EMPOWERING RESILIENCE with Rhonda Sciortino

What are we excusing that may be stealing our peace and joy?A little too much wine. A story that wasn't ours to tell. A private exchange we wouldn't want our spouse to read. Another purchase we hide. Repeating our grievances until anger becomes our constant companion.Nothing dramatic happens. No lightning bolt. No immediate exposure. So we dismiss the nudge of conscience: It's no big deal. Everyone does it.The absence of immediate consequences doesn't mean there is no harm. God's patience is not His permission.Romans 2:4 reminds us that God's kindness is intended to lead us to repentance. His mercy gives us an opportunity to change direction. But let's not forget that forgiveness doesn't prevent the consequences of our choices from tumbling back toward us.Our culture may call gossip “catching up,” drunkenness “partying,” lust “entertainment,” and greed “ambition.” But social acceptance cannot make destructive behavior harmless.Let's use discernment in all of this—enjoying food is not always gluttony. Feeling attraction to someone is not always lust. A glass of wine with dinner is not necessarily drunkenness. Reporting abuse or seeking support is not gossip.The real question we must ask ourselves is: What are my choices doing to my character, my relationships, my peace, and the fulfillment of my purpose?James 1:14–15 describes how desire can grow into sin and destruction. Repetition makes crossing a line easier. Eventually, we may stop noticing the line.But we don't have to wait until our behavior reaches crisis proportions. God can deliver us from the behaviors that hurt us. Here is where we begin.1. Name the behavior without excusing it.We cannot surrender what we keep defending. Speak the truth outlaid to yourself. Say, “I'm drinking more than I intend. I'm sharing private information. I'm feeding resentment. Or I'm hiding things.”Be specific. Replace “Everyone does it” with “This is hurting me, and I want to change.”First John 1:9 assures us that God forgives and cleanses us when we confess. We can acknowledge sin without declaring ourselves hopeless.2. Identify what leads up to it.Ask yourself about the circumstances the precede the behavior you want to change: When does this happen? Who am I with? What am I feeling? What am I hoping this behavior will do for me?Answer honestly. Consider that gossip may be providing you a sense of belonging. Shopping may offer you a feeling of distraction from the things that trouble you. Anger may create a false feeling of being in control. Recognizing our need ahead of time, helps us choose circumstances in which we're better able to live as the best version of ourselves.When the urge for our destruction behavior comes, pause. Name the feeling. Pray, take a walk, call someone trustworthy, or rest. Practice meeting the need without repeating the harm.3. Picture the example you want to set.Imagine those closest to you describing you the way you want them to see you.Then ask yourself: If my family and friends, especially the children in my life, did what I do, would I be proud or worried? Our actions teach others what is acceptable. People within our influence can also learn from watching us apologize, seek help, and make positive changes in our lives.Choose one action today that reflects the person you want them to see.4. Plan before temptation arrives.Romans 13:14 instructs us not to make provision for sinful desires. Put that into practice by removing easy access and deciding ahead of time how you will respond.For gossip: Say, “That's her story to tell.” Change the subject or leave the conversation.For drunkenness: Plan an alcohol-free evening. If drinking in certain situations feels difficult to control, choose not to go until you feel stronger. You can also seek qualified support.For lust: Unfollow tempting accounts, block pornography, and end secretive or flirtatious exchanges.For gluttony or overspending: Plan meals and purchases. Notice when you want comfort, and choose a response that actually addresses what is troubling you.For destructive anger: Stop talking to people about the things that make you angry. Pause before speaking, and address the problem calmly with God and someone who can help.For dishonesty: Correct the exaggeration or lie promptly. Practice telling the truth even when it costs you approval.Write a simple commitment: When _____________ happens, I will _____________.Change the setting when necessary. Good intentions are stronger when our surroundings support them.5. Ask God for help, and act on it.Pray: Lord, help me recognize my weaknesses and the things that tempt me to sin and help me take the next right step.Then take that step. Close the app. Leave the conversation. Apologize. Ask a trusted person to check in with you.God's help may come through Bible Scripture, a friend, a pastor, a counselor, or a recovery community. Receiving help is part of moving forward.If you stumble, confess, repair what you can, and strengthen your plan. Romans 8:1 assures us that there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ. We can return to Him and keep growing, but let's not make that our failsafe position by going ahead with sin. We're stronger than that.We protect our peace and joy through the choices we practice, not the ones we intend to make someday. Let someday be today.Pray:Lord, show me what I do that is holding me back from your good plan for my life. Please give me the strength and courage to change what I can, please change the things I can't change, and please give me the humility to accept help. Help me choose what honors You today. Amen.Pray. Listen. Act. Repeat. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rhondasciortino.substack.com

Have you been told that you're too loud? Too sensitive? Too intense? Too stubborn? Too ambitious? Too emotional? Too strong?Maybe you've been told that you're too quiet. Too wimpy. Too weak. Unfeeling. Uncaring. Or you've heard that you're too fat, too skinny, too dumb, too … fill in the blank on whatever ugly words that have been directed at you. But wait, stop, don't.These kinds of words stick with us. They weigh down our hearts. They lead us to think all of our flaws, which always leads to a feeling of not being enough.Most of us can easily list all the things that are wrong with us, but we have to stop and think about everything that's right with us.Criticism, well meaning or not, makes us question ourselves, our worth, our value, our significance, our meaning, and sometimes why we're even here. At least it did for me.We respond in various ways. The more confident among us, blow off these criticisms and keep going. But if you're like me, you think about it. You absorb it. After all, you've heard it before—it must be true. You've been asked, “what's wrong with you?” But you really don't have an answer. Inside you think, “I don't know what's wrong with me,” while silently agreeing that you are deeply flawed.Have you ever tried to change the things people criticized about you?I spent the first half of my life trying to be different than who I was—less loud, less intense, less strong-willed, less enthusiastic, less of a dreamer of big things. Less of someone who makes stupid jokes that seem to only be funny to me. Basically, I tried to be less me.I tried to change the things that people criticized. The frustrating part was that it's really exhausting to try to be someone you're not. You can only do it for so long until a time when you're tired, not feeling well or generally irritable and your true personality starts showing through the facade.When that happens, people criticize you for being a fake, phony imposter.The bottom line is that you can try all you want to avoid criticism, but—please listen and take this in—there will always be someone who criticizes you. No matter what you do. So you might as well go ahead and be YOU.YOU ARE THE WAY YOU ARE FOR A PURPOSEWhen I started my business, I was working 60-80 hours a week. I was building the airplane while trying to fly it. And it was intense. All of my energy was going into my work. I literally didn't have anything left at the end of those very long days. I didn't have the energy to be someone I was not.In that first year of business, as I was learning by doing all the things that I had no experience or education in, I realized that the characteristics I had tried to eliminate were exactly what I needed!I'm tenacious. I just can't give up and walk away on something I feel strongly about. I had been called “a dog with a bone” who just won't let things go. It turns out that if I had been someone who just let go when things got tough, I never would have successfully taken my business nationwide.I'm loud. I've always had a hearing deficiency, so for most of my life, I didn't realize I was louder than others. I was harshly disciplined when I was 4 years old for being too loud. Teachers, co-workers, neighbors and people at church had all asked me to turn down my volume. But when I spoke to groups of people about managing risk (the business I was in), my booming voice was handy when the microphone quit working.I'm strong, which is often clocked as overbearing. It turns out that a strong personality is exactly what was needed to advocate with legislators for children who have no voice, no vote and little power to protect themselves.I've been called demanding. I didn't realize until I became an employer that everyone didn't have my high standards for integrity, work ethic, and resourcefulness. The work of managing risk in child welfare organizations required those things. Anything less could jeopardize the safety of children.Eventually I realized that the character and personality traits that I spent years trying to tone down were the very things that equipped me fulfill my purpose.So what about you?Have you've been called too sensitive. Could that be empathy?Maybe you've been called stubborn. What if that's perseverance?Maybe you've been criticized for being quiet. Are you the one who notices things that others miss?Maybe you've been called intense. Could that mean that you care deeply?Maybe you have been criticized for questioning everything. Are you the person willing to challenge something that others have accepted without question.This doesn't mean that character or personality weaknesses can all be called strengths. Some attitudes need adjustment. Some behaviors need to be eliminated or adjusted.We are the best versions of ourselves when we grow in love, wisdom, humility, patience, generosity, kindness and self-control.We are at our best when we're using our character and personality traits, talents, and abilities to help others.Let's be careful not to confuse strengthening a weak area and trying to change the things that make you uniquely you. These may be the very things that equip and qualify you to fulfill your purpose. I'm not for everybody. Neither are you. And there is tremendous freedom in accepting that.The people who are right for you will not merely tolerate the best parts of who you are. They will understand, value and cherish them.So perhaps the question isn't: “What's wrong with me?” Perhaps it's: “How can I use my uniqueness for good?”Purposeful PracticeExamine what you've been criticized for. Be willing to grow. Listen when trustworthy people tell you how your behavior affects them.Then look at the other side of the coin.Ask yourself:What does this characteristic look like when it is disciplined by wisdom, directed by love and used for something bigger than me?Maybe you're not supposed to become less.Maybe you're supposed to discover that the person God created you to be is exactly what's needed to do the things about which you're passionate or to help improve the things that grieve your heart.Who you truly are is exactly what your purpose requires. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rhondasciortino.substack.com

Some of the people we've lost are still alive. There was no argument, betrayal or final goodbye. No one decided that the relationship no longer mattered. Life simply carried people in different directions until someone who had once been part of every ordinary day became someone remembered mostly through memories.The relationship did not necessarily end. It just stopped being current because the person is no longer in close enough range to share the details of daily life.The first cut is the deepestWe've all had the painful experience of a friend moving away. It's most painful when it happens as a kid. You lived in the same neighborhood, attended the same school and participated in the same sports, clubs and activities. You saw one another in classrooms, hallways, cafeterias, driveways and backyards. Some kids spent nearly every day together from elementary through high school.Your lives become intertwined through countless ordinary moments. You know who has a crush on whom, whose parents are arguing, who was embarrassed in class and who is worried about an upcoming test. You exchanged looks that required no explanation. You shared jokes no one else understood. And then suddenly all of that is over. You graduate, and almost immediately, people who had been inseparable disperse. One goes away to college. Another begins working. Someone joins the military. Another gets married. Some move away. New lives form around new circumstances and new people and the next thing you know, you're hoping you'll recognize them at the school reunion.No one broke up with anyone. No one stopped caring. The people you shared nearly every day with became part of each other's history instead of the present.You promised to stay in touch, and for a while you did. You sent letters, notes and cards. You call, text and exchange photographs occasionally. FaceTime and Zoom give us a fighting chance of remaining connected across the chasm of separation, but technology cannot fully replace proximity.The moments most likely to disappear are not the major ones. We usually tell old friends about the engagement, the new job, the birth of a baby, or the diagnosis. What gets lost are the little details that rarely seem important enough to warrant a phone call—the insensitive comment someone made, the person who cut in front of us at the grocery store, the funny thing the dog did or the little ache we plan to ask the doctor about next week.Those details are usually shared with whoever happens to be within range. They are exchanged between neighbors grabbing the mail, students passing in the hallway, co-workers in the lunch room, carpoolers while driving home, or while waiting for their kids to get out of school.Scheduled conversations are the highlight reel. Proximity provides the raw footage.Over time, the people nearby begin to know the current version of us. They recognize the subtle change in our voice when something is wrong. They know about the situation at work that troubles us, and they can easily drop in to toast minor victories. Meanwhile, the people who once knew us best may know only the larger developments and the person we used to be.It is not that they no longer like us. They are simply sharing life with other people. When we finally see one another again, we pick up right where we left off. The affection is still there. The laughter comes easily, and the old stories are funny. But it is not quite the same. Much of our time is spent reminiscing because the past is still the place we share. We may know very little about the ordinary rhythms of one another's current lives.Sometimes people become emotionally out of range while still physically presentThis is the spouse who accepts a job requiring constant travel or who is working 18-hour days. That person is gone for weeks on end or is home but leaves before dawn, returns home exhausted and collapses into bed only to do it again the next day. The couple may still love one another, but they are no longer sharing enough of life to remain emotionally close.Meanwhile, the working spouse spends nearly every waking hour with co-workers. They solve problems together, share meals, endure disappointments, celebrate successes and exchange all the little details that create familiarity. Gradually, the co-workers can begin to feel more like family than the family members left at home.This does not excuse infidelity. Betrayal remains a choice, and people are responsible for the boundaries they keep or violate. But if we want to protect relationships, we have to understand how being in range creates vulnerability.Emotional intimacy rarely disappears all at once. It migrates one small disclosure at a time. Someone else becomes the first person we tell, the person whose opinion we seek and the person who understands the context without needing an explanation. By the time the couple realize what's happened, the relationship may already be running on autopilot.The warning signsThe warning signs of friends or family drifting are usually subtle. Plans are talked about, but never acted on. Conversations become limited to the superficial, logistics related to plans and obligations, and major announcements. It's not that we don't want the other person to know what's going on in our lives. It's that we stop sharing the small things because explaining all the background is not worth the time and energy it takes. Eventually, we realize that someone we once were close to has become someone we connect with only on birthdays or holidays.But that doesn't mean that we cannot make long distance relationships work by intentionally staying in range emotionally.Making long distance relationships workMy dear high school friend Janet moved 3,000 miles away. My heart hurt. It felt as though she had taken a chunk of it with her.I had drifted away from other high school friends because we had gone different directions and were living vastly different lives, but I couldn't stand the thought of that happening with Janet. If I wanted Janet to remain part of my life, we would have to be intentional about emotionally connecting.So I visited as often as I could. She came home every Christmas. Despite her big family wanting to spend time with her, she always carved out time for us to catch up. We scheduled trips together—not nearly as frequently as I would have liked, but I treasured every one of them. We made room for one another despite the miles, responsibilities and new friends we both had.Our time together became even more precious when Janet was diagnosed with cancer. We made a concerted effort to talk every day. Eventually, I lost her, but I will always have the memories we deliberately created because we chose to stay emotionally in range from the age of 14 to 54, when she left this life.As we grow, our relationships changeWe cannot keep every relationship exactly as it once was. If we're growing and self-actualizing, we can't keep any relationship exactly as it was, nor should we want to. Some people drift apart because they've grown in different areas. Or one person grows while the other does not. Or they have separated themself into groups that exclude others, as in politics, beliefs, values, socio-economic status, or any of the other ways that humans choose to become part of an “us versus them” mentality. Still, it doesn't mean that anyone is to blame. A person can have been an important part of our story without being present in every chapter. In those cases, we can be grateful for what the relationship gave us.Extraordinary relationships are too precious to passively surrender.If you are determined to stay emotionally in range regardless of other differences, share the ordinary details, not only the major news. Schedule the visit and make it happen. Create rituals—a weekly phone call, an annual weekend or regular voice messages exchanged during the week. Ask questions about the person's present instead of talking only about your shared past.Accept that the person you love will have new friends who are within range. Those relationships are not replacements. They are part of that person's current life. I learned this at Janet's funeral. I saw her co-workers, her neighbors, the couples in her Gourmet Club. These are people she had told me about. They weren't a threat to me, just as I was not a threat to them. There is no need to compete. Loving others requires us to make room for change while protecting and cherishing the relationship.To have the healthiest connections, we must make time for the people closest to us. Let's not be too distracted, busy or exhausted to remain within emotional range. Being too busy or tired is the way we allow ourselves to fall out of emotional range regardless of our physical proximity. Let's be the one who hears the small details of our loved one's lives. Let's be the first one they want to call when they want to share something funny, painful or exciting. Proximity matters. It creates myriad opportunities for connection that distance can never completely reproduce. But heart connections built around the things that matter most can endure.Some people are meant to walk with us for only part of the journey. Others are worth rearranging our lives to keep.The important thing is to recognize the difference before someone we cannot imagine living without becomes a painful regret.Purposeful PracticeMake a list of the people you've lost touch with, and make an effort to reconnect. Make a phone call, send a text, pick up your phone and record a quick video saying, “Hi, I'd love to catch up with you sometime.” Make a list of the people in your life who you've been too busy or tired to connect with recently. Make a date, give a card, write a note, pick up flowers, or plan a vacation to let that person know that they are a priority in your life. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rhondasciortino.substack.com

