You Were Supposed to be Great (eBook)

PREFACE

Imagine that you have just won $50 million dollars. What would you do with it, and how would that change your life? Would you use it to live “your best life?” Would you spend some and invest some? Or would you use it to make your name great?

Most people imagine that their lives would be much better if they had an unlimited amount of money. Wealth, after all, gives you the ability to buy whatever makes you the happiest. Most people would pursue luxurious living. Some will buy the best luxury cars. Others would pursue first-class vacations, and yet some people would prefer to fill their closets with a designer wardrobe. Heck, with $50 million, you could get into the “yacht club” and buy a few mansions on each coast of the United States. If I had $50 million, I’d consider having a condo in the South of France while my private jet transports me back and forth for vacation. If you had that kind of money, you could do all of that and still have enough to buy your way into the most exclusive parties, restaurants, or events in the world. You’d be able to leave your days of working a nine to five job, because $50 million allows you to live on life’s highest levels!

In American society, “Fame” only comes second to wealth. Recognition, popularity, and acclaim hold value in our society. Our culture has convinced us that being rich and famous is synonymous with having “the good life!” Various media outlets try to convince us to pursue fame, fortune, and luxury as the primary pursuit for a good life. Reality TV shows are making our younger generation very thirsty for popularity and recognition. Social-media now provides a platform for anyone to be the star of their own show. Many people use this platform seeking recognition. For many of them, it doesn’t matter if they’re known for good or bad things, it only matters that they are known! Therefore, we have now created social media celebrities. It seems most everyone wants to be rich or famous on whatever level they can achieve it. Around the globe, people believe fame and fortune gives them status and makes them one of the “elite” members of society. Many people think that if they could achieve fame and fortune, they could have a great life! However, a brief examination of the following names might suggest that this conclusion can be a little more complicated than you might think.

What do Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, Jeffrey Epstein, Howard Hughes, Whitney Houston, Jiah Khan, John Paul Getty, Robin Williams, Bernie Madoff, Tupac (Shakur), Kate Spade, Amy Winehouse, Anthony Bourdain, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