Give me 5 minutes of your time and you will have a new and interesting outlook on life. For the past 15 years of my life I have been trying to discover who I really am. After surviving and completing High School and a couple of years in Bible College, I thought I knew exactly who I was and what I was meant to do. I had it all figured out. I met the woman of my dreams and started working as a youth pastor at a local church. Within a few months of that, the woman of my dreams became my wife, and for over the past ten years, she is still the woman of my dreams. Working with young adults wasn't easy on me or my new wife. Then the two greatest humans I have ever set eyes on entered my life! My daughter was born first and then my son a few years later. All my colleagues told me that I was a really good youth pastor and that I was way over due to be doing it full time. You see, the one thing I thought I was meant to do wasn't paying the bills. 
So, I set out to do it for a living and BAAMM! The whole thing blew up in my face. My wife wasn't sure about the move, the pay wasn't that good, and my current church didn't approve. I was blinded by the thought that I was lost. My soul wasn't lost but my life was. I had no direction. I returned to what I was doing last and everything returned to "normal". Unfortunately I wasn't normal, I was lost. I was trying to find meaning in just about every opportunity that passed my way. In the process, I was ignoring and torturing my wife and kids. Thankfully, I had a caring and understanding wife who put up with my messy life all those years. After several different job attempts, I ended up working as a Correctional Officer. There I sat in prison for 12 hours a day a couple days a week wondering, why and how I ended up so lost. See I was truly blind to what I was truly meant to do. I was desperate. I made desperate choices. Depression set in like a disease and I started to put on the pounds. Even though I was already over weight from poor habits I picked up in college, I was starting to see health problems around every corner in my life. I felt alone and out of control. Those that were in my life at that time knew something was wrong but being the stubborn man I am at times, concealed the truth. The truth was that I was totally lost and felt useless to everyone around me. I started to embrace stereo types to handle this stress. I tried to take up smoking and drinking but nothing seemed to really bring any relief. The Doctors would say it was my health, my stressful job, and the night shift hours. They prescribed a pill for every issue and took my money with a smile. I soon realized that this only numbed the feelings of being lost and without real purpose in my life. My family moved to a near by town and purchased a really nice home. The move meant a lot to my family but to me it meant a fresh start on life. With all these new responsibilities on my plate, I set out to find my self and no one knew it but me. I was determined but I soon felt like I was lost in the woods at night. I knew I was lost but I had chosen to change that. Another one of those mindless opportunities came my way and I just jumped right in. Thinking that this new venture was my new purpose in life, I jumped head first. Unfortunately, like many times before, it fell apart in my lap. It wasn't all my fault nor that bad but it was over for me. It was in this moment that I reconnected with a college friend. 
Roland Kemokia was an extraordinary man who had seen more in his life time than most. Roland was actively helping people all around the world with his story. He was seeing lives changed and I could tell that he knew his purpose in life. I was secretly jealous of him for that. One day he called me up and told me that he had finished his book, "A Diamond In The Rough", and was coming to my state in a few months and wanted to connect with my family. I had told him months earlier that I would organize a opportunity for him to speak in my area when he came through. Well the time had come and he was holding me to my promise. The phone call took a turn to personal matters. After a couple of life changing questions from Roland, I began to see some light in the emotional forest I was lost in. He began to ask me the right questions and demanded answers. He knew I was lost. I keep saying, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do?". Then the real question came, "Do you even know who you really are?". Then it all came clear to me. I didn't know who I was. I was so caught up in trying to "do" something. It never occurred to me that I didn't know who I was. I had never defined myself. After a couple of sessions with Roland, my family could see the changes I was making in my life. I wrote my Life Statement. I put on paper who I am and what I truly wanted to be. I went from being a "reactionary" to being a "revolutionary" within weeks. Roland explained that people go through three stages in life but few get to the third.
First, we all start our lives being dependent on our mothers and fathers to survive. We are born with a dependent mentality. Then, we figure out that we are capable of doing many things on our own. We become independent. We move out from under mom and dad's roof. We start to make our own decisions. All to often people stop there and make camp. Many build a house and fence around it. A person's visions and ideas, turn into dreams and jokes amongst friends. The final and often forgotten stage in life is living interdependently. Interdependence is the challenge Roland left me with. I finally discovered who I am and now I get this new challenge. It was during this moment in my life I discovered a concept that I believe will impact everyone who adopts it. Here it is plan and simple. Everyone in the universe is on YOUR TEAM! Everyone, even people who don't realize it, is on your team. Not everyone is a team player but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be. I have found that this concept is contagious and life changing. Out of this concept we have started this network. A global group of team players who have set out to be the best team players they can be. Will you join us on this great adventure? Do you really want to live life lost and all alone? The Universal TEAM is waiting for you to get off the bench and get out on the field of life! I'll see you there!
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