We insure houses that may never burn, plan vacations, and agonize over what to wear to soon-forgotten events. Yet we give little thought to the one appointment none of us can cancel: the end of this life.There is a 100% chance that each of us will leave this earth. Our possessions, titles, and accomplishments will remain behind. What will matter is whether this life was all there was—and, if not, what comes next.Standing at the center of that question is Jesus.Most people have heard of Him. Some regard Him as a historical figure, teacher, or prophet. Others recognize Him as the Son of God but have never considered what His life, death, and resurrection mean to them personally. His name is familiar, but familiarity can discourage investigation.Jesus did not present Himself merely as someone to admire. He claimed authority to forgive sins and said that He was the way, the truth, and the life—the only way. Either He was deluded, deceptive, or He was telling the most consequential truth ever spoken.More than two thousand years later, the world's dominant calendar numbers its years in relation to His birth. His teachings helped shape ideas about mercy, forgiveness, human dignity, and care for the vulnerable. Influence does not prove divinity, but a life that changed civilization deserves more than a passing glance. The sustaining influence of Jesus deserves investigation.Many people do not consciously reject Him; they remain too busy to consider Him. We fill every quiet space with noise because silence allows deeper questions to surface: Why am I here? What makes life meaningful? What happens when I die? Could Jesus be who He claimed to be?Our culture is not less spiritual; it is spiritually eclectic. People pursue peace through meditation, crystals, energy, and personalized beliefs. The hunger is real, but not everything offered as food is equally nourishing—or true. We want transcendence without authority, peace without repentance, and purpose without surrender. Jesus asks not to be added to our lives, but to become the center of our lives.Christianity stands or falls on one historical claim: Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead. If He did not rise, Christianity can be dismissed. If He did, nothing is more consequential to us personally.Churches and the Christians in them have, at times, caused terrible harm. Christianity cannot be judged by the perfection of its followers. It has no perfect followers—no religion does. Christianity is not an achievement to be attained by flawless people but rather a rescue for those who know they need the mercy, restoration, and the kind of eternal life only Jesus can provide.It is possible to believe accurate facts about Jesus without entrusting our lives to Him. Demonic spirits recognized Him as “the Son of God,” yet their recognition did not involve love, obedience, or allegiance. As James wrote, “Even the demons believe and shudder.”Believing that Jesus existed—even accepting that He is the Son of God—is not the same as following Him. Genuine faith means receiving His grace, placing our lives in His hands, and accepting His purposes for us.That is the true meaning of success. A person can build an empire and waste his or her life, while another can live quietly, love faithfully, and fulfill precisely what God created that person to do. Jesus is not a consultant hired to improve our agenda. He is Lord. The truly successful life is aligned with its Creator.Every person eventually answers the question of Jesus. Some answer yes; some answer no; many answer, “Not now.” But “not now,” repeated throughout a lifetime, eventually becomes no. Refusing to decide is itself a decision.Begin an honest investigation: Read what Jesus says about Himself in the book of John or Luke in the Bible. Examine both the evidence for the Resurrection and the objections to it in books like Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh and Sean McDowell and The Case for Christ by former atheist journalist Lee Strobel.Bring your questions, skepticism, failures, wounds, regrets, and fears. Jesus does not ask you to repair yourself before approaching Him. He asks you to turn to Him. Be honest. Pray, “Jesus, if You are real, help me recognize the truth.”Do not give the most important question of your existence whatever energy that remains after everything else has been done. The question for the fulfillment of your purpose and for eternity is whether you will trust Jesus with your life, receive His salvation, and allow His purposes to become your own.Everyone eventually answers the pivotal question: What will I do with Jesus? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rhondasciortino.substack.com

We've all experienced times when we feel like we're in the center of a storm that is completely outside of our control. (If you haven't yet, chances are you will.)We wish the storm would end. We wonder when it will end. We may ask if it will ever end. But perhaps the better question is, “Who am I becoming while I'm in the midst of the storm?”That is where the story of Captain Joshua Slocum comes in. In 1895, he set out alone to sail around the world in a boat measuring just under 37 feet long. With no GPS, no satellite weather system, no communication and no support crew, he left with only his boat, his experience, his judgment and his ability to respond to whatever happened next.More than three years and approximately 46,000 miles later, he became the first person known to circumnavigate the globe alone by sail.Slocum survived storms, 3 years of isolation (think about that), dangerous seas and the uncertainty of survival that surely dominated his thoughts. Through all of it, he developed the character, competence and resourcefulness necessary to navigate successfully through the obstacles.That is where our story of survival can become like his.Every one of us will eventually find ourselves in circumstances we cannot control. Some may be the result of our own choices, and others that we would never have chosen may be thrust upon us.We will face disappointment, detours, setbacks, uncertainty, opposition, loss, grief and seasons when our best efforts seem to produce very little progress.The question is not whether we will encounter storms We will. The question is whether we will become better navigators of the storms of life.Here are 10 lessons from Captain Joshua Slocum's extraordinary journey that can help all of us navigate our own.1. Start With What We HaveSlocum did not begin with a perfect boat. The Spray was an old vessel that required extensive rebuilding before it could carry him around the world. He worked on what he had until it became capable of taking him where he wanted to go.That is a powerful lesson because many of us postpone finding and fulfilling our purpose while waiting for conditions to improve. We tell ourselves that we will begin when we have more money, more education, more confidence, more support, more time or better connections.Meanwhile, years pass.Most meaningful things do not begin under perfect conditions. Purposeful goals begin when we look at what we already have and decide to use it well.We may not have everything we want, but we probably have more than we realize. We have experience, relationships, abilities, the wisdom of lessons learned, access to information, and the capacity to work.Never underestimate all of the assets you already have—character and personality traits, intelligence, determination, courage, resilience, resourcefulness, and all the other good that's already in you. Start there.2. Preparation Creates CourageSlocum was not courageous because he believed the ocean was safe. He knew exactly how dangerous it could be. His confidence came from his knowledge and experience.There is an important difference between courage and recklessness. Recklessness assumes everything will work out. Courage prepares for the possibility that it might not.We sometimes admire people who appear fearless, but authentic confidence comes from preparation. When we practice, study, plan and develop competence, we do not need circumstances to be easy because we did the work necessary to increase our ability to handle difficulty.That applies to almost everything in life. If we want greater responsibility, we need to prepare for it. If we want to lead, we need to become better leaders. If we want financial stability, we need to learn to manage money. If we want healthier relationships, we need to develop healthier listening and communication skills. If we want to pursue an opportunity, we need to develop the skills the opportunity will require.For those of us who have lofty goals, it's important to become capable of achieving them.3. Change the Route, Not the DestinationSlocum originally planned a route that would have taken him through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. When conditions made that route too dangerous, he changed course.He did not abandon the goal. He changed the way he intended to reach it. Understanding that principle can save us unnecessary frustration.It's possible to become so attached to our plan that we conflate the plan with our purpose. When that's the case, if things go wrong, we can too easily draw wrong conclusions, and believe that the whole endeavor was a mistake. If we keep the plan separate from our purpose, we will have the ability to make adjustments to the plan and still pursue our purpose.The job may change while the career remains. The business model may change while the mission remains. A relationship may require a different approach. The timeline may be longer than expected. The opportunity may come through a door we hadn't considered.Changing our strategy for implementing the goal is far better than quitting.It's important that we know the difference between our perseverance and our stubbornness. We can stay committed to the purpose and still remain flexible about the route.4. Patience Is StrengthThere were times during Slocum's voyage when he fought wind and current all day and made very little progress. Imagine working from morning until night and discovering that you had moved only a few miles closer to the destination… or maybe even further away from your destination.Most of us know that feeling. We work hard at something. We make responsible decisions. We keep showing up. And still, we see no measurable progress. It is tempting think that we've made a mistake—maybe the biggest mistake of our life.But delayed progress is still progress.Some of the most important things in life cannot be rushed. Healing, trust, character building, nurturing healthy relationships take time. Building anything worthwhile usually takes longer than we would like it to.Patience does not mean sitting still and doing nothing. Patience means continuing to do the right thing without giving up when the results don't happen according to our timetable.Patience means refusing to quit.5. Control What We CanSlocum could not control the wind, the waves, the currents or the weather. He could control his sails, his decisions, his preparation and his response.That may be one of the most useful principles for living with peace.We waste enormous amounts of emotional energy trying to control things that aren't ours to control. We wish we could control other people's decisions, opinions, behavior and reactions. We want certainty about the future. We wish the past had been different.None of those things are fully within our control.What is within our control are our choices, our words, our actions, our attitude, our integrity and our response to every situation we face.There is incredible peace and freedom in accepting this truth. We can do what is ours to do. The sooner we learn to release what is not ours to control, the more peaceful and joyful we will be.6. Resourcefulness Is More Valuable Than ResourcesWhen something breaks in the middle of the ocean, there is no repair shop around the corner.When something in our life breaks and we cannot fix it, we can improvise, adapt, get creative and figure it out, or learn how to live without it.Slocum's voyage is filled with examples of solving problems with what little was available to him at the time.Resourcefulness may be one of the most underrated predictors of success.People who have always had abundant resources can struggle when those resources disappear. On the other hand, people who have had to solve problems, stretch limited resources and find work-arounds tend to develop an extraordinary ability to adapt.The resourceful person says, “We may not know the answer yet, but we will find one.” “We may not have exactly what we need, but let's begin with what we have.” “This is difficult, but not impossible.” “If it was easy, everyone would do it.”Some of the circumstances we would never choose develop in us character traits and skills we may need in the future.7. Learn to Lead OurselvesSlocum had no crew to motivate him, monitor him or make decisions for him. If something needed to be done, he had to recognize it and do it.That required self leadership.Before we can lead anyone else well, we have to learn to lead ourselves, which involves regulating our emotions and controlling our responses.We must determine to keep our commitments. We must be willing to work hard without recognition. We must manage our emotions rather than allowing our emotions to manage us. We must be able to make tough decisions when lesser options would be easier.Character is developed in private long before it is recognized in public.The ability to lead ourselves may ultimately determine how much responsibility we will be trusted to carry.8. Keep Our Sense of HumorOne of the most appealing things about Slocum's story is his sense of humor. He encountered legitimate danger and serious setbacks, yet he did not allow hardship to become his identity or distort his perspective.Humor is an important aspect of the character trait of resilience.Humor does not mean pretending something is not difficult. It means refusing to allow the problem to become our only focus.Sometimes we make hard situations even harder by giving every frustration enormous emotional weight. A small setback becomes a catastrophe. An inconvenience ruins the day. A mistake becomes evidence that everything is falling apart. It's commonly called “catastrophizing,” and that can steal your peace and kill your joy.Sometimes the healthiest response is to acknowledge disappointment, keep the situation in perspective, find something to laugh about if we can, make any necessary adjustments and keep going.Laughter can be an act of faith that everything is going to work out some how, some way. It reminds us that the difficulty is real, but it is not everything.9. Let the Difficulty Teach UsAfter completing his voyage, Slocum reflected that he had learned a lot despite already being a highly experienced sailor.Lessons learned by going through may be one of the greatest gifts hidden inside tough situations.Painful experiences can teach us things comfortable seasons cannot. We learn discernment because someone deceived us. We learn boundaries because we were mistreated after failing to establish them. We learn financial discipline when money becomes scarce. We learn courage when we face a frightening situation. We learn compassion through suffering. We learn resilience when quitting is not an option.Hardship does not automatically make us wiser. Some people become bitter. Some repeat the same mistakes indefinitely. But others mine the lessons out of difficulties and becomes wiser because of them.Wisdom comes when we ask, “What is this teaching me?”Resilience is earned by surviving. Wisdom is earned by seeing difficulties as opportunities to learn and grow. Growth is earned by becoming better as a result of what you've gone through.That is how wounds become wisdom.10. Purpose Can Give Us EnergyOne of the remarkable details of Slocum's journey is that after more than three years at sea, he reportedly returned looking remarkably well, not haggard and exhausted as many people expected.That should make us reconsider the assumption that difficulty always harms us. Sometimes it does. But sometimes what hurts most is suffering without finding the meaning in it.Purpose changes our perspective of difficulty.When we know why something matters, we can endure extraordinary discomfort. Parents do it for their children. Entrepreneurs do it to build something they believe in. Caregivers do it for people they love. People working toward a calling often endure inconveniences they would never tolerate for something meaningless.Purpose does not remove exhaustion, it gives it a reason.There is tremendous energy in knowing, “This matters. Someone will be helped by this. Good can come from this. We are doing something meaningful.”A difficult life is not necessarily an unhappy life. And an easy life is not necessarily a meaningful one.Purposeful Practice: What Kind of Sailors Are We Becoming?It helps to think about the area of our lives right now that feels most like rough water. It may be a relationship, a financial concern, a health issue, a business challenge, a disappointment, an unanswered prayer or simply uncertainty about what comes next.Instead of asking only when the situation will change, we can try to discern what this season is developing in us. Ask yourself these six questions:* What do I already have that I can use to navigate through this situation?* What can I learn from this?* Where would better preparation help?* Is there a route that should be changed while the destination remains the same?* What am I trying to control that is not mine to control?* What skill, strength, character trait, or wisdom could this experience be developing in me?After you've answered these questions for yourself, it will be easier to identify actions that you can take to continue towards your purpose.We do not need to know exactly what the next day will bring. Joshua Slocum could not know every danger that lay between him and home when he began his journey. He simply had to become capable of navigating the water in front of him.Let's not spend our lives wishing for calmer seas. Let's become people who can sail through rough ones. Because sometimes God does calm the storm.Sometimes He teaches us how to sail.“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rhondasciortino.substack.com

