a Godly mentor. Go to church. Read scripture. Listen for the voice of God in your heart. Set a broad goal: \u201cMy purpose is to help\u2026\u201d Find a partner(s).<\/p>\n<p>Also: Think creatively. What\u2019s not been done before\u2014but needs to be done now? What tool or skill do you have in your possession you can use?<\/p>\n<p><strong>We must get engaged in the world\u2014not as it used to be, or as we wish it would be\u2014but as it is.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You belong on the planet. You were created to live <em>now<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>photo credit: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/flyingsinger\/468502417\/sizes\/m\/\">FlyingSinger <\/a>(creative commons)<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>Dear Reader: this is a new Beliefnet blog. I need your help to make it a success. Would you subscribe (see bar above on the right) plus share this post with a friend who may enjoy it? Also, I appreciate your comments.\u00a0 Thank you,<\/p>\n<p><em>Gloria Rose<\/em><em>, Life Coach<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"mailto:Gloria@gloriarose.com\">Gloria@gloriarose.com<\/a><\/em><em><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>@gloriabethrose<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Perhaps you thought when you grew up you\u2019d inherit your father\u2019s business. Carrying on the family legacy would be your contribution to bettering the world. But it didn\u2019t happen. Maybe you planned to be a wife and mom with a bunch of kids and you would fulfill your purpose by having a wonderful family. It&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":493,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,15,14],"tags":[163,160,164,162,165,59,161],"class_list":["post-273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-calling","category-conflict-obstacles","category-creativity","tag-change","tag-fit","tag-get-in-the-game","tag-globe","tag-one-planet","tag-purpose","tag-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u201cBut I don\u2019t fit anywhere!\u201d (I hate to tell you this\u2026)  - On Fire: Finding Your Gift And Using It<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onfire\/2012\/09\/13\/but-i-dont-fit-anywhere-i-hate-to-tell-you-this\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cBut I don\u2019t fit anywhere!\u201d (I hate to tell you this\u2026)  - On Fire: Finding Your Gift And Using It\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Perhaps you thought when you grew up you\u2019d inherit your father\u2019s business. 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