One More Day Alive

Shakira –didn’t you know that you are supposed to be an egomaniac! You are not supposed to be tiptoeing around a university on your downtime expanding your mind by reaching outside of it and learning about others. You are supposed to be a totally self-absorbed, overly opinionated and undereducated narcissist like all the rest of the “stars”!

Oh wait a second – maybe it’s the other way around.

The most exciting thing about all the Shakira hoopla a few weeks back wasn’t the fact that she masqueraded as a boy to attend classes at UCLA last summer, although that seems to be what all the papers were talking about; it was that did so to blend into a classroom where she could learn something about history and about society because, in her own words, “’I needed a break from me. The universe is so broad, I cannot be at the center of it.”

That’s quite the contrast from the typical star mentality – one that really came to disgust me over the course of a decade long career as an entertainment journalist, one perfectly characterized by Ashley Simpson a few years ago when she declared, “I love to sing…I don’t do it for anyone else—I do if for me. I have had to learn that my voice is the most important one.”

Yes, it’s easy enough for most of us to dismiss stars like Ashley as nutty and narcissistic because we are adults and know they are. But what about our kids – they have not yet formed the confidence in their opinions and the knowledge needed to ascertain when an authority figure (yes stars are seen as such) is not only acceptable or not noble or worthy of their respect.

Where do you think Columbine killers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris got the idea that their pain, their ideas, their anger, etc, were more important than the lives of those that they took? Could it be from the “stars”?

You see fame isn’t what it used to be. Once upon a time it was a byproduct of success owed to some great skill, craft or art; now it’s a goal to be achieved at all costs. Self-promotion has practically become an art form in itself. Actress and dancer Debbie Allen makes that point in the remake of the hit 80s phenom Fame.

I saw that firsthand from another perspective too after I quit my job as an entertainment reporter a decade ago and decided to lay low for awhile accepting a job teaching high school English for a year. I saw a whole lot of great kids who were being brainwashed by the media into thinking that they were at the center of the universe and that was ok.

Flash forward to 2009 and Shakira’s wonderful selfless quote. Now I don’t know how sincere she was when she said it, but it really doesn’t matter because at least she is trying to set a new standard, a new idea of what it means to be a star.

Is Shakira the exception that proves the rule of a self-absorbed media machine or could she be a harbinger of good things to come on the horizon of our fame and fortune front?

I don’t know but at least it is providing us some food for thought.

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DON’T JUST FIND A JOB – FIND YOUR CALLING!

Have you lost your job? Are you hurting financially, struggling to get back in the game? You are not alone; the unemployment rate is skyrocketing, especially in places like Michigan.

But your job loss could be the ultimate opportunity to find your true purpose. And that might not just help YOU to find a new job but a whole new career and greater happiness than you have ever known by finding out what society needs and ultimately finding God’s mission for you.

Every one of us has something the world needs, and by learning how to share that gift with the world for all the right reasons, we are rewarded with all the things that we need.

That’s actually at the heart of capitalism, the most moral economic system on earth.

God gave you a special gift that nobody can take away from you, and when you use it to contribute to the world, the world rewards you. Finding your mission is finding the job or career that will allow you to do that.
But in a confusing and failing economic environment the true meaning and value of work, social responsibility and YOU has become muddled, if not completely lost. Too much government regulation on one end and too much corporate greed and malfeasance on the other end has caused the whole system to go haywire. That is not your fault.
Yet, your desire and ability to reach out to and contribute to the world is a divinely inspired asset that can and will still lead you to long-term and stable career success once you engage it. Because God gave every one of us something the world needed, and our jobs are how we offer that gift and are rewarded by society for it?

Finding your mission is finding the job or career that will allow you to do that. In other words, your economic value is assigned by God, and it is not rooted in how much you earn, but in HOW and WHY you earn.

This new perspective enables and inspires you to reach out to others to love and respect and to be loved and respected as an integral part of the human community, and finally to transform that whole life idea into a career strategy that will help you find and succeed at a new job.

Want to read more. Find out how to turn your job problems, and all your other troubles into opportunities to revitalize your life in Chris Benguhe’s new book, “Overcoming Life’s 7 Common Tragedies: Opportunities for Discovering God,” available here on this website or at Amazon.com.

Author and Columnist Chris Benguhe will be kicking off his W.O.R.K (Wealth Originated from Responsibility and Kindness) program at churches from coast to coast this fall. If you are interested in bringing Mr. Benguhe and his seminar to your church or other organization, you may contact him at cbenguhe@yahoo.com.

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