I got a chance to share yesterday at the Fishkill Church of the Nazarene. I talked about living life from the inside out. What's that mean?
I'm glad you asked.
The Taconic Core Value #9 is "Be Passionate and Determined." I was thinking about this the other day and a word picture came to mind. I was on the deck of a huge tanker…standing right out at the tip of the bow like Jack Dawson. All I could hear was the wind in my hair and in the ship's flags and the sound of the waves being sliced by the prow as the ship powered through the surf. Then I got curious.
I began to explore deeper within the ship. Once I got down a couple of levels the sound of wind and waves was replaced by a slight but steady hum. The lower I got the louder the hum became. When I could go no further down I was deep in the belly of the ship. I came to a door labeled "Engine Room." I opened the door and the sound hit me like a punch in the face. The noise was so powerful, so loud I could feel it in my chest.
I was seeing and feeling the raw power of the ship. This was why the ship was able to effortlessly cut through the surf. It was driven by these huge engines.
That's what passion is. It's that thing inside you that drives you. When you live from the inside out, you live according to your passion. It's what drives you. Your vision (the rudder) may determine your course but your engine (passion) will provide the power.
What do you have deep inside driving you?
Living from the inside out is so much better than living from the outside in; when you live a life of re-action instead of action. You aren't driving anything. You're just responding to outside influences.
Someone gives you a gift, you're happy. Someone slaps your face, you're angry. Someone says something hurtful to you, you're sad.
But the thing about being driven from within is that those engines run no matter what's going on outside. The seas outside could be rough or calm but the engine just powers through regardless.
The engine just knows one thing, "GO." And it goes until the switch is turned off.
Stop living according to the outside influences and circumstances. Stop it. It's time to get off that roller coaster once and for all.
It's time to start your engine and live your life from deep inside.
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