“We are always hungry for more.”
Over the weekend, I celebrated my birthday! It’s been another year around the sun for me, and let me tell you, I’m very grateful for it. 2022 was a year I will never forget. Life threw a few curveballs my way, and it really opened up my eyes (pun intended).
For as long as I can remember, I have always had a hard time being celebrated directly. Birthdays especially have always been hard for me. For those of you who know me, this may seem hard to believe, but attention really makes me feel uncomfortable. Please allow me to explain though.
I have no problem getting attention related to my family, my friends, my business, or my hobbies. I actually really enjoy getting attention when it’s related to others. It’s just when it’s directed at myself that I struggle. So every year when people mention that it’s my birthday or when I’m sitting in front of a birthday cake instead of enjoying the moment or the day, I feel uncomfortable.
This year was different. I enjoyed every moment, and I soaked it all in. I allowed people to celebrate me, and I allowed myself to enjoy it for once. And it was great; it really was. I received tons of messages, which I re-shared publicly. Even the day after my birthday, I kept doing the same.
It’s sad that facing a major health challenge can really help you learn how to live. It has also helped remind me that the amount of time I have left to do what I enjoy is unknown, so I’d better not waste any of it.
For the last nine months or so, I have really made it a point to try and figure out how to make the world a better place every day because that’s what I like to do. Sometimes I feel like I have accomplished it, and sometimes I feel like I haven’t, but I definitely always try.
A part of my daily routine that starts as soon as I get up every morning is praying. I thank God for another day, and I remind myself to be grateful for it. In the last several weeks, I have added to this routine. After I pray sometimes, I actually ask God questions. He hasn’t answered me out loud yet (that would be cool), but he has definitely spoken to my heart several times, and this morning was one of those days.
Today after my morning prayer, I told God that I want to change the world because I really do. I asked him this question… “What do you want me to do to help change the world?” The answer came to me over the next couple of hours and actually ended up becoming my message of the day today.
God spoke to me today through my heart and reminded me that I wasn’t going to be able to change the world by myself. If I wanted to change the world, I was going to have to be myself. As I reflected on this, I thought to myself how true this really is.
Anyone who wants to change the world is definitely going to need some help. They are going to need people to help them, cheer for them, and pray for them. And the best way to attract those people is to just be yourself. Once you tell people you want to change the world and they start helping you, it’s important that the person they were attracted to is the same person they get to know.
Today I reminded myself that I have done a good job at making the world a better place, but I can do more. I am definitely hungry for more. I’m going to need to attract some more people to do so, and the best way to do that is to just be myself. Being myself might not attract as many people as temporarily being someone else would, but it will help me keep the people I do attract.
This is the message I wanted to make sure that all of you understand this week. You are enough! We are enough! If you have a great idea or a great mission and people know about it, you will definitely attract people. You don’t need to be someone you are not. Just be yourself.
Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King Jr. are two examples of people whom I’m sure we would all agree helped change the world. They both attracted many people to join them, and that’s ultimately what helped them change the world even more. I think many people don’t realize that both of them, and even others who have gone on to change the world, did so by being themselves.
They kept being themselves no matter how many people joined them and how popular they became. We still talk about them now, and I’m sure their names will still be spoken 500 years from today.
What about you? Do you want to change the world?
When I ask you this, are you assuming that I mean the whole world? I just want to remind you that changing the world can be as small as impacting your neighborhood, your workplace, or even just your home. We can all change the world, big or small, by just making a positive impact. I know you can do it if you want to, and I know that I want to do it, but I need some help.
My name is John Licari, and I was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 12, 1975. I believe that God put me here to help change the world, and I believe that will happen as long as I don’t change the way God made me to think and be.
I’m gonna need some help though, and I’m very aware of it. I’m gonna need lots of different types of help, including prayer, and I’m gonna need a lot of people. I’m gonna keep being myself, and I’m gonna keep reminding myself that I am enough.
An additional reason why I want to do this, beyond changing the world, is to prove to you that you can do it, too. I’m not sure what your name is or when you were born, but I’m sure that God put you here to change the world. I also know that as long as you become the person God created you to be, you will definitely change the world.
If you have the ability to respond to this message, please let me know your name, when and where you were born, and how you think you’re supposed to change the world because I would love to help you do so!
Today I reminded myself with the help of God that I enjoy helping people and making the world a better place. I am hungrier than ever to do more of it, and I think that if you take some time to reflect on this in your own life, you will be, too.
That means we will both be hungry for more! Can you imagine a world where hundreds or thousands or millions of people wanted to change the world for the better? I can, and the world I am imagining is pretty dang cool.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for doing your part to change the world and make it a better place. May God continue to bless you this week, and please remember to be yourself!
