The Rat Race

Have you ever been in a situation where you work and work and work hoping for a very specific end result, and when the time comes, that result does not?

Or

Have you ever wondered why people are "always hustlin" for the next big thing to add to the ranking of their status?

or

Have you ever paused for a moment and asked yourself what is the purpose of all of this?

Before becoming Hope...I was in that race.

I remember believing I had to be omnipresent at every event, every single day of the week. (there is only one being who is omnipresent...none of us can be him)

After about 6 months of this, I decided to pause.

In all truth, I decided to quit.

Why?

It goes back to what I said at the beginning...it was a grind.

Did I meet a ton of people? Sure!

As you navigate those social circles you start to see the same people at every event and you becoming C-List friends with everyone.

In all fairness, I was able to build some incredibly strong relationships over those 6 months.

However, something was missing from my life.

Hope.

I was hopeless.

I was a rat, on the wheel of society, running myself ragged because we are told that's how you build your business.

I attended every event possible to meet as many people as possible to help provide for my family.

To be honest...I didn't know any better.

Did it translate into income?

Sure...a small amount of it, but not these massive figures that I thought I would achieve by running this race.

It was at that point that I had to pause and really really look at myself and my motivation for why I was operating this business called Hope.

When in all truth — I was a hopeless individual, questioning why he even went to Chiropractic School and took the leap to open a business right out of the gate (probably one of the most difficult moments of my life).

I obviously had some work to do.

You see, Hope is a theological virtue.

Yet...we live in a day an age where finding Hope is rather tough.

You may be asking yourself at this point..."how does one live with Hope?"

(I asked myself that question to...probably every single day for the last three years)

A good place to start.

On page 20 of a book called "Beautiful Hope" — Fr. Mike Schmitz makes a two point statement.

1. Those with hope are willing to act.
2. Those without hope are content to wish.

Okay...so I was a mixture of both of these...taking action and wishing something would change...

BUT....what it the right kind of action and was it the right kind of wish? (now that is a more in-depth reflection)

You see...Fr. Schmitz continues and states "The source of this hopelessness is a profound lack of meaning in most people's lives."....he continues "Many of us live our lives looking forward to "the next thing.""

Ouch...how true is that.

It might sound something like this...

• When I get rid of my migraines...i'll be so much happier.
• When I have 300 patients I can finally be content.
• When I get rid of x-symptom, I can have y-result

However...I will propose this.

ALL of use experience the pain and struggle the world throws at us.

(yes, if you haven't figured it out by now, social media is 99% a lie of people faking their lives).

ALL of us experience discouragement.

ALL of us experience utter destruction.

So — we really are not unique, we really, are in this rat race together, but back to our question...how do we find hope in a world that seems rather hopeless?

It all start's with you and the meaning you have for your life.

When I dove deep...

I found that God had called me to "heal the sick."

This purpose has so many layers because being "sick" isn't just a physical ailment.

It is layers of social, emotional, physical, spiritual, mental, and spiritual trials accumulated over years in someone's life.

As a result, my life has been a series of trials up until this point in each one of those categories giving me a firm foundation to help people navigate the stormy seas of their own hopelessness.

Hope existed for me because I wanted to help people find meaning in their life.

My meaning in life is to bring Hope to those who are hopeless.

So in this rat race that we are all running together, what is your meaning?

If you start there and ask yourself that question daily, the picture of your meaning will begin to unfold before your very eye.

Then all you have to do, is act.