There are people who will do almost anything to avoid conflict. They change the subject. They keep their opinions to themselves. They let things slide. They nod in agreement when they don't really agree at all. They hide hurt feelings rather than risk an argument. They tell themselves that being the bigger person means staying quiet.From the outside, this can look peaceful, mature and even loving. But sometimes it is none of those things. Sometimes it is fear.Fear of anger. Fear of rejection. Fear of making things worse. Fear that if we say what we really think, the relationship will not survive. So we choose silence and call it peace. This is especially true for those of us who were raised amidst addiction, mental illness, negative emotions, or dysfunction.The problem is that silence does not necessarily create peace. Sometimes it simply buries the conflict where it continues to fester. From there it can leak out in passive aggressive words or actions, it can eventually grow beyond our ability to hide and explode on everyone around us, or it can remain hidden and destroy us from the inside.Peace Is Not the Absence of ConflictHealthy relationships are not relationships in which no one ever disagrees. They are relationships in which people can disagree without destroying one another.Real peace allows room for honesty, differences, boundaries, difficult conversations and even disappointment. It does not require everyone to think alike or pretend everything is fine. Conflict avoidance does.That distinction matters because avoiding every uncomfortable conversation can create the very outcome we are trying to prevent. Resentment builds. Trust weakens. Problems go unresolved. One person may keep giving in while the other never even realizes there is a problem.Eventually, the relationship can become superficially calm but emotionally disconnected. Everything looks peaceful. Nothing is actually resolved, and the peacekeeper lives life as one of the perpetually “walking wounded.”The Cost of “Keeping the Peace”I have known people who pride themselves on never arguing. At first, that sounds wonderful.But sometimes what it can mean is that one person has learned not to bring anything up. They know which subjects are off-limits. They know which opinions will provoke a reaction. They know when to keep quiet, when to apologize even if they do not believe they were wrong and when to surrender something important because it is easier than dealing with the consequences.That is not peace. That is accommodation.There is a significant difference between choosing not to fight about something unimportant and becoming afraid to address anything important. Wisdom helps us know which is which.Not every irritation needs a confrontation. Not every disagreement deserves a debate. Healthy people overlook minor annoyances, forgive mistakes and give each other grace. But when silence becomes the price of keeping a relationship intact, something is wrong.Authentic Peace Requires TruthOne of the most important lessons we can learn about relationships is that honesty and peace are not enemies. Healthy honesty can actually help create authentic peace.Imagine two people who have been quietly frustrated with one another for months. Neither wants to argue, so neither says anything. Every small irritation gets added to an invisible pile. Then one insignificant incident causes an explosion.The problem was never really the dishes, the lateness, the forgotten call or whatever finally triggered the argument. The problem was everything that was never discussed.A respectful conversation weeks earlier might have prevented the explosion. Authentic peace does not mean avoiding truth. It means learning how to speak truth without anger or insult. It means owning one's part of the problem and asking the other to own theirs. There Is a Difference Between Peacekeeping and PeacemakingPeacekeeping often focuses on preventing an immediate disturbance. Peacemaking focuses on creating conditions where genuine peace can exist.A peacekeeper may say, “Do not bring it up. It will only upset them.” A peacemaker may say, “We need to talk about this—let's do it respectfully.”A peacekeeper tries to keep everyone comfortable. A peacemaker is willing to tolerate temporary discomfort in order to create healthy long-term relationships. A peacekeeper may overlook repeated harmful behavior. A peacemaker addresses the behavior while still respecting the person.Timing is important. There are certainly times when stepping away from conflict is wise. Some conversations need to wait until emotions settle, when there is enough time to delve into the heart of the issue, where there is not likely to be interruption or distraction. Some people are not safe to confront directly. In those types of situations seek professional help, distance or other protective measures.But in healthy relationships, peace should never depend on one person remaining permanently silent.Difficult People Make This HarderThere are people in our lives who are genuinely difficult. They may be irritable, defensive, unhappy, ill, emotionally immature, or simply under tremendous stress. Some may be grieving. Some may be experiencing cognitive decline or other conditions that affect their behavior.Loving those people may require enormous patience. It may mean deciding that some comments are not worth correcting. It may mean changing our expectations. It may mean responding to the person's underlying fear rather than reacting to every difficult word.That is wisdom. But patience does not require us to lose ourselves. Compassion and boundaries can exist at the same time.We can recognize that someone is suffering and still decide that certain behavior cannot continue. We can forgive someone and still require change. We can love someone and still say, “I will not allow you to speak to me that way.”Sometimes the most loving thing we can bring into a troubled relationship is calm, respectful truth.Peace at Any Price Is Too ExpensiveThe desire for peace is good. But peace purchased by being dishonest or inauthentic eventually becomes very expensive.It can cost us our voice, our confidence, our emotional health, our ability to trust and sometimes the relationship itself.If one person must constantly suppress legitimate needs, concerns or opinions in order to prevent the other person from becoming angry, that is not a peaceful relationship. It is a fragile one.Real peace is stronger than that. It can survive honesty. It can survive disagreement. It can survive the word “no.”Counterfeit Peace vs. Authentic PeacePurposeful PracticeThink about one relationship in your life in which you regularly avoid saying what you really think because you do not want to create conflict. Ask yourself whether the issue truly deserves to be overlooked or whether silence is allowing resentment, confusion or unhealthy behavior to continue.If the issue matters, practice saying what needs to be said without accusation. Replace “You always...” with “When you… I feel...” or “I need...” Explain the behavior rather than attacking the person. Choose a calm time and tone rather than speaking in the heat of anger.Then ask yourself one more question: Am I protecting real peace or trying to keep someone from being unhappy with me?Sometimes the most peaceful thing we can do is have the conversation we have been avoiding.Coming NextLoyalty That Protects Wrongdoing Is Not FaithfulnessLoyalty is admirable. We want people who stand by us when life gets hard. But what happens when loyalty requires us to lie, make excuses, hide destructive behavior or protect someone from the consequences of their own choices?In the next article, we will explore the difference between genuine faithfulness and enabling - and why loving someone sometimes means refusing to help them continue hurting themselves or others. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rhondasciortino.substack.com

I emancipated from the child welfare system at 16 with nothing.Years later, I returned to my high school reunion as a successful business owner, real estate investor, national child advocate, professional speaker, author of 15 books, founder of Successful Survivors Foundation, and a woman on a mission to help others, especially survivors of childhood trauma, find and fulfill their purpose and experience their own authentic success.What happened between those two moments matters. But the deeper story is found in the character and personality traits and survival skills that helped me create personal and professional success. Those things that you already possess can help you too.Your character, personality, values, beliefs, attitude and abilities are among the most valuable assets you can possess. They can help you build a successful life regardless of where you started or what you have endured.The best part is that they cost nothing. And you may already possess far more of them than you realize.CharacterCharacter is revealed through the choices you make, particularly when those choices are difficult, costly or unseen. The following traits contribute to success in every area of life:Honesty is telling the truth even when a lie would be easier. It is saying, “I made the mistake,” before someone else discovers it. Honesty may cost you comfort in the moment, but it earns something far more valuable: trust.Integrity is doing what is right when no one is watching and no reward is guaranteed. It is returning money when you have been overpaid or keeping a promise after it becomes inconvenient. Integrity aligns your private decisions with your public values.Courage is not the absence of fear. It is taking the next right step while fear is still present. Courage is applying for the job you don't feel qualified for, leaving a harmful relationship or speaking up when remaining silent would be safer.Perseverance is continuing after the excitement has faded and the work has become difficult. It is submitting another proposal after several rejections or returning to school after an unsuccessful semester. Perseverance understands that a setback is an event, not a verdict.Work ethic is consistently giving your best effort, whether the assignment feels important or insignificant. The employee who arrives on time, prepared, solves problems, avoids drama and conflict, and completes what needs to be done becomes someone others can depend on.Determination keeps your destination in sight even when you must change your route. When one door closes, a determined person looks for another door, builds a door or finds a completely different way forward.Resilience is the ability to recover, adapt and rebuild after hardship. Resilience does not deny pain. It refuses to allow pain to have the final word.PersonalityYour personality influences how you experience life and how others experience you. You do not need to possess every desirable personality trait. You do need to understand your natural tendencies and learn how to use them wisely.Ask the people who know you best which qualities they see in you. Their answers may reveal strengths you have overlooked.A healthy sense of humor helps you keep difficult moments in perspective. When plans fall apart, the ability to laugh at the situation — and sometimes at yourself — can release tension and help everyone begin again.Optimism is the expectation that something good can still come from an imperfect situation. An optimist who is turned down for an opportunity does not pretend the rejection feels good. Instead, that person asks, “What can I learn from this, and what opportunity might still be ahead?”Hope is closely connected to optimism, but it reaches deeper. Hope allows you to imagine a good future before you can see evidence of it. It gives you a reason to take one more step when everything in you wants to stop.An even temperament helps you respond thoughtfully instead of reacting impulsively. When you receive a harsh email, emotional regulation is the wisdom to pause before replying. Disappointment is inevitable, but allowing disappointment to control your behavior is not.AttitudeThe importance of a positive attitude cannot be overstated. This can be difficult for people who naturally tend toward pessimism, but a positive mental attitude can be developed through intentional thought and practice.A positive attitude does not require pretending that everything is fine. It means refusing to believe that one painful moment will define your entire life.We cannot always control the first thought that enters our minds, but we can decide whether we will entertain it, challenge it or redirect it. We do not have to become prisoners of every negative thought that appears.When your mind says, “I failed, so I am a failure,” you can challenge that thought with the truth: “This attempt did not succeed, but I can learn, adjust and try again.”When you lose an opportunity, you can spend months asking, “Why did this happen to me?” Or you can ask, “What can this teach me, and what can I do next?”That shift does not change the past. It changes what the past is allowed to do to your future.Values and BeliefsYour values identify what matters most to you. Your beliefs shape what you accept as true about yourself, other people and what is possible for your future.Together, your values and beliefs create guardrails. They help you remain within the boundaries of the life you want to build and become the best version of yourself.Imagine being offered a profitable opportunity that requires you to mislead a customer. If honesty is one of your core values, the decision has already been made. Your values protect you from trading long-term peace and credibility for short-term gain.Values and beliefs also help you decide who belongs in your inner circle. A person may be charming, successful or exciting, but if that person repeatedly mocks your convictions, violates your boundaries or pressures you to compromise, closeness to that person can derail your life. That is too high a price to pay.Boundaries are not punishments. They are filters that protect what you value most.AbilitiesYour abilities include the things you have learned in classrooms, workplaces, relationships and difficult life experiences.You may have survival skills, conflict-resolution skills, communication skills, friendship skills and abilities you developed simply because life required you to figure things out. You also have natural talents that were present long before you recognized their value.Some survival responses require healing, but others can be refined into powerful abilities. A child who learned to read a room may grow into an adult with exceptional situational awareness. Someone who learned to accomplish a great deal with very little may become an unusually resourceful entrepreneur. A person who frequently helped others resolve disagreements may have the natural ability to lead, negotiate or build strong teams.You may be a gifted listener, organizer, teacher, encourager, problem-solver, storyteller or peacemaker. Because these abilities come naturally, you may assume they are ordinary. They are not. What feels effortless to you may be exactly what someone else needs.Purposeful Practice: Take Inventory of What You Already PossessCreate five headings on a piece of paper:CharacterPersonalityAttitudeValues and beliefsAbilitiesUnder each heading, list the assets you possess. Beside every asset, write one example of how you have demonstrated it.Do not merely write, “I am resilient.” Write the evidence: “I rebuilt my life after losing my job.” “I raised my children while going to school.” “I survived something that could have destroyed me, and I am still moving forward.”Then circle one asset you have not been using fully and identify one way you can put it to work this week.You may not have started life with money, connections, encouragement or opportunity. But that does not mean you started with nothing.When you recognize, develop and intentionally use the assets already within you, you can create a purposeful life and experience the five facets of real success: healthy relationships, peace, joy, wellness and the financial provision needed to do what you are uniquely qualified to do.Your past may explain where you began. It does not get to decide where you finish. Get full access to Rhonda Sciortino's Wounds to Wisdom Diary & Podcast at rhondasciortino.substack.com/subscribe

