Desire

"There is a desire within each of us, in the deep center of ourselves that we call our heart.  We were born with it, it is never completely satisfied, and it never dies...Our true identity, our reason for being, is to be found in this desire."

-Gerald May

"What is your desire?"  I ask almost all my clients this question in some form or another.  "What are you passionate about?  If I waved a magic wand and the world was suddenly as you want it to be, what would it look like?"  9 times out of 10 the answer is, "I don't know." or some variation of "a job, a house."  This surprised me at first but over the years I have come to expect it although it still makes me sad.  It's not that a job and a home are bad things.  They are the basis of our lives.  But I have never seen someone say it with a sparkle in their eye or energy that leaps off the chair at me.

The answer to this question might be the source of the famous quote, "Most men live lives of quiet desperation."  Somewhere along the line we have lost our desires.  Or worse yet, we think they get us in trouble.  Christianity has often been guilty of this.  When someone is devastated with a loss, someone is always readily available to point out that they may have wanted it too much. When we took a risk and lost, the answer seems to be a problem with our desire.  If we could just act like it wasn't really there, ignore it, push it down, we might be able to be free of the haunting voice.   Often we manage to drown out our desires with an obsession to be thin, a desire to see the next movie, in a martini, or pursuing the next romance.  They are certainly strong desires at the time, but they are not the stuff at our core.  In fact, the problem is not desire; it is disowned desire that gets us into trouble.

"Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists.  A baby feels hunger: well there is such a thing as food.  A duckling wants to swim: well there is such a thing as water.  Men feel sexual desire: well there is such a thing as sex."

-CS Lewis

Ask any child what they want to be when they grow up and you will get profound responses: an astronaut, a mom, a fireman, rock star.  We all have in us an innate desire to make a difference.  I have NEVER heard a child say they wanted to work a 9-5 job in which someone else decides how much they will make and what they will do.  Today I am working from home. I am wearing my most comfortable clothes and my precious dog is sitting at my feet waiting for me to take a break and play with him.  I am writing something that has potential to be read by millions and make an impact.  In moments like this, I feel my calling.

God's purpose for our lives is abundance.  That doesn't mean we are all filthy rich, although I think wealth is far more available than most of us were raised to believe, but it means that as we draw close to the core desire we have, that "God sized hole," we are promised our desires fulfilled (Ps. 37:4).

Here's the point...we are not meant to live lives of quiet desperation.  As I think back on previous posts I notice that this is a particular passion of mine.  I don't write on this topic because I "should."  I write because I'm compelled to.  I write because I refuse to come to the end of my life and feel regret about the project I didn't quite have the courage to try.  So what's yours?  Take a moment to think about it and tell us in the comments section.  We will be cheering you on!