Burning Desire

The other night I was meeting with a group of guys at the local Department of Corrections work release center and a bit of hard truth jumped up and bit me – changing one’s life is impossible without burning desire. Impossible.

In some ways, the convict serving time after a life of crime is not much different than the business professional who doesn’t really like his job, doesn’t really like his wife, doesn’t really like taking care of his kids, and doesn’t really like himself. They both gave up on life and gave up on any burning desire to live free and follow their purpose long ago. And both are enslaved to the desperation of desperate ego.

I found my burning desire to live free when I began to play the guitar after a restless evening that capped almost three weeks of insomnia. Even though my fingers were sore as I tried to play the simplest of chords and my singing was horrendous, something sparked inside of me and that spark eventually grew into a flame. That flame grew into the fire that saved my life.

You need a flame to change, but you can start the journey with even the dimmest ember of hope. Try to turn off the TV, radio, computer and all the other shiny things of your life, and focus deep within yourself. Try to discover something that will spark the purpose that you were created to fulfill – take a hike, write a poem, call an old friend, go on a date with your wife. Whatever it takes, deliver your soul to the wilderness and don’t come back until you’ve built a big old bonfire of purpose and lit that sucker.