For most of my life, I held on tightly.I wanted more time. More accomplishments. To help more people. To advocate for more children. To protect more children from abuse. More security. More certainty. I wanted the people I loved to stay safe, healthy, and close. I wanted to protect them from pain, from loss, from bad decisions, and from all the things that can wound a human heart.I also cared far too much about things that, in the end, simply don't matter very much.Our culture teaches us to value beauty, popularity, money, fame, power, influence, athletic ability, success, and status. We spend extraordinary amounts of time pursuing things that disappear almost as quickly as they arrive. Scripture calls it “vanity”—a chasing after the wind.The older I get, the more clearly I see that it really is.I'm not saying those things are evil. Some can even be used for tremendous good. But they make terrible gods because they were never meant to satisfy the human soul.The only One who can do that is God.As I find myself in the fall—or perhaps even the winter—of my life, something unexpected has happened.My grip is loosening. Not because I've given up. Not because I've become discouraged. Not because I want this life to end. Quite the opposite.I'm simply beginning to see this life for what it is: a temporary assignment, not my permanent address.For those of us who belong to Christ, Heaven isn't wishful thinking. It is home.If we truly believe that Jesus conquered death, if we truly believe there is no more sorrow, no more suffering, no more tears, no more sin, and no more separation from God, why do we cling so desperately to a place that was never intended to be our forever home?Jesus never promised that this world would satisfy us. He gave Himself. He promised eternity. He promised that He was preparing a place for us. And that changes everything.Perhaps the greatest freedom for me has come in releasing the people I love.For years I carried the weight of believing that somehow their future depended on me. I prayed, worried, advised, protected, intervened, and hoped.I still pray. I still love. I still show up whenever God gives me the strength and opportunity. But I've finally realized something profoundly comforting.God has loved them longer than I have. He loves them more perfectly than I ever could. He knows every wound they've carried, every decision they'll make, every heartache they'll experience, and every opportunity they'll have to know Him more deeply.He alone has the power to walk with them every moment of their lives—including the day each of them makes the same transition every one of us will eventually make.Helping my loved ones through to the end of their lives was never my job. It was always His. Turns out, I am not Jesus Junior! There's only one savior, and I'm not Him! So I'm learning to open my hands. To love deeply without trying to control outcomes. To serve faithfully without believing everything depends on me. To trust the One whose hands are infinitely stronger than mine.I'm grateful for every sunrise God gives me.I'm grateful for every conversation, every opportunity to encourage someone, every chance to love well, to forgive quickly, to laugh, to learn, and to serve.I want to stay exactly as long as God has work for me to do. Not one day less. Not one day more. When my assignment here is complete, I won't see death as the end. I'll see it as graduation. I'll finally meet face to face the Savior I've loved but never seen. I'll discover answers to questions I've carried my whole life. I'll understand things that have puzzled me for decades. I'll see justice made perfect. I'll see love without any selfishness. I'll experience goodness without corruption.I'll finally be Home.Until then, I hope to live fully. To love extravagantly. To forgive freely. To serve faithfully. To hold this world loosely while holding Christ tightly. Because the older I become, the more convinced I am that the best is not behind us.For those who belong to Jesus… the best is yet to come.One Action: Open your hands today. Think of one person or one burden you've been gripping too tightly, and consciously place it into God's care. Pray, “Lord, they have always belonged to You. Help me trust You more than I trust myself.”One Prayer: Father, thank You for reminding me that this world is temporary and that my true home is with You. Help me live each day with purpose, love well the people You've entrusted to me, and release them into Your perfect care. Keep my eyes fixed on eternity without neglecting the work You've given me today. May I finish my race faithfully, trusting that Your plans are always better than mine. In Jesus' name, amen.One Declaration: I will live fully for Christ today, hold this world loosely, trust God completely with those I love, and look forward with hope to the eternal home He has prepared for me.This life is good. Eternity with Jesus is better♥️ Get full access to Rhonda Sciortino's Wounds to Wisdom Diary & Podcast at rhondasciortino.substack.com/subscribe

One day, a little boy became separated from his parents in a crowded store.Within minutes, he was frightened and confused.A store employee noticed him crying and knelt beside him. “What happened?” she asked.“I can't find my mom and dad,” he said.She gently asked, “What's your name?”He answered.Then she asked, “Who do you belong to?”The boy immediately said his parents' names.In that moment, something changed. He became a little more calm.He still didn't know where he was.He still didn't know how to find his parents.But he remembered who he belonged to.His circumstances hadn't changed.His identity hadn't changed either.He wasn't a lost boy.He was a cherished son who had become temporarily separated from the people who loved him.The truth about who he was had never changed. He had only forgotten it in a moment of panic.Sometimes life does the same thing to us.We spend years trying to figure out who we are.We search for identity in our accomplishments, our careers, our titles, our income, our relationships, our family background, our successes, and even our failures.Many of us also define ourselves by the painful things that have happened to us, resulting in us seeing ourselves as victims, broken or even irreparable.But while those experiences shape our perspective, they do not define our identity.The greatest danger is not that we underestimate our own power.The greatest danger is that we forget whose we are.Scripture tells us: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are.” — 1 John 3:1Notice that John doesn't say we might become children of God. He doesn't say we must earn the title. He doesn't say it depends on our accomplishments. He says, “That is what we are.”Before you achieved anything. Before you failed at anything. Before you were praised. Before you were criticized. Before you were wounded. Before you were healed. God knew you. God loved you. God called you His.The world teaches us to build our identity on what we do.God invites us to build our identity on whose we are, and that one distinction changes everything.Because what we do can change. Titles come and go. Money comes and goes. Relationships begin and end. Health rises and falls. People's opinions of us change. But God's love does not—it never will. Trauma often distorts our identity. It whispers lies. “You are damaged.” “You are unwanted.” “You are unlovable.” “You are nothing.”God speaks the truth: “You are Mine, you are cherished, you are precious.”When we truly understand that truth, something remarkable happens. We stop living for approval. We stop trying to prove our worth. We stop measuring our value by our accomplishments. We stop allowing our wounds to tell us who we are.Instead, we begin living from the security of knowing that our value was established by God long before we ever accomplished anything.That's what happened to me. Before I knew Jesus, I thought—I knew because I was told—that I was not wanted, not loved, and shouldn't have even been born. I lived as one told those things would—trying to be unnoticed, head down, standing in the back, hiding in the shadows. Then I was introduced to Jesus. Because I didn't understand how a good God could let bad things happen to a little girl, I looked at Him as the “clockmaker God,” as someone who created the world and everything and everyone in it and then stepped back to watch the chaos that ensued without interfering. After years of reading my Bible and listening to good Bible teachers, I experienced an inexplicable, supernatural, resolution to a seemingly impossible situation—otherwise known as a miracle. (I'll tell the whole story in a different article and video.) I knew then that God was not standing back, detached and uncaring about His children.I had always been a hard worker, but after that first miracle, I raised my head and looked to God for specific direction. I quit my job, started my own business, and began to work hard to glorify God—no longer to earn my right to live, but to love God and His people. A life of miracles ensued. I went from believing that the strength we search for is not found in ourselves. It is found in the God who created us, loves us, and calls us His own.We often think our greatest problem is that we don't know who we are. But more often, the real problem is that we've forgotten whose we are.You are not your success.You are not your failures.You are not your title.You are not your income.You are not your trauma.You are not the worst thing that ever happened to you.You are not the worst thing you have ever done.Your deepest identity is this: You are a beloved child of God.And that changes everything.Reflection QuestionWhat would change in your life if you truly believed that your worth comes not from what you do, but from whose you are? Get full access to Rhonda Sciortino's Wounds to Wisdom Diary & Podcast at rhondasciortino.substack.com/subscribe

IN THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTICES CATEGORY… One of the most painful experiences of my professional life happened when I allowed comparison and jealousy to tear down my self-worth.Many of us have lost someone we loved when they left us for someone else. We've seen others get the promotion we were hoping for. For me, it happened on the day one of my favorite clients moved his business to my competitor. It might not sound terrible compared to other betrayals, but for me, one of my best clients calling to say he was leaving felt like A KNIFE IN MY HEART. I asked if I had let him down in any way.“No, never,” he said. “We love you.”Completely confused, I asked if the competition was offering better protection for the organization? Was it less expensive? Were they geographically closer? The answer was no to all of those questions.I hesitated— I genuinely did not know what to say. Finally, I asked if there was anything I could do to persuade him to stay with me and my team.That's when he told me how my competitor had successfully won my him over (and was planning to win many more).He told me that Anthony, a competitor who had only recently entered the foster care risk management space that I had devoted my life to, had written a book.“A book about what?” I asked, trying to understand how that had anything to do with my client leaving me for the competition. I assumed that he had written some clever risk management strategies specifically for foster care organizations. If that were the case, I thought, why didn't I think of that?But no.My client explained that Anthony had written about his childhood.My head started spinning.Did he have a more sympathetic story than I did? Was I supposed to be telling my own story to gain sympathy from others? I hated pity. Was pity the thing costing me this account? Then my client explained that Anthony had written about growing up in a middle-class family and not having what the other kids had. He wrote about how his family hadn't been able to afford sports uniforms.I could literally feel heat rising up in me as I listened.The people I lived with couldn't afford food (somehow they always had cigarettes and alcohol and the occasional baggie of pot or pills).As I listened, I felt my face getting red, and I thought that my hair might spontaneously combust.I had chosen to protect and defend foster care organizations because I had been one of those kids—NOT because it was an “untapped market segment that had profit potential.”I had experienced abandonment, neglect, abuse, homelessness at 8 years old, and poverty before I emancipated from the foster care system at 16. Because of what I experienced, I dedicated myself to creating the first risk management organization in the United States dedicated solely to protecting organizations that cared for abused and neglected children. I had an intimate understanding of the ways to prevent tragedy in foster care because I had been one of those children. And now my client was leaving because my competitor had written a book about not having sports uniforms? Seriously??I was overcome with what felt like a hurricane of disappointment, anger, envy and, yes, self-pity. I had worked hard for this client. I had negotiated the best coverage and premiums, and had provided risk management strategies that came from my personal understanding of why children get injured or killed in foster care. I knew intuitively about actions child welfare professionals could take to begin to heal the hearts of the children in their care to influence them to want to behave and appreciate the safe haven they'd been provided. But I wasn't able to say any of that in the moment. My client thanked me for everything I had done for his organization, wished me well, and was gone.Before I could process what had happened, I learned from other clients that my former favorite client had purchased copies of Anthony's book and was sharing them with his friends, many of whom were also my clients. He was promoting the competition!I could not sleep.I would like to say I couldn't eat either, but that isn't true. I sat on the floor of my kitchen that night crying so hard I could barely breathe while somehow managing to eat two entire packages of cookies.While I was on the floor with mascara running down my face and cookie crumbs all over me, all I could think of was my competitor who had parachuted in out of nowhere to the national child welfare scene wearing custom-made Italian suits that probably cost more than I had paid for my first car. I compared everything about my work to his, and the comparison that lead to full blown jealousy was stealing my joy, obliterating my peace, and destroying my confidence.Notice who was destroying me? It wasn't my client. And it wasn't my competition. They were at home living their lives completely oblivious to the fact that I was on the floor covered in cookie crumbs. I was the one doing the comparing that manufactured the jealousy that was killing me.That realization taught me something that changed my life.I learned that jealousy could destroying meAfter I'd had a chance to process what happened, I was able to think more clearly. More strategically. I was still angry and disappointed, but fueled by those negative emotions, I developed a plan.I realized that I needed to figure out how to communicate my story and the perspective that I brought to my clients that no one else could bring. I was going to earn my client back—and many more! My book would be so much better than Anthony's. It would be my most powerful sales tool. I WAS FIRED UP! So I sat down to write.I wrote two and a half pages before I completely ran out of things to say.I tried so hard. I even went to Barnes & Noble and bought a book about how to write a book. It did not help.I had written the chronological facts of my life, but I had no idea how to tell the story that turned my pain into my purpose and how my purpose could help others. Since then I've written 15 books, including books featured on the “Today” show, “Ellen,” and other television and radio shows, podcasts, newspapers, magazines, and blogs.What changed?I learned that I cannot write for the wrong reasons. I cannot write while driven by negative emotions. And, most importantly, I learned thatcomparison and jealousy are poison.I realized that there will always be people with a bigger house, a better car, the promotion we wanted, the beautiful relationship that appears flawless, or the life that seems easier than ours.If we spend our lives focused on what others have, we will completely miss the blessings we already have. And we can miss the good things that we are capable of doing in our future. Had I remained jealous, I would never have written the books that have positively contributed to the lives of others. Comparison and jealousy torture us because those negative emotions cause us to focus on what is missing instead of what is present. And the moment gratitude disappears, joy goes with it.Instead of obsessing over what somebody else has (or appears to have), let's look around at the blessings we already possess that millions of people around the world would give anything to have. (The most precious of those blessings have heartbeats.)There is no finish line where comparison and jealousy finally stop. If you allow yourself to live that way, you will spend your entire life chasing a moving target called “enough.” And you will never arrive.Peace, joy, and purpose begin when jealousy is replaced with gratitude.What destructive emotion will you replace? Get full access to Rhonda Sciortino's Wounds to Wisdom Diary & Podcast at rhondasciortino.substack.com/subscribe

