Finding The Strength To Be Radical

Most of the time I feel like an average guy… in fact almost all the time I feel like for some reason or other I actually fall below average… I am petty, egotistical, boisterous, insensitive, and childish. But deep in my heart there is a strong desire to be remarkable… to be above average…to live without the handicaps that I so often place upon myself.  Unfortunately what comes out of me often feels like a lumbering Ox trying to escape a yoke that just does not- seem- to fit!  I look at life in a simplistic manner… it is an adventure…that we should embrace and own in every way… the good and the bad.  But somehow jobs, and rules and societies “norms”, keeping up with the joneses,  comes and steals away the adventure of life.  And we often get convinced that all we really need is a bigger TV, a new vehicle, a better house.  What we don’t realize is that all of those things can form a prison that forces us to take the good paying, stressful jobs that end up sucking the life out of  us…. and we end up as mindless drones cranking out an existence, wondering whatever happened to the spark of life… when do we get to relax?  or better yet how do we relax?  We are so close to multi-tasking ourselves out of existence that we can’t even realize that almost every part of our lives are crumbling around us…It has taken me the better part of 34 years to figure out that all of the things that I thought were important actually don’t matter at all.  Many people talk about being radical but I don’t witness it very often in real life,  I often see people “acting” radical but they only go far enough to make a splash.  I decided a while back that I want out of this rat race lifestyle driven by a never ending hunger for more money and more stuff… I started analyzing my buying habits and my motives for spending money. I decided to get out of debt and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.  But more than that I am finding the strength to be radical in my commitment to become a more focused child of God. I am seeing the benefits of turning my back on materialism and thoughtless living. The further I walk away from the ideals of materialism the more power and authority I gain over my life to actually live in freedom.

So what about you?  have your found the strength to be radical in your life? Have you sacrificed any earthly comforts or amenities to reap spiritual or lifestyle benefits?