Written by: David Lutes, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Finding Our Place, Our Niche, Our Purpose, Our Path, Our ‘Zone’ … even only partially … can be one of the most powerful steps and discoveries we can make in our lives.
If you have ever watched the true story and baseball film, The Rookie (Dennis Quaid as Jimmy Morris), his father challenged him (Jimmy) to get a grip on reality, come down to earth, to continue teaching high school Science – and to stop dreaming and thinking that he could play professional baseball at age 36. Most professional baseball players are contemplating retirement by then. His dad told him that he should face reality regardless of what the professional baseball scouts had told him about his 98 MPH fastball – which, by the way, was incredibly fast for those days.
Earlier in the story, Jimmy had accepted a challenge from the high school baseball team he coached, to go to a professional Major League tryout. His team had seen and experienced his incredible strength and pitching speed and believed in him totally. He secretly wanted to go but didn’t really dare to admit it. The kids pushed all his right heart-buttons.
At the pro try-out, watched by a good number of expert scouts who were paid specifically to look for talent, and who watched hundreds of much younger boys and men show their stuff. Taking part was a joy, but the chances of being ‘seen and appreciated’, much less offered a shot at a professional future in baseball, were very slim. This writer personally went to maybe 7-8 ‘try-outs’ during my teen years. When I was 15 years old, I had a good try-out, was selected to be ‘looked at more closely’, then never heard another word from the team scouts. I had other opportunities later in my teen years to show my stuff to several pro teams, but my heart was not ‘obsessed enough’ to make a go of it. Even then I concluded that I wasn’t ‘meant to’ play professional baseball.
The hero of this tale, Jimmy, was ‘seen’ and his extraordinarily short time at the try-out stunned the scouts, who were ‘gob-smacked’ at what they witnessed. When he got home (a long drive) his wife, who didn’t know he’d gone to the try-out, let him know, open-mouthed, that a number of professional baseball scouts had left messages on their answering machine. His wife was not at all pleased. He had a family and had been injured playing baseball before – and had had surgery on his pitching arm. He was a 36-year-old high school Science teacher for goodness’s sake!
He reluctantly sought advice from his father – who was ex-military and was very sternly pragmatic. Dad poured a huge bucket of cold water on Jimmy’s head and heart and said:
“Your grandfather once told me it was okay to think about what you want to do until it was time to start doing what you were meant to do.”
That wasn’t what Jimmy wanted to hear … so, he didn’t listen and tried to follow his MEANT TO BE ‘Heart’.
Purpose Epiphany
Later in the film, Jimmy spent a number of difficult months struggling in the lower, poorly paid, Minor Leagues and had spent quite a number of sleepless nights wrestling with the probable truth of his father’s words. Then he had a kind of ‘Purpose Epiphany’. After yet another evening of wandering the neighborhood streets, reflecting, remembering, and watching some kids play baseball, his heart was suddenly set ablaze again with the deep truth about what he was ‘Meant To Be Doing’ with his life.
If you can watch the film to get a better idea of ‘how this actually happened’ it would be a good thing. You should note what he said (but especially, how he said it) to his teammate (Brooks) the next day. With a huge, wise, joyful, energy and light-filled grin on his face...
“You know what we get to do today, Brooks? We get to play baseball!”
Not, “Oh well, another day, another ‘small’ dollar.”
Not, “I can’t wait for this day to be over.”
Not, “What’s the point … don’t you ever think that this is just a complete waste of time?”
Not, “Why am I wasting time on a dream when I should be helping kids learn Science and become good citizens?”
No, he said, “We get to do what we are good at, what fulfils a part of our life’s dream, what has meaning, and purpose embodied in it – and what we truly love!” (My paraphrase and emphasis)
Ironic and poignant
What is a bit ironic – certainly poignant – is that earlier in the film…
Jimmy strongly and sternly challenged the team after a lackluster performance and loss…
He lovingly berated them…"You quit on yourselves…you quit and each other...and you quit on me. You need to want more...I'm talking about (you) wanting things in life. I'm talking about (you) having dreams. And all that starts right here [he points at his heart]; right here! If you don't have dreams, you don't have anything. The thing is, the sad part is, I see your potential…I see it, I see your heart potential and you don’t."