What we say about people when they aren't there reveals a great deal about our character.We've all known people who “dish” about others who aren't in the room. Sometimes they're trying to be funny. Sometimes it's a way to fit in. Others claim they're just “venting” or “sharing.”But regardless of the justification, gossip is unfair, potentially damaging, and wrong.Gossiping says a lot about the person doing it. Why do they feel the need to tear down someone else? What's lacking in their life? What insecurities do they have that makes them feel better after they've violated a confidence or exposed the worst thing about someone else? Do they not have anything more meaningful to talk about? No interesting ideas? No good accomplishments? No issues about which they are passionate? No places they've gone, things they've learned, or books, music, and experiences worth discussing?Gossip tears people down, destroys relationships, and reveals some of the worst parts of our character.So let's define it clearly.Gossip is talking negatively about another person without that person present to defend themselves.In practical terms, gossip is deeply unfair.When we talk negatively about someone who is not present, they are not there to explain themselves, defend themselves, or give the context behind their words, attitudes, or behaviors. We do not walk in other people's shoes. We often have no idea what pain, pressure, fear, heartbreak, trauma, exhaustion, or circumstances may have influenced the way they acted.And it is not our place to judge.We can usually recognize gossip by its purpose. If the goal of the conversation is to damage the way others see someone, elevate oneself in the eyes of others, gain sympathy from the listener, or all of the above, it has crossed the line into gossip. That can cause real harm.Words are powerful. Once an opinion about someone is planted in another person's mind, it can be very difficult to undo. Reputations can be destroyed. Relationships can be damaged. Trust can be broken. Entire groups of people can turn against someone based on one side of a story.But let's also be careful not to confuse all conversation with gossip.Not every discussion about another person is wrong.If you share information because you genuinely want others to celebrate someone, support them, pray for them, help them, protect them, or better understand a situation in a healthy and constructive way, that is very different from gossip.It all comes down to our intention in sharing information.Before sharing something about another person, it's wise to pause and ask ourselves a few important questions that could prevent enormous damage:* Would I say this if they were standing beside me?* Would I want someone saying this about me?* What do I hope to accomplish by sharing this information?* Is it helpful?* Could it be hurtful?* Am I speaking from love, wisdom, and concern—or from insecurity, frustration, pride, jealousy, hurt, or a desire for attention or sympathy?If after considering all these questions, you still want to talk to someone to help process feelings or strategize about an approach or some other constructive conversation about an issue you have with someone, then do so with a trusted friend who can help. The intention here is to resolve an issue—not to throw someone under the bus.Wise people understand that protecting another person's dignity says just as much about us as anything we could ever say about them.Lastly, but certainly not the least is that the Bible tells us that gossip is one of seven things that God hates. That alone should make us stop and think carefully before we speak negatively about another person. Proverbs 6:16–19 says, “There are six things God hates, and a seventh He detests: pride, lies, murder, people who pursue wickedness, people who rush into mischief, false accusations, and those who gossip.”Has someone talked about you behind your back? Get full access to Rhonda Sciortino's Wounds to Wisdom Diary & Podcast at rhondasciortino.substack.com/subscribe

There comes a point when the relentless motion of life—the notifications, the arguments, the outrages of the day—begin to corrode your peace. We live in an age of unprecedented noise. Not merely the sound of machines, but the clamor of minds that cannot stop thinking, scrolling, calculating, fearing. The modern disease is not scarcity of information but the overload of it, and the anxiety that comes from believing that we are personally responsible for controlling all of it.But if you really want to withdraw—not to abdicate, not to throw in the towel, but to reclaim your sanity, get your footing and begin again with fresh energy and perspective—three things are required.First, you must believe in a Creator.Not a vague spiritual energy, not some moral abstraction—but a Mind that intentionally brought forth this ordered cosmos. The atheist believes that existence is a cosmic accident. The believer, however, believes that it is a cosmic act of love. One worldview breeds the pressure of responsibility and restless self-reliance; the other, profound peace. When you see purpose behind the stars, the burden to control every storm of your small existence begins to ease.Second, you must believe that this Creator is good.This is the hard part. To believe in God is intellectually respectable; to believe that He is good, when evil so evidently exists, is the leap of faith that divides cynics from saints. But consider the alternative: a world where power is random, where suffering is meaningless, where justice is an illusion. If the Creator is good, then chaos is not final—it is only apparent. Then even the detours of our lives are not derailments but design.Third, do your best—and then rest.The modern mind does not rest because it does not trust. It labors endlessly to secure what only faith can guarantee. But if there is Divine order—if the universe is not a cruel joke but a moral story—then we can release the illusion of omnipotence. We do our part, and the rest belongs to God. The Christian narrative is not one of resignation, but of redemption: a God who, when things went wrong, entered His own creation to set it right.And so, amid the noise of the present, remember: this life is temporary. It is a corridor, not a kingdom. The next life—that is the country of permanence. That is where every wrong is righted, every question answered, every restless heart finally home.Peace, then, is not found in escape from the world, but in entrusting it to the One who made it.Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rhondasciortino.substack.com

There is no greater scandal than evil. I'm not referring to the petty troubles of daily life, but to the monumental horrors that scar the human story: Auschwitz. The killing fields. Children sold into slavery in the shadows of our cities. These are not mere inconveniences or unfortunate accidents. These are intentional, cataclysmic denials of human dignity. And they pose, inescapably, the ancient question: If God there is a God, is He good? Is He all-powerful? Is He sovereign? If all these things are true, then how can such evil things happen?Is God powerless to prevent these evils? Is He apathetic towards the evil that threatens to kill, steal and destroy? Is the fight between good and evil an equal match that could ultimately end us all?These may be the single most common questions that lead to the abandonment of faith.If there is a God who is good and all-powerful, why would He allow pain and suffering?The Christian answer begins with a distinction. God is sovereign, yes. But sovereignty is not tyranny. The Creator of the Universe is not a cosmic puppeteer pulling strings. Scripture insists on two truths held in tension: God reigns, and man is free. Horrors like the Holocaust and child trafficking are not authored by God. They are authored by humans, exercising the very freedom that makes us capable of love but also, tragically, of inhuman cruelty.This concept is called the mysterium iniquitatis—the mystery of evil. Mystery not because it is inscrutable nonsense, but because evil is irreducible to mere biological, psychological, or sociological factors. There is no logical syllogism that can make the trafficking of children “make sense.” To demand such a thing is to trivialize both the crime and the suffering.And yet Christianity refuses despair. It insists on a paradox: that even the most hellish evil does not stand outside of God's providence. He permits it, not because He delights in it. He does not. And not because He is weak. He is not. He permits evil to exist because He respects the terrifying dignity of human freedom. And because, in ways hidden from us, He can and does draw good even from catastrophe. The Cross itself is the supreme proof. The greatest moral crime in history—the torture and murder of God's innocent Son—becomes the door to our redemption.This is no excuse for evil. It is a summons. If Christ identifies Himself with “the least of these,” then every victim of trafficking, every child cast aside, is, to us, Christ in disguise. To serve them is to serve Him. To fail them is to fail Him. Providence is not an invitation to sit back and observe. It is a mandate for action.Great or small, there is something that each of us is called to do.We will never eliminate all pain and suffering in this life. That will happen in Heaven. For here and now, evil remains. But that doesn't mean that we can shrug our shoulders and declare that nothing can be done. Just because every evil cannot be destroyed in this life does not mean that something cannot be done.The promise of Christianity is clear: Evil does not win. God's sovereignty assures that those involved with Auschwitz, child trafficking, and every unspeakable violation will be brought to justice. At the final judgment, no perpetrator will have the final word. The last word belongs to the One on the throne, the One who will wipe away every tear.That is not cheap consolation. It is a statement of faith, one tested by the fire of history. To believe it is to fight evil without illusion but with hope—hope that justice will be done, and that love, not horror, will be the final verdict on humanity.#WhyGodAllowsEvil #GodIsSovereign #FaithAndSuffering #LightOverDarkness #HopeInChristRhonda Sciortino, author of 30 Days To Happiness, 30 Days To Love, Succeed Because Of What You've Been Through, and many other books, does her best to help people through her podcast, blog articles, videos, online courses and social media. To expand her reach to help others, she founded Successful Survivors Foundation, the Love Is Action Community Initiative, and she co-founded the Alliance for Child Protection to protect children from predators, traffickers, and drug victimization.Bible Scripture ReferencesPsalm 103:19, “The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.”Proverbs 16:9, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”Deuteronomy 30:19, “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live”Romans 1:28–32, “ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; hey have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”2 Thessalonians 2:7-8, “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.”Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”Genesis 50:20, “You intended to do evil to me, but God decided to make it serve a good, to fulfill that which today has come true: to keep alive a numerous people.”Acts 2:23–24, “By the set plan and foreknowledge of God, he was handed over into the hands of lawless men. Crucifying him, you killed him. However, God raised him up, releasing him from the pangs of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.”Romans 5:8, “Thus, God proved his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”Matthew 25:40, “And the King will answer, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brethren of mine, you did for me.'”John 16:33, “I have told you this so that in me you may be in peace. In the world you will endure suffering. But take courage! I have overcome the world.”1 Corinthians 15:54–57, “When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then will the words that are written be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be death. Neither will there be any mourning or crying or pain, for the old order has passed away.”Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rhondasciortino.substack.com

Once upon a time, we called this tolerance. Live and let live. That quaint notion has apparently been retired. Consider the reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk—and, in another case, of Iryna Zarutska. The most disturbing thing is not only that such murders occurred, but that there are those who rush to justify them. Worse still, some celebrate.The rationale? That Kirk's words—labeled “hate speech”—made him fair game. As if speech, however disagreeable, were a capital offense. As if the self-appointed arbiters of virtue are entitled to be judge, jury, and, in theory at least, executioner. “That's what he gets,” they say. Really? For words?It is impossible to make moral sense of this. Killing someone for their beliefs or speech is barbarism. Killing a young refugee for nothing more than seeking legal sanctuary in the United States is equally incomprehensible.What explains this descent? Perhaps it is the corruption of a moral category. We once understood disagreement as a matter of error—someone misguided, someone wrong. Wrong could be corrected, debated, argued against. Wrong could be persuaded.But once you declare the other side not wrong but evil, the ground shifts. Evil is not debated. Evil is not persuaded. Evil is eradicated.This is what turns a subway car into a killing ground. This is what leads a young man in Utah to etch “Hey, fascist, catch!” on a bullet casing before murdering Kirk. The word “fascist” once meant something precise—Merriam-Webster's sober definition includes autocracy, regimentation, suppression of opposition. Today it has become a catch-all epithet, a synonym for “evil,” flung at political opponents with reckless abandon.And so the progression is tragically predictable. If Kirk is a “fascist,” then he is evil. If he is evil, then killing him becomes, in the murderer's twisted logic, not just permissible but virtuous.But look at Kirk's work. Hundreds of public debates on faith, family, and conservative values. Sometimes confrontational, often spirited—but never evil. Evil does not engage in civil discourse. Evil does not invite opposing voices to the microphone. Evil silences. Kirk did the opposite: he challenged, he provoked thought, he defended his ideas. Whether you agreed with him or not, he modeled debate in its most democratic form.Speech is not violence. Words are not bullets. To confuse the two is to march down a path that ends in justifying murder for opinion. That is not the road to justice. It is the road to tyranny.Rhonda Sciortinowww.rhonda.org#EvilVsWrong #FascismMisused #DefendDemocracy #MoralClarity #DefendFreeSpeech #DemocracyInDebate #SpeechNotViolence #StopTheHate #MoralClarity #IdeasMatter #PoliticalViolence #DemocracyInDebate #DefendFreeSpeech #Tolerance #LiveAndLetLive #CivilDiscourse #SpeechNotViolence #RespectDifferencesThanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rhondasciortino.substack.com

It's been awhile, and for that I apologize. This episode is about what I've been doing you're doing and what I hope you will do to be the agent of your own uplift in the pursuit of your higher calling. That's what your purpose really is--it's your higher calling. I hope you'll dial down the noise of the world around you and give yourself a mini-vacay of about 30 minutes, and listen to this and consider what you can do to come up higher, to reach for your calling, and to take a BIG STEP out into the deep where you either live your purpose or give up and flail in the waters of mediocrity. Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched. If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1. You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU. #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast

This is the third in a series of questions you can ask yourself that will lead you down a path of self-exploration, the purpose of which is to discover the clues to your authentic identity and the unique purpose for your life. I encourage you to give yourself permission to take time to really contemplate these questions because your responses may uncover clues to your purpose that are waiting to be found, Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched. If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1 and www.youtube.com/@rhondasciortino. You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU. #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

This is the third in a series of questions you can ask yourself that will lead you down a path of self-exploration, the purpose of which is to discover the clues to your authentic identity and the unique purpose for your life. I encourage you to give yourself permission to take time to really contemplate these questions because your responses may uncover clues to your purpose that are waiting to be found, Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched. If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For the video version, join me on www.youtube.com/@rhondasciortino Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1. You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU. #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Every day that goes by, you hear new information that forms opinions and perspectives and informs your attitude, words and actions. Think of the things that you take into your eyes and ears as lenses through which you see the world. As the days, weeks, months and years pass, you continue to take in new information which changes you and the way you see the world. You learn and grow. So, what does all this have to do with your purpose? The point is that if you asked yourself questions of this nature in the past, your answers then may be very different from your answers now. Value yourself and your purpose enough to take the time to really consider your current answers to these, and all of the other questions, in this series. Hopefully your answers will create a path that you can follow toward your unique-in-all-the-world purpose. There are people who need you and what you can do and what you know and the value you bring. They're waiting. Find Your Purpose Now To watch the video version, go to www.youtube.com/rhondasciortino or www.rhonda.org/purpose. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

