Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Sometimes we have a conversation that only lasts minutes.
[00:00:08] Sometimes it changes everything.
[00:00:11] A few days ago, that happened to me. I was talking with a friend about life.
[00:00:16] Nothing profound, no agenda and no attempt to solve the world's problem.
[00:00:25] Suddenly, one simple idea appeared, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since.
[00:00:33] After we said our goodbyes, I found myself replaying that conversation again and again.
[00:00:41] Not because of anything dramatic that was said, not because my friend was trying to teach me something.
[00:00:50] There was just something about that conversation that.
[00:00:55] That refused to go away.
[00:00:58] The more I thought about it, the more I found myself looking back over my own life.
[00:01:05] My career, my family, my faith, my successes, my failures.
[00:01:19] The dreams that came true, the dreams that changed.
[00:01:25] It was as though someone had handed me a different lens through which I could see my own story.
[00:01:35] The conversation had ended, but somehow it wasn't finished with me.
[00:01:45] Over the next couple days, I couldn't get that conversation out of my mind. I just couldn't.
[00:01:51] I don't know if you've ever had something like that happen, but if you have, you know what I'm talking about.
[00:01:57] A conversation ends, but your mind just keeps coming back to it.
[00:02:03] You replay it.
[00:02:06] You think about what was said.
[00:02:09] You start wondering why it affected you the way it did.
[00:02:14] That's where I found myself.
[00:02:16] Without even realizing it, I continued to look back over my own life.
[00:02:22] Not at the events, at what those events had done to me.
[00:02:28] I thought about starting on the assembly line at IBM.
[00:02:32] Back then, I thought I was simply beginning a career.
[00:02:38] I had no idea I was beginning a journey that would shape the person I was becoming.
[00:02:46] I thought about working as a customer engineer, about learning to solve problems, about learning to work with people.
[00:02:56] Later came business shows, marketing leadership.
[00:03:03] Each chapter seemed so different at the time.
[00:03:07] But looking back, I began to see something I had never noticed before.
[00:03:15] None of those experiences had disappeared.
[00:03:20] Every one of them was still with me.
[00:03:24] Not because I remembered every detail, but because each one of them had quietly shaped the person I am today.
[00:03:36] Then my thoughts moved beyond my career.
[00:03:40] I thought about my marriage, about raising two wonderful children, about becoming a grandfather.
[00:03:50] I thought about cancer.
[00:03:53] About the days that tested my faith.
[00:03:57] About the people who stood beside me.
[00:04:01] About the lessons that only difficult seasons can teach.
[00:04:07] The more I reflected, the more I realized something.
[00:04:12] Life wasn't a collection of disconnected events.
[00:04:16] It was one continuous story.
[00:04:20] And every chapter, whether I understood it at the time or not, was shaping the person I was becoming.
[00:04:33] As I reflected on those different seasons of my life, one thought kept coming back to me, for years, I've said success is a journey, not a destination.
[00:04:46] And I still believe that.
[00:04:49] But over the past few days, I've come to understand something more.
[00:04:55] Maybe I've been looking at the journey through too small of a window.
[00:05:00] Success matters.
[00:05:02] Working hard matters.
[00:05:05] Doing our best matters.
[00:05:08] Making a difference matters.
[00:05:12] But I don't think they're the destination.
[00:05:16] I think they're part of something bigger. Much bigger.
[00:05:21] That's when it hit me. Life isn't simply a journey focused on success.
[00:05:27] It's a lifelong journey focused on becoming, not becoming someone else, becoming more fully the person we were created to be.
[00:05:41] That realization changed something in me.
[00:05:45] It. It didn't erase what I'd believed for all these years.
[00:05:50] It just gave it deeper meaning.
[00:05:53] Success is still important.
[00:05:57] But perhaps success isn't the journey.
[00:06:01] Maybe it's not the journey after all.
[00:06:04] Perhaps becoming is.
[00:06:09] And maybe success is simply one of the byproducts of becoming the person we were intended to be.
[00:06:19] As I sat there reflecting on all this, I remembered something I'd written several years ago.
[00:06:26] At that time, I thought I was writing about success.
[00:06:32] Looking back now, I don't think I was.
[00:06:35] I think I was writing about becoming.
[00:06:39] Here's what I wrote.
[00:06:42] Every success, every failure, every time we stumbled, every time we did our best, every time we completed a task, or every time we gave up too soon.
[00:06:57] Those things are what got us to the point we're at today.
[00:07:03] We learned from each of them.
[00:07:06] They made us better.
[00:07:09] They didn't disappear and we didn't forget them.
[00:07:16] They became part of the person that we're still becoming.
[00:07:22] When I read those words again this week, I realized something.
[00:07:27] None of our experiences were are truly wasted.
[00:07:32] The victories come with us.
[00:07:34] The disappointments come with us.
[00:07:36] The lessons come with us.
[00:07:39] Even the mistakes come with us if we're willing to learn from them.
[00:07:48] Every chapter of our lives leaves something behind.
[00:07:52] Not in our scrapbook, not on our resume, but within us. Each experience quietly shapes our character, our perspective, our compassion, our wisdom.
[00:08:10] Maybe that's why no season of life is ever meaningless.
[00:08:15] Every season leaves us different than it found us.
[00:08:20] And whether we recognize it or not, every season becomes part of the person we're still becoming.
[00:08:30] As all these thoughts were coming together, I found myself thinking about something that Michelangelo once said.
[00:08:39] He was asked how he created the statue of David.
[00:08:44] His answer was simple.
[00:08:46] I didn't create David.
[00:08:48] He was already there.
[00:08:51] I just chipped away everything that wasn't David.
[00:08:55] I've always loved that quote. But this week I heard it Differently.
[00:09:02] Maybe that's what becoming really is.
[00:09:05] Maybe becoming isn't about creating a brand new person.
[00:09:10] Maybe it's about revealing the person who's been there all along.
[00:09:15] Think about that for a moment.
[00:09:18] How much of our lives do we spend trying to become more.
[00:09:24] More successful, more important, more accepted, more accomplished?
[00:09:33] What if the greater journey isn't about adding?
[00:09:37] What if it's about removing?
[00:09:41] Removing fear, removing pride.
[00:09:46] Removing the need to compare ourselves to others.
[00:09:51] Removing the doubts that tell us we'll never be enough.
[00:09:56] Removing the mask we wear because we're afraid people won't accept us for who we really.
[00:10:05] One piece at a time, one lesson at a time, one season at a time.
[00:10:15] Until what remains is the person God always knew we could be.
[00:10:22] Maybe that's what this journey's been about all along.
[00:10:26] Not becoming someone different.
[00:10:31] Becoming the person we've been growing toward all along.
[00:10:37] Over the next several episodes, I'd like to invite you to take a journey with me.
[00:10:43] Not because I have all the answers.
[00:10:46] I don't.
[00:10:48] In fact, this season began because I realized I still have questions of my own.
[00:10:56] Questions that cause me to look at my life differently.
[00:11:01] Questions that I believe are worth asking.
[00:11:05] Together we're going to explore those questions.
[00:11:08] We'll talk about purpose, about relationships, about faith, about leadership, about disappointments, about dreams.
[00:11:23] About the unexpected turns life takes.
[00:11:27] Not simply to understand life a little better, but to understand ourselves a little better.
[00:11:35] Because I have a feeling that the most important journey we'll ever take isn't measured by where we go or by what we accomplish.
[00:11:46] It's measured by who we're becoming along the way.
[00:11:51] So wherever you are in your life today, whether you're just beginning your journey or whether you're like me, you've been in it for many years.
[00:12:02] I'd love for you to join me.
[00:12:04] We'll learn from one another.
[00:12:07] We'll reflect together.
[00:12:10] And perhaps we'll discover that the greatest possibilities in life aren't found in what we achieve.
[00:12:18] They're found in who we become.
[00:12:22] Perhaps one day we'll look back and realize that every conversation, every success, every disappointment, every detour, every unanswered prayer, every unexpected blessing was never simply another chapter in our story.
[00:12:44] Each one quietly shaped the person we are today.
[00:12:49] And maybe, just maybe, the greatest journey was never about what we accomplished.
[00:12:57] Maybe it was always about recognizing who we were becoming.
[00:13:04] Because perhaps we've been becoming all of our lives.
[00:13:08] We just never noticed.
[00:13:12] Thanks for spending this time with me today.
[00:13:15] Until next time, take care of yourself.
[00:13:19] Be kind to each other.
[00:13:21] We're all becoming who we were meant to be.
[00:13:28] Thanks again and God bless.