One of the boys threw the challenge right back at Jimmy. "Coach, what about you? You talk about our dreams...but…what about your dreams…?"
Jimmy, cutting him off…: "We’re not talking about me."
One of the other boys (the catcher who was on the receiving end of Jimmy’s secret practice, blazing fastball) replied, "Yeah, but come on, Coach! Every time you throw, I’ve gotta ice my hand – every time! You're the one who should be wanting something more."
And another boy said, "And the sad part is Coach, we see it and you don't."
As mentioned earlier, he accepted their challenge, and you know what happened after that.
While Jimmy Morris’ short top level, pro-baseball career didn’t amount to an impressive collection of All Star statistics, his story has inspired millions of young men and women when it comes to…
The ‘want to’ and ‘meant to’ factor
A very famous, odd, funny, and extremely popular baseball player from the 1950s and 60s, Yogi Berra – known for his quirky turn of phrase – once said:
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”
Please understand when I say these things that I’m not trying to score points and/or make you think about your good job and life in Cosmic Destiny or in Our Eternal Purpose terms. I’m not in any way trying to distort or minimize what you do, your day-to-day or your life’s work, your dedication to your job by implying that what you are doing with your life is somehow substandard if it doesn’t fall somewhere high up on someone’s definition of the ‘Eternal Significance Scale’.
If I wanted to do that, I would be talking about being a full-time St. Housewife and St. Mother Teresa with 3+ kids (including a childish husband!)
Now, THAT role is amazing, and has eternal significance!
I’m just suggesting that it is possible for things related to career path and direction, at some point in time, to ‘click into place’ and create that sense of perfect time and place – and that it is possible for any of us to have our own ‘Purpose Epiphany’**.
This seventh article is an attempt to challenge you to find the blend, the mix, the alignment, and sum of:
Should + Must + Can + Want + Aspire + Ready = Meant To
If you are going to spend 1/3 of your life at work (±8 hrs.), 1/3 sleeping (I wish), and the other 1/3 doing something else that is meaningful, purposeful, helpful, fun, constructive, necessary, domestic, practical, etc., then it seems like it might be a good idea that what you do work and career-wise should be as ‘MEANT-ing-ful’ as possible.
There are few more exhilarating things than knowing where we ‘fit’ and where our contribution is not only appreciated and recognized and rewarded (at work or home or community) – but also is, “JUST what I wanted to do and am meant to be doing!”
“I’m MEANT to be doing this work with these people, in this place, at this moment in their history and mine. I know it!”
Will you have this sense of ‘MEANT-ing-fulness’ all of the time?
Of course not.
Will you be happy all the time at work?
Obviously not.
Will you someday, for some reason or other, become discontented with your job or your boss?
Probably. I would bet on it.
Will you dream of the day of stopping your job and instead leave and go out into the world to try to cure cancer, impact global child poverty or reverse the effects of global warming?
The chances are small – I don’t really know – (but it would be nice)!
Will what you end up doing with the rest of your life become ‘Part of Forever’?
Now, that would be very cool to ‘know it in your knower’ that this is true!
But what I do know is that finding…
Our Place, Our Niche, Our Purpose, Our Path, Our ‘Zone’
…even only partially…can be one of the most powerful steps and discoveries we can make in our lives.
You don’t have ‘worth’ because you can do a particular job or because you are part of a collection of exploitable, found, ‘bought’, sold, replaceable human ‘commodities’ that turn out valuable services or products. You have worth because God made you and invested something of Himself in you … (sorry, if I sound like I’m preaching).
That you’re gifted for a reason! You’re more than just a………………………....! [YOU FILL IN THE BLANK SPACE]
“Our greatest fear should not be of failing, but rather of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter – that are not part of our ‘Meant To’ journey.” (Dave Lutes)
**Epiphany: "...a moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way; an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple but striking; an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure..." (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
David Lutes, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
David Lutes is a global talent management, organizational development and leadership coach, consultant and trainer. A former church pastor, he is radically and passionately committed to helping people discover their meaning, purpose and direction for their life and career. He has been described as a 'gift and latent skill detector and developer', as he helps people and the organizations they work in discover the wealth and richness within their people.