It's time to revisit the things we're interested in, our opinions, judgments and about specific details about yourself. Before you swipe away thinking this isn't necessary, consider that you know more now than you ever have. You've changed. You've grown. You've learned some things you didn't know before. You've experienced some things that changed your perspective and put context around things that didn't make sense when you were the younger you. This is the first in a series of 50 questions that you can ask yourself to take inventory on the details of YOU, the more mature, adult you. If you will invest the time in yourself, you will find clues that lead you to some discoveries about yourself that will help to shine light on the path toward the purpose for your life. Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched. If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1. You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU. #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Tomorrow is a brand new day, so start fresh by saying YES to opportunities to use your strengths and abilities to help others. Forget what others will think or say. Set your fears aside. Have faith in the truth that there is a good purpose for your life, a purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched. You are qualified. You are equipped. You have everything you need (or access to what you will need). Run with reckless abandon toward the good purpose for your life... well, be responsible, but say YES to helping others, and let me know about the amazing things that happen in your life. Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched. If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1. You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU. #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

It's Christmas Eve. Let's talk about the purpose of Jesus. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

If you hate yourself, there are three things you can do TODAY-- First, figure out where this feeling originated. Think about where you first felt this feeling. What do you remember people saying about you or to you? Did the people who were supposed to love you fail at that? Who did something to you or failed to do something for you that left you feeling unliked, unwanted or unloved? Think about that person or people. Were they intentionally mean? Were they wounded and broken? Were they not in their right mind? Were they mentally ill or under the influence of something that impaired their thinking? Whatever it is, the problem is with them, not with you. THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THEM. When we're young, we have no ability to put the words and actions of others into proper context and perspective. We automatically feel that if one person doesn't like us, no one will. If someone mistreats us, we think we deserve it. If you can trace your memories back to what happened as the mature adult you are now, you can put context and perspective around your current feelings. The people who contributed to negative feelings about yourself DON'T KNOW THE REAL YOU. Even if they were there since you were born, or they're the people who brought you into the world, they don't know who you really are. They don't know all of the good that's in you. The second thing you can do is to make a list of all of those good things about you. A quick internet search of personality traits, character traits and types of intelligences will reveal a list of words that can help you describe the goodness inside of you. After you've found these words, the third thing is to think about all you've survived and the things that you've achieved or accomplished that you didn't think you could do. Give yourself credit for all you've lived through and for all that you've learned along the way. When you do all three of these things, write down the words that describe you, the things you've survived or achieved, and the things you've learned along the way. Look at all of those good things and you can see who you REALLY are. From there, you can open the door to your potential which is where you purpose lies. Hopefully you can eventually forgive those people who didn't like you. They probably didn't like themselves either. Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched. If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1. You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU. #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Yep, there's no way around it--your purpose involves interacting with others. Have you noticed that it's so much easier to be kind, loving, and forgiving when no one is around?! The people in your life who are difficult aren't a hindrance to fulfilling your purpose--THEY ARE PART OF YOUR PURPOSE. They're in your life for a reason, and you're in their lives for a reason. We all want people in our life who care about us, who treat us well, who are sincerely concerned about our emotional and physical well being. If we're honest, most of us would say that the people in our lives fall short. They don't understand what we're trying to say, they get offended or hurt, they're demanding, their expectations of us are too high (don't they understand all the other things we have to do besides meet their needs?)... etc. But let's flip the script on this and consider that instead of hoping that others will be kind and loving to us we can be the ones to show kindness, love, patience, gentleness, generosity, mercy and all of the other things that we would like others to give us. When we do that, we model for others how it's done. Yes it's difficult, but by putting up with people and all their idiosyncrasies, we develop the good character traits within us, while at the same time, literally changing the atmosphere around us. Yep, dealing with difficult people with love and kindness (even if we have to do it through gritted teeth) makes us better people. If we do it long enough, we become the best version of ourselves. When we are our best possible selves, we attract good people into our lives. The irony is that even if the people to whom we show loving kindness cannot or will not be kind to us, others will come into our lives who will care about us. When we're at our best, we attract others who share the same love and kindness. In this episode of the Find Your Purpose Now Podcast we talk about shifting our mindset from expectations of others to caring for others expecting nothing in return. More irony--It's when we do this that things start changing. Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.     If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

We, being created in God's image, possess an immense capacity for creativity. Creativity comes in various forms and everyone is expected to use their unique creative skills. We have a shared responsibility to create positive relationships in our families, our neighborhoods, and in our communities. We can do this through small acts of kindness and by fostering connections. This may involve standing up against inappropriate behavior in our families, workplaces and neighborhoods. We can boldly set the tone for a positive atmosphere! (Think Rosa Parks--we can do what's right regardless of the bullies who behave otherwise!) Too many people leave their Christian faith each year. Instead of Christians influencing the culture, the culture is influencing us. Small compromises in behavior, such as engaging in inappropriate humor, watching explicit content, or listening to certain music, can slowly change a person's values and beliefs, leading to a departure from those values and the faith from which they emanate. It's incumbent upon each of us to live our faith and to share its benefits, even amidst challenges. We need not impose our faith on anyone but we should instead demonstrate it through love and good deeds. A person, a neighborhood, a workplace or a community that is characterized by faith and love is attractive and inspiring to others. Our purpose is found in our creative ability to influence the people around us in a positive, helpful way. To do this, it's helpful to find purpose and service in one's work, rather than viewing work as a necessary drudgery. Consider how your work benefits others, rather than focusing on your own personal gain. Think of ways to help the most vulnerable in your community. For example, collecting sweaters, coats, and blankets for the homeless, or asking for volunteers to join existing community projects. Check to see what opportunities to serve already exist in your area, but you don't have to wait for someone else to come up with an idea. You can take the initiative to serve. Helping others can be life-changing for the people you help AND FOR YOU! It can lead to unexpected friendships and enriching experiences. It's not always easy, and it's possible that we'll face obstacles but our perseverance in doing good will pay off! The importance of creative expression of love can provide a stable sense of worth that cannot be taken away. If you will adopt a mindset of putting your love into action, especially with people who cannot reciprocate, you will be influencing the culture for good. You don't have to be a Christian to do this, but Christians are supposed to be known for our love and kindness. Let's influence the culture rather than confirming to it by withholding our charitable actions from those who need them most. Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.     If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

In this episode of the Find Your Purpose Now Podcast, our guest Michelle Glogovac, shares how she found her purpose when she was faced with unemployment. Her life is so much more joyful now than before the adversity she experienced. Michelle created a lucrative business around what she loves doing, so every day is filled with the things that make her smile. Michelle gives her best advice on how to figure out how to find your purpose and how to make it work financially for you. Michelle Glogovic is the founder of the MLG Collective, which is a podcast PR business that helps people create and grow their podcasts to get their messages out to their audiences. She is also the host of her own podcast called, My Simplified Life. You can learn about Michelle and her awesome purpose at themlgcollective.com. Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.     If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

In this week's episode of the Find Your Purpose Now podcast, I share my story of going from homeless to home owner, from foster care to business owner, from being depressed to joyful, chaotic to peace-filled, from alone to loved by a beautiful group of family, friends and colleagues, and from being raised by atheists to being adopted by a loving God who has made miraculous arrangements for my life. I decided to share my story here as an example of what God can do. What happened in my life is not a result of my brilliance, talent or luck. It has everything to do with God's purpose for my life, the purpose for which He created and perfectly qualified me to be able to fulfill. All I did was say YES to God. I showed up and did my best, and God somehow, despite all my faults and failings, worked it all together for good. As of a result of the businesses that God led me to start, Human Services Insurance and Child Welfare Insurance Services, millions of dollars were put back into the budgets of private, non profit child welfare organizations throughout the United States. Those are dollars that were spent on kids instead of on insurance policies. We improved insurance coverage, and we defended the good people and organizations that care for children who have been abused. But most importantly, we analyzed the ways that kids get injured or killed in foster care, and we used that information to create risk management training programs that kept kids and their caregivers safer. I didn't have the pedigree or education to make all this happen. It happened because God arranged for me to experience childhood trauma, including a time of homelessness as a result of an uninsured fire. When I was 15 and was hired by an insurance agent, I couldn't believe there was such a thing as insurance that would have kept us from living in the park, eating out of trash cans, and wearing the same dirty, worn out clothes day after day for months. I became passionate about insurance. And when I found out that child welfare organizations were required to carry insurance and were often miscategorized and overcharged, my personal experience and my passion intersected, the result of which was God's life assignment for that season of my life. God didn't cause the hardships I experienced. Human beings did that. But God saw me through, and He worked every bit of it together for good. Homelessness taught me gratitude for hot running water and everything else we tend to take for granted. Abandonment by my parents taught me to be independent. Poverty taught me to handle money wisely. Abuse gave me a burning desire to protect vulnerable children. The miracles I saw as I navigated through the hardships of my life gave me faith in my Savior Jesus who will never leave nor forsake me. There's so much more but you get the picture. God can take everything you've experienced and use it for His good purpose for your life. Your part is to say YES, show up, do your best, and trust Him to do the rest. Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.     If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

There are seven basic human emotions that we all experience at some point in our lives. Some are not much more than a bump in the road, but others can distract us or deter us from finding and fulfilling the purpose for our life. The degree to which we live out our purpose determines the degree of peace and joy and wellness we enjoy in our lives. So it's critical to identify these 7 wounds and have a strategy for countering them when they show up in our lives. The seven basic human wounds are: REJECTION—feeling unloved and unwanted SHAME—believing there's something bad about you HOPELESSNESS—feeling like nothing will get better ABANDONMENT—a sense of being unseen and alone FEAR—leads to self protection and distrust POWERLESSNESS—feeling trapped and vulnerable CONFUSION—can't make sense of things or have trouble figuring things out Any one of these can trip us up, but if we know how to counter these 7 wounds, we can find and live our purpose. In fact, when we go through the process of healing these basic wounds, we can emerge from the process stronger and wiser than before the pain. Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.     If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠  For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Most of us are walking around feeling like we're not good enough. If only we were better (cuter, smarter, more talented, more educated, in better shape, blahblahblah), we'd be loved, we'd be accepted, we'd be valued, and we'd be happy. Social media posts tell us we're enough, but we don't believe it. Why? Because we depend too much on the acceptance and love of others. We get our self-esteem from others. So if they like us, we're good. If they don't like us, we're not. If our boss tells us we're doing a great job we are OK. When we make a mistake, we feel like losers. But do our mistakes define us? Are we really only as good as our worst day? The answer is a definitive NO. Your true identity is awesome. You are enough and you do matter but you're never going to believe it until you take a good look at who you are and embrace yourself flaws and all. When you embrace YOU, everything changes. When you do that, your purpose will open up to you. When you decide to BE YOU and let people who don't like the real you fall away, you make room for the people who will think you're awesome to come into your life. And that's when life gets really good! In this Find Your Purpose Now podcast we're talking about being you, embracing the real YOU, and what that means to your future. Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose.  So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.     If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠  For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

In this episode of the Find Your Purpose Now podcast, we talk about the distractions to fulfilling our purpose and what you can do to eliminate them--self-care being the first! How long can we sit quietly with God and listen really listen for his direction and leading? How many times in say a 30 minute would you pick up your phone to check for texts emails calls or would you even have it on silent and just be continually interrupted? If you had Jesus in front of you in a meeting, would you keep your phone on? Would you pick it up while He's talking to you just in case you might have a text from a bigger name? I am not anti-technology. I'm probably as addicted to it as the next person, but I am trying to be aware of the capability of technology to distract us into oblivion so that at the end of our lives, we look around and wonder where the time went and what we really accomplished. It's sad to get to the end of life and not have the sweet feeling of accomplishment and contentedness that comes only with the fulfillment of one's purpose. We can only know that feeling for sure if we've spent time really listening to God direction. It is said that there are one hundred billion stars in the universe and multiple universes, yet the Bible tells us that God names the stars. How can He be so vast and yet so intimate, knowing every tear we've cried. To get to know anyone, we must spend time with them. Carve out some time to disconnect from technology and spend time with God. When you do, you'll hear from Him about ideas, thoughts, suggestions etc that move you into the beautiful plan He created just for YOU. Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose.  So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.     If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠  For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

You have a great deal of power. Think about it. You have the power to see, to think, to communicate, to choose, and so much more. But as much power as you have, it's insignificant compared to the power you gain access to when you cooperate and collaborate with the Creator of the Universe, God, and His only Son, Jesus. (Don't roll your eyes.) Until you've suspended disbelief and really tried working with God on His perfect plan for your life, you haven't lived! In this episode of the FIND YOUR PURPOSE NOW Podcast, we're talking about the power of God to change your life. We never have to beg God to help us do what He created us to do! Your purpose is His plan. He created you with exactly the character traits, talents, abilities and everything else that you would need to fulfill the plans He created for you. (Check out Ephesians 2:10--YOU are His masterpiece!) When you connect with God and His power, you do what you can and He does the rest to fulfill your purpose. It's the best possible partnership. He's the best business consultant, coach, mentor, leader, CEO and everything else you could possibly need for your purpose, your peace and your joy. Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things.  Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose.  So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.     If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠  For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

