the challenge - because i can

I got asked an interesting question over the weekend, one that I often asked other people:

Q: What’s in your heart to do?
My Answer: I want to build an empire.

I’ve answered it many times before (and for the record, there are lots of other things that i want to do besides build an empire – The answer suited the context of the conversation)… It was the next question that hit the gold for me.

Q: Why do you want to do do that?
My Answer (after a short pause for consideration): Because I think I can…

There are lots of reasons I want to build businesses…
I want my family to be comfortable and financially secure, I want to contribute to the work of my church, I want to contribute to the work of the Church globally, I want to research ways to produce energy and feed the third world and generally leave a positive dint on the earth. I want a boat, an nice car, and maybe a plane… That’d be cool. My wife wants a nice house on a flat block somewhere in the Shire.

But honestly, all of these reasons above are secondary to the main thing that, because of a probing question from a friend, I realized this last Saturday.

It’s because I think I can.

I am convinced that we each have something in us, whether we know what it is yet or not. Some strange potential, something that is in there and wants to be let out. Something that burns and bubbles and keeps us awake at night, and is almost always there within a few moments of waking up in the morning. This is more than a hobby or an interest, it’s a dream… a purpose.

The thing I like about “because I can”? You can’t mess with it. The only real counter is “I don’t think you can” to which I respond “well let’s just wait and see”.

Here’s the kicker… A God fearing person who chooses manifest the gifts and dreams that have been put into their heart testifies by their life story to the character of the One who designed those gifts and dreams and put them there in the first place.

Here’s the refined kicker: When you go after what God has put in you His creativity, which is in you, testifies to His character.

I love it when you boil something down to the point where you feel like it can’t be boiled down any further.

What’s your “why”?