Why am I here?

Have you ever wondered why you were put on this earth? Lest this set off a lemming-like thought process, "Yeah. Why in the whole world was I pu...I'm gonna go jump off a cliff. Make myself feel better..., " let me clarify. =)

I don't mean this in a purely Christian sense, though as a Christian, obviously the first answer would be, "To glorify Him, and Him alone." No. I mean - why? And what? What am I, as an unique individual, with specific likes and dislikes, loves, tastes, and interests...what am I put here on earth to do?

Sometimes, as a member of a 7.7 billion population, it's easy to think, "My stars. Okay, I could write a great mystery, about a cold, logical detective called...oh, wait. Curse you, Arthur Conan Doyle. Or...I could compose soul-stirring melodies like..." This usually ends in cursing the entire human race for being too original. Leonardo da Vinci? Really? This guy gives overachievers a bad name. I mean, c'mon. Leave something for the rest of us to do, why don'tcha?!

But then I stop and consider: the very hairs of my head are numbered by the Creator of the Universe. He called me by name in my mother's womb. He makes no mistakes, and most certainly, does not make exact replicas or robots. We are all "fearfully and wonderfully made" by the God who SPOKE the world into existence, who painted the radiant sky, purely for his pleasure, and who gives all mankind a desire to create, to discover, to be an individual.

I think, if we were all honest, we each cherish a secret dream in our hearts, one that we wouldn't dare share for fear of being ridiculed, or worse yet, taken seriously and forced to try...and perhaps fail. Isn't that the scariest thing in the world? To attempt one's greatest dream, only to fail from inadequacy? Far safer is the route so many take, hugging their dreams to themselves in that half-desperate knowledge of, "I could. I just don't want to."

My comfort zone is small. I know that. But I'd like to be willing to stretch my comfort zone to it's limits, so it's limits can expand. Is it scary? Unbelievably so. Do I often crawl back into the safe confines? Embarrassingly often. But I think that's human...and something I'll always have to deal with. Far better to have tried - and perhaps failed - than to live your life with "what-might-have-beens."

Now to take my own sage advice...think I'll go give writing another shot. Move over, Sir Athur Conan Doyle. ;-)