Would you be willing to give your life to save the world if no one ever knew your name? If anonymity was the price you would have to pay for significance, would it be too great a price? To live a life of courage is not a guarantee of prestige or adulation. It only matters if you live and die fulfilling the mission you were born for. Erwin McManus
Would you keep doing what you’re doing even if no one ever knew your name?
My motivation for writing is wrapped up in inspiring others. My first book Beautiful: beauty tips for the soul was based on lessons I taught to high school students over many years. The book has sold consistently for ten years and has been used by schools, in prisons and by small groups.
Not many people have heard of me or my books, yet I keep writing and publishing. Perhaps one day I may become well-known, but if that was my only motivation do I consider myself a failure? If I’m never famous will I still keep writing?
I’ve been writing for ten years and often give away my books or speak without charging a fee.
It’s a good question to ask yourself: Would I keep doing what I’m doing if I wasn’t paid for it? Would I keep doing what I’m doing if I wasn’t acknowledged or received any prestige?
I would say yes, as long there as there is significance.
For most of the world, choosing how to live is a privilege not afforded to them. If you live in extreme poverty, choices are limited. So for those of us who do have that choice, do we have the responsibility to live a life well and what does that really mean?
Selfish ambition causes us to live without generosity. But a life lived with purpose, integrity and mission is well-lived. The design and creation of a life is as much a work of art as anything I write. So, as long as I can make a significant difference I’ll continue to write.
You’re not supposed to die with your potential. A life well lived squeezes all the potential placed within and does something with it.
Erwin McManus