YOU, yes you, are on a mission from God. We all are. You might have one mission throughout your life, or you might have many, varied missions throughout your life. Your mission is time-sensitive. There is a deadline. If you don't do it, it won't get done. Do you know what it is? If not, do you know how to figure it out? Almost every mission involves addressing a challenge or solving a problem. So look around and determine what the problems are. Your mission may involve an innovation or invention that helps someone else in particular or is very broad in scope that serves the greater good. In this episode we talk about identifying the challenge or problem that you are uniquely equipped to address, studying the issues, communicating your thoughts on the issue to others, building a team of collaborators who want to help, brainstorming possible solutions, finding funding (if necessary), launching a test run to see how well your ideas work, and then measuring effectiveness and making necessary adjustments. When you know your mission from God, you develop a sense of urgency powered by passion. You can do this! There has never been another time in human history when this has been easier. Technology makes it possible to build a team of people all over the world, gather information from people who understand what you hope to do, solicit help, measure effectiveness, etc. YOU CAN COMPLETE YOUR MISSION FROM GOD. You're made for it! In fact, with God on your side, you can't lose! Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things.  Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠ For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Let's talk about YOUR POTENTIAL to fully self-actualize, meaning, let's explore your unrealized potential to be all you can be and to do all you were born to do. Each of us has untapped potential. We literally cannot know what our potential is until we begin to try to access it. In this episode we're talking about taking care of our basic needs while moving forward with exploring our potential. Taking the time to consider our potential and taking the steps to learn what we're really capable of is one of the most significant things we can do with our lives. If we fail to do this, we can live out our lives with a vague sense that something is missing. We feel that because until we know and actualize our potential, something IS missing. Most people spend more time planning a vacation than they do planning to find out what they're truly capable of doing and becoming. Don't be like them. Take this step. You won't regret it. Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things.  Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose.  So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠  For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

So how in the world are you supposed to find your purpose when you're stuck in a job you hate or in a relationship with someone who's not supportive, or in any of the other hard places we find ourselves? In today's episode of FIND YOUR PURPOSE NOW Podcast, we talk about finding our purpose in EVERYTHING we do and in every aspect of our lives. It's in the difficult, even dead-end-feeling situations that we learn the lessons and acquire the character traits and abilities that we will need for the next chapter of our lives. When we focus on the details of everything that frustrates us, we have small perspective and small power, but when we back up and look at the bigger picture and find meaning in the work we're doing or in our relationships, we gain a larger perspective which is accompanied by more power. Perhaps the most important aspect of this conversation is that when we say to God, "Your will be done," we can be assured that every situation we find ourselves in can move us closer to our purpose. Pause and think about that for a moment. When you embrace where you are, try to make the best of it, find meaning in it, and learn all you can from it, God will move you through it and on to the next step on the path towards fulfillment of your purpose. This is true even for the most difficult situations. Even those things that are consequences of our own questionable choices can be worked together for our good so that they become stepping stones to His perfect plans for our lives. Whatever work we do gives us dignity. If we will find the meaning in everything we do, we can enjoy even the difficult aspects of our lives--we can laugh without fear of the future! Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things.  Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose.  So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠  For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Marcy Weinstein has represented more sales volume and set more sales records than all other real estate agents in the history of Newport Coast in Southern California. Her clients and friends include some of the best known celebrities in the world. She's a joyful, fun, powerhouse, so much so that you would never know that she's intimately acquainted with pain. In high school, Marcy's civics teacher, convinced her to enter the Miss San Marcos pageant because it led to a seat on the city council. Marcy wanted to do what she could to improve her community, so she signed up. She won that contest and was automatically entered into the Miss California Universe pageant. Her father was in the military and her mother was a homemaker, so they didn't have money for a fancy dress. Marcy's mother had taught her to sew, so Marcy set out to make her dress from a design she created. Her very unique dress hung from her neck suspended by her grandmother's pearl necklace. One of the judges of the pageant happened to be the world famous winner of eight Academy Awards for Costume Design, Edith Head. Ms. Head approached Marcy to ask who had made her dress. When Marcy told the famous designer that she did it herself without a pattern, Ms. Head saw to it that Marcy enhanced her natural talent through an education at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. Marcy carved her niche in the garment business and then used her talent to pivot to design large luxury office projects. She traveled the world overseeing her projects, when one day there was a horrific fire that covered almost 60% of her body with 2nd and 3rd degree burns. While in the hospital still wondering if she would survive, her fiancé told her that no one would be able to take care of her or love her. Marcy's reply spoke volumes about who she is. While trying to breathe, not knowing if she'd live or be able to walk again or live a normal life, Marcy said, "Well, God and I both love me, and I see how beautiful I am, and I can take care of myself." In this episode of the FIND YOUR PURPOSE NOW podcast, Marcy Weinstein shares her best advice, the values she's passed on to her children, and a powerful thing that you can do with the people you love empower them to be themselves and to know their value. Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things.  Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.  If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠ For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Adam Tallamy, a purpose coach and teacher in London, gave up everything to follow his dream of helping people to not just find their purpose, but to live it. In this episode of FIND YOUR PURPOSE NOW, Adam shares that many people who figure out their purpose are held back from moving forward in living it because of fear. Adam shares a powerful tool for overcoming the fear that can hold us back and destroy our purpose. (DON'T MISS THIS TOOL! And please share it with anyone you know who is held back by fear. Fear can be overcome!) Adam also makes a terrific FREE offer for YOU! To connect with Adam visit his website, ⁠www.adamtallamy.com⁠, or find him on Instagram here ⁠www.instagram.com/adam.tallamy/⁠ Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things.  Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.  If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠ For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Today I'm talking to Adam Tallamy, a purpose coach and teacher in London who gave up everything to follow his dream of helping people find their purpose. Adam shares what it was like for him when he gave up everything follow his intuition. It was hard, but he says it was necessary. Now when he coaches and teaches others, he's doing so out of his own lived experience. In part 1 of our interview Adam talks about his experience of helping people find their purpose being easy, but the hard part being actually taking the leap of faith to live it, and how he helps people do that. To connect with Adam visit his website, www.adamtallamy.com, or find him on Instagram here www.instagram.com/adam.tallamy/ Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things.  Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.  If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠⁠.⁠ For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

We become like the people with whom we spend time. Think about the people who go out and get the newest haircut, the skinny jeans, the blue hair, the nose piercing, the tribal tattoo, or whatever other thing that happens to be "in" at that moment. And what about the people who go into debt to buy the Rolex watch, the Louis Vuitton handbag, the Christian Loubitan shoes or the Mercedes Benz? It's usually not that we consciously decide to be like someone else, but these types of things are often influenced by what the people around us are doing. "Everybody" wears skinny jeans, so we run out and buy skinny jeans --even those of us who have no business wearing skinny jeans. "All" of our friends drive Teslas so we long for the day when we too can buy one. And on and on it goes. But if we weren't around those people, would we really want those things? Would we wear those clothes? Would we run out and get that new hairstyle? Our adaptation to the people around us doesn't end there. Many people tend to adopt the values and beliefs of the people who influence them. Your boss is Muslim so you begin to read the Quran. You go to your neighbor's "Crystal Party" where someone is going to tell everyone their future. Your co-worker rants about the politician he personally can't stand to the point that you begin to think he may be right. Of course we want to be interested in the lives of others, but how many of us, over time, begin to adapt to the people around us? If you conform to others to the detriment of your authentic identity, you will miss your purpose, and those who need the influence and inspiration of the authentic YOU will miss out. Instead of adapting to the point of conforming to others, let's do these things: Know who you are and what you stand for. Have a solid understanding of your values and beliefs (so that you don't sway with the wind). Intentionally choose your mentors--good people who hold the values and beliefs that are important to you and who exemplify the character traits you want to have. If you will be the best example of your authentic self to everyone within your influence, you will be the light that shines brightly showing the way to others. When you have the courage to be your authentic self without being an inferior imitation of someone else, you will have the courage to step out and live your purpose. Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.  If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

We want the people in our lives to be moral, ethical, kind and loving. We don't love it when people are immoral, unethical, unkind and hateful. In our culture these values are typically referred to as "Christian values." (To be accurate, these values are Judeo-Christian values.) When people say that they espouse "Christian values," they're saying that they are moral, ethical people. So what's wrong with that? Aren't these values a good thing? Of course, these values are good, and we want to aspire to live up to these values. But let's be clear. There is an enormous distinction between Christian values and being a Christian. Christians have access to the power of God, the Creator of the Universe. This cannot be underestimated. God's power is alive and real. People who live with Christian values but who are not Christian do not have access to God's power, wisdom, patience, peace, joy and all of the other aspects of His character that is made present in the person of Jesus Christ, His only son. They are never able to fully plug their "natural" into God's "supernatural" for the maximum fulfillment of God's plans for their lives. They may have a moral compass, but it may not be pointing "true north." Let's talk for a minute about people who profess to be Christian who don't conduct themselves morally, ethically, etc. Of course, no one is perfect. We all make mistakes, but we've all known people who check the box as Christian or who wear a cross around their necks who act like jerks. Just to be clear, these people aren't doing Christianity right. Let's not get confused about this. True Christ followers can be identified by the good things in their lives, which just so happen to be the same measurements of fulfillment of one's purpose. They are healthy relationships, peace, joy, contentedness and financial provision. True Christians do their best to love God and love others. The best way to do this is to actively seek and follow the leading of God's Holy Spirit every day. THIS IS THE ONLY shortcut to finding and fulfilling God's perfect purpose and plans for you. If you aren't a Christian, give Jesus a chance. Suspend your disbelief or doubt and choose to believe, give Him a fair shot at directing you to the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched, and then watch what happens. Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.    Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.  If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy #podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

There are five ways that we can know when we're really living in our purpose. Every one of these measurements will have an ebb and flow throughout our life. What we want to aim for is a balance of all five of these indicators. When one of them is out of whack, it's a really good sign that a course correction has to be made to get yourself back on track. So what are these indicators? 1. Healthy relationships with good people. We're dealing with human beings here so don't expect perfection. Every relationship has its ups and downs, but healthy relationships are a good indicator that we're on the right track. 2. Peace. This doesn't mean that there is no chaos or dysfunction in our lives. It simply means that we have peace within, even in the midst of chaos or dysfunction. Part of our purpose can be bringing peace to dysfunctional and chaotic people and circumstances. 3. Joy. Joy is internal. Happiness is largely controlled by external circumstances, so let's not confuse happiness with joy. Happiness is great, but joy is sustainable, so shoot for a smile even in the midst of a mess. 4. Wellness. When you're in your purpose, you will feel a sense of wellness, like all is well with your soul. You won't feel dissatisfaction, angst or anxiety. 5. Financial stability. When you have what you need to live your purpose, you've got it made. When you don't, it's time to make a change of either your goals or your source of income. Take a measurement of your life at least twice a year. Some people do it much more frequently. When you do this, ask yourself honestly if what you're doing, the ways you spend the finite days of your life, are giving you a healthy measure of each of the five indicators above. These are the five points of real success, of true prosperity that are available to each of us. Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.  If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  ⁠www.rhonda.org/connect⁠. For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Have you ever known anyone who seemed to have a "cake and ice cream life," where the worst thing that ever happened to them was getting their hair wet as they walked from the car to the department store? Ya, we've all known someone who seems to have a much better life than we do. They have more money, take better vacations, have "better" families, blahblahblah. Meantime, we're on what seems to be a never-ending roller coaster of one hard thing after the next. It's so easy to find ourselves envying the life assignments and purposes of others when theirs seems so easy and ours seem so hard. We think, "IT'S NOT FAIR!" And the truth is that it's not fair. We're all as different as our fingerprints, with different purposes for which we were created and perfectly matched. If you happen to be someone who's going through a hard thing now, or you're someone who has a hard life all the time (not just going through a rough patch), this episode is for you. As hard as it is, you can embrace your purpose, trust God to get you through every minute of every day, and experience the peace, joy, healthy relationships, wellness and financial stability that accompany even the hardest of life assignments. Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or a message at  www.rhonda.org/connect. For other PURPOSE resources go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

When we spend the finite time of our lives angry, hurt, or offended, we're missing windows of opportunity that we could be living our purpose and loving our life. When you have the opportunity to take offense, DON'T DO IT. Every minute you spend with feelings of negativity is a minute that you are not living your purpose. You can never get those minutes back. We each get 1,440 minutes every day. When they're gone, they're gone forever. So instead of squandering time, let's invest it! When you invest time in helping someone else, you move into your purpose, you make someone else feel better, and you make yourself feel better. This is a much better, higher way to live than in the gutter of negative emotions. Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠⁠.   Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.   If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or send an email to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rhonda@rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources or FIND YOUR PURPOSE events, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.   You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.   #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess #succeed #success #live #love #thrive #happiness #peace #joy --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

You may not feel like a genius, but there is a genius within you. Your genius is your "secret sauce" that equips you to do things that you never went to school to learn. This is the combination of things that adds "super" to your "natural that equips you to live your best life, at your highest level, and fulfill your unique purpose. When you tap into your genius, you know it because you can feel it. You feel good when you are using your genius. Other people can see it too. But your genius can lie dormant your entire life if you don't intentionally look for it and access it, and then utilize it regularly. In this episode we talk about how to find it and tap into it. Do this work because it can change your life like no other step of the process can. Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.   If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on ⁠YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠⁠.   Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.  If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or send an email to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rhonda@rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources or FIND YOUR PURPOSE events, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.  #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

For most of us, finding and living our purpose is a process that happens over time. Very few of us know exactly what we were born to do and do that to the exclusion of all else. Most of us sort of wander through life in the job that we were hired for, with the friends we randomly met, living in the place that was affordable, none of it the result of our deliberate choices. Of course, none of that is wrong. But without deliberate effort, we may spend our whole lives wandering around without purpose. According to our guest, Bret Magpiong, author of the book, The Delta Theorem, an innovative framework for becoming fully alive and truly wealthy, this linear approach to finding and living your purpose leads you to feeling fully alive and having everything you need. The Delta Theorem is a logical method of navigating the life-changing work of identifying your unique purpose. It's about identifying your "why", your priorities, your principles (what you stand for), your passions (the desires of your heart), doing something to act on the place where all of those things overlap, and learning from your failures. All of this leads to "Delta," which Bret defines as having an impact and making a difference in the world, ultimately giving our life meaning. Bret says that The Delta Theorem results in what he calls "true wealth" which he defines as relational, temporal/time, physical and financial. If you'd like to learn more about Bret Magpiong or The Delta Theorem, go to www.connecwithbret.com. Living your purpose every day for the rest of your life is your antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.   If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠.   Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.  If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or send an email to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rhonda@rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources or FIND YOUR PURPOSE events, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.  #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Many of us think we're too old to find and live our purpose because we took a wrong turn. We did too much wrong. We made too many mistakes. We missed the "right" path toward our purpose, and now we're just stuck with this life that's less than what we could have had. If that's you, I want to respectfully tell you that this is wrong thinking! You are still breathing, so you're till in the game of life. As long as you're alive, there is a good purpose for your life. It doesn't matter what did or didn't happen before, what choices you made or failed to make that set the trajectory of your life in the direction of where you are now. What matters is TODAY and the opportunity that is before you to live your best life from this day forward. You have more wisdom and perspective than you've ever had before. In this episode we talk about how instead of dreading your birthday, you can see it as an opportunity to evaluate where you are and where you want to be. You can rearrange your life so that the best is truly yet to come. What more important thing do you have to do? LIVING YOUR PURPOSE is the antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.   If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠.   Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.  If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or send an email to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rhonda@rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources or FIND YOUR PURPOSE events, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.  #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

What's God got to do with it? You can live out some of your purpose without God because you can use your talents, personality, character traits, etc., all of which are there specifically to equip you and qualify you to live your purpose. But when you cooperate with God (the one who planted all those good things in you), you are choosing to add "super" to your "natural" which empowers you to do more than you ever could on your own. In this episode we talk about the 5 reasons we need God to truly fulfill the good plans and purpose for our lives. Our identity is God-authored. The unique-in-all-the-world-for-all-time identity that you have is not random. You are not an accident. You are not merely a product of biology. Everything about you was intentional and deliberate. No mistakes were made. The paths toward the purpose of our lives were carved out and set before us along with the free will that allowed us to choose the paths we wanted to take. Our family, neighbors, friends, teachers, and every other influence were part of the plan for the formation of our perspective, worldview, values and beliefs. The people who have hurt us exercised their own free will to do that. The harm didn't come from God, but we need God for the fulfillment of our purpose because He specializes in working all things (including the most painful things) together for our good. We get the choice to cooperate and collaborate with Him to mine the lessons out of the painful events of our lives and then to allow those lessons to qualify us to do what we were born and equipped to do. There is a limit to how far we can go without faith in God. It is inevitable that we will hit obstacles that we can't blast through or go over, under or around on our own. That's when our faith comes in. God will not intervene without our permission. We give Him permission to do amazing things in our lives when we decide to suspend our doubt and disbelief, and humbly ask for help. We cannot FULLY accomplish God's plan without his intervention. He can open doors that no man can open. Conversely, He can close doors to keep us from walking down paths that would distract us and diminish the fulfillment of the good plans and purpose for our lives. He will only do these things for those of us who will trade our free will for His will and His purpose.  The whole point of this is to say that God's plan is better than anything we can come up with! He knows better than we do what we were born and perfectly equipped to do. Suspend your doubt and give God a chance to point you in the direction of His beautiful plans and purpose for your life. LIVING YOUR PURPOSE is the antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.   If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠.   Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1.  If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or send an email to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rhonda@rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources or FIND YOUR PURPOSE events, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.  #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

How do you feel? Are you exhausted? Or are you energized? Do you feel empty? Or do you feel exhilarated? Do you feel like you can't take it another day? Or do you feel like you can't wait to get back to it? Do you feel alone? Misunderstood? Left out? Or do you feel seen, heard, and understood by people who truly "get you?" Checking in with yourself to see how you're feeling about your job, your relationships, your circumstances, and your life can help you figure out what's working and what's not on your journey toward fulfillment, peace, joy, healthy relationships, wellness and financial provision--all the things that accompany living your purpose. It's important to do the work of gathering and analyzing your data in as objective a way as possible. It can be especially challenging because you're dealing with feeeeeeeelinnnnnngs, and feelings are fickle. You can feel pretty good one minute, and get one call or text and feel entirely different the next minute. In this episode we talk about the importance of gathering your data and then figuring out what it means to you on your journey toward fulfillment. For example, if you feel exhausted, take note of that. If you feel misunderstood, take note of that. If you feel like you're in a situation where you don't belong, take note. These are all data points. Once you've considered your feelings with various people and situations, think about each of those feelings and try to discern what the data is telling you. For example, if you're feeling exhausted, drill down on that and ask yourself if you feel exhausted and depleted or empty, or if you feel exhausted but exhilarated and fulfilled. There's an important distinction between these two feelings. Exhausted and empty is a pretty good indicator that whatever is wearing you out is outside of your purpose. On the other hand, if you're exhausted yet feel exhilarated or excited to get back to it next time or feel a sense of fulfillment for having made the effort, then those are a pretty good indicators that what has exhausted you is in your wheelhouse and part of your purpose. If your feelings don't lead you to clear discernment, ask yourself (and ask God to help you figure out), "What am I supposed to learn here? What's the lesson?" Then be still and quiet thereby making space for the thoughts and ideas to come to mind. Some situations are helped greatly by finding your people and asking them to help you navigate through this data gathering and collection work. A good friend may see through something that is a blindspot for you. If you haven't already, find your people and do this together. LIVING YOUR PURPOSE is the antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.  If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠.  Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1. If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please send a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or send an email to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rhonda@rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources or FIND YOUR PURPOSE events, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU. #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Have you ever had the experience of someone's face lighting up when you walked into a room? When you were little, did anyone's face totally light up into the biggest smile when you walked in? Or have you had the experience of walking into a room to meet angry, frustrated or disgusted expressions? We get our self-esteem from the expressions of the people we care about or those who are in authority over us. Those of us who have felt that horrible feeling of others being disappointed, angry or disgusted with us know how awful it feels. Regardless of whether or not anyone has ever delighted in you, YOU can be the one who delights in others. If you will do this one thing, it can change your life and the lives of others. But what if someone you care about walks in when you're in the midst of something that is completely frustrating, anger-inducing or disappointing? Whatever negative expression and emotion is on your face in that moment is going to splash up on anyone who is nearby. But it doesn't have to... You can learn to control your emotions by learning to change the channel on your mind so that you can delight in whoever is near you even in times of the worst anger. Learning to control your emotions is an incredibly valuable tool because it only takes a moment to allow anger, frustration, sadness, depression, anxiety, worry or any other negative emotion to derail your purpose train. In this episode we talk about taking control of your thoughts and emotions by changing the channel of your mind. Unless you control your emotions, you run the risk of missing entirely the remarkable purpose for your life. That's where your happiness will be found. Don't miss it. Don't sabotage it with negative emotions. LIVING YOUR PURPOSE is the antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.  If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠⁠⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠⁠⁠ and on YouTube ⁠⁠@rhondasciortino⁠⁠.  Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1. If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please email a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or send an email to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rhonda@rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources or FIND YOUR PURPOSE events, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU. #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, personality disorders, eating disorders... the list of the things that diminish our sense of wellness, goes on and on. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America estimates that 264 million people struggle with depression and that 40 million people struggle with anxiety. If you deal with these things, you're not alone. Mental illness has a deleterious affect on our peace and joy, two of the most beautiful benefits of living our purpose. We can safely conclude, then, that mental illness diminishes the fulfillment of our purpose and literally steals our joy. In this episode, I talk about these important points: Mental illness can affect any of us. It can be triggered by trauma, illness, genetics or a variety of reasons. DON'T JUDGE PEOPLE WHO DEAL WITH MENTAL ILLNESS. There is no stigma around heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or flu, etc., and there shouldn't be stigma around mental illness either. Shame and stigma is why many people don't seek the help they need. Show kindness and love to people who are struggling with mental (or any other kind of) illness. This is how each of us can help eliminate the stigma and feelings of shame that often accompany mental illness. We live in a broken world and evil is real [explicit comment warning in this section]. I share some personal, heart-wrenching experience with navigating serious mental illness in the lives of people I love. THERE ARE THINGS WE CAN DO TO ACTIVELY FIGHT MENTAL ILLNESS. I talk about some of these things. If you or someone you care about is living with mental illness, SEEK HELP. Many mental health services are available now online or via text. Call 2-1-1 or go to https://www.211.org/ to find nearby help. I talk about what the Bible says about mental illness--you may be surprised to learn that the Bible talks about it! Love helps to heal broken hearts, wounded souls, and brains that aren't firing properly. So let's turn to God and his Love, love ourselves and love others as best we can. It's in our efforts to show love in our own unique ways that we often discover our purpose. LIVING YOUR PURPOSE is the antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.  If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at ⁠www.findyourpurposenow.org⁠ and on YouTube @rhondasciortino.  Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1. If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please email a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or send an email to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rhonda@rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources or FIND YOUR PURPOSE events, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess.  You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Our guest today, Elizabeth Rosenberg, CEO of The Good Advice Company, shares three specific, actionable ways to find ways to do what you love to do, utilize your strengths, and make an impact in the world, which she interprets as living your purpose. Elizabeth's 3 pieces of advice are: Figure out what you are passionate about that brings you joy. Figure out what you can do that makes you money that incorporates what brings you joy. Figure out what you can do that makes a positive impact in the the lives of others. Elizabeth suggests that the first step to finding and living our purpose is finding the people who like the authentic version of us because they can help us navigate the steps toward finding and living our purpose. Life is far easier when we are the most authentic version of ourselves. This is not to be mistaken with the best version of ourselves. The authentic version is flawed. It's when we put down the mask and we're not working hard to be the person who is perfect and likable. We have to give ourselves mercy and accept ourselves as we are. When we do that, the people who accept our authentic version will still be with us. The people who do not, will fall away, and that's OK. More priceless tips from Elizabeth are think of ourselves in terms of who we are rather than what we do think about the legacy we want to leave when we're gone (not the STUFF we've acquired, but what we want people to remember about us like our kindness, love, or whatever else we want people to associate with our memory). community is everywhere, and it's important that we find it. learn from our failures. remember that everyone is going through something it's not all about you LIVING YOUR PURPOSE is the antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things. Living your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.  If you haven't already done so, PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, AND SHARE wherever you get your podcasts, at www.findyourpurposenow.org and on YouTube @rhondasciortino.  Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1. If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please email a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or send an email to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rhonda@rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources or FIND YOUR PURPOSE events, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess.  You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

Think about your childhood, your teenage years, and all the years up until today. What are the moments that stand out? What did you accomplish that you didn't think you could? What did you do that came easily to you? What did you celebrate? What did you overhear that you wish you hadn't? What did you go through that you would have done anything to prevent? As those things come to mind, think about what you learned about yourself, about others, and about how the world works from each of those experiences. The experiences that stand out to us have influenced us in some way. They can inform the way we think and feel. They can give us confidence for our future or they may make us fearful of what is yet to come. Perhaps those things that come to mind now do so because you're better equipped to deal with them now than ever before. The point of all this is to peel back the layers of the onion and learn more about yourself. When we gain a deeper, fuller understanding of who we are as a result of all we've heard, seen and experienced, we learn about our true identity and become more comfortable in who we really are. We don't have to exaggerate or lie to make ourselves seem better than we are. We don't need surgery to be different. We don't need to strive to be something else. When we embrace our authentic identity, our purpose will become apparent because we'll be ready. Although all we've learned and become through the experiences of our lives has been there all along, it's not until we discover and embrace the ways we've been influenced and changed that we begin to understand and appreciate ourselves. It's at this point that we no longer envy others. We can be happy for others while embracing our own unique and precious purpose. That's when life gets fun and divinely rewarding! The antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things is LIVING YOUR PURPOSE and enjoying the real success that accompanies it. That real success includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.  You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU. If you haven't already done so, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE on YouTube @rhondasciortino ⁠⁠ and wherever you get your podcasts and get the clues to YOUR PURPOSE. When you live your purpose, you will find peace and joy and a sense of contentedness you cannot find anywhere else.  Please join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1. If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please email a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or send an email to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rhonda@rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources or FIND YOUR PURPOSE events, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.#purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message

We are all influenced by the people around us. They evoke emotions within us, they teach us, they can provoke us, and if we're honest, they can also encourage and empower us or they can lead us down the wrong paths. Whether we admit it or not or like it or not, we are all influenced by lots of different people and things. We remember what a teacher said, what a friend or family member said to us or about us, the review our boss gave us, we sing along with lyrics in songs, we watch TV shows, movies and videos, listen to podcasts, and on and on. The things we see and hear evoke emotions in us. A mean comment by a family member can hurt us deeply causing us to withdraw. A friend, neighbor or co-worker gossiping about us can hurt causing us to lose trust in others. A teacher complimenting us in front of all the other students can make us feel great. You get the point. We are influenced, for good or bad, by all of the people in our lives (real and virtual through media, books, etc.). Good influence can move us toward a fulfilling life. Bad influence can move us toward destruction. So whose influence are YOU under? Have you changed your way of thinking or the things that you do because of the good (or bad) influence of someone? Influence can be a good thing if you are being influenced by people of good character. It can be a devastating thing if you are being influenced by people who are on the wrong path. In this episode we talk about the distinction between being informed and being influenced. Most importantly, we talk about the most important influence for finding and living our purpose. The key to real success and the antidote to depression, sadness, despair and all the problems that can be associated with those things is LIVING YOUR PURPOSE. So please subscribe, share and listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.  You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.If you haven't already done so, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE here  @rhondasciortino  and get the clues to YOUR PURPOSE. When you live your purpose, you will find peace and joy and a sense of contentedness you cannot find anywhere else.  Please join us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠ @rhondasciortino1. If you would like to share a comment or suggestion, please email a voice note to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/findyourpurposenow/message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or send an email to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rhonda@rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For other PURPOSE resources or FIND YOUR PURPOSE events, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rhonda.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. #purpose #meaning #beyou #youmatter #yourrealsuccess. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/findyourpurposenow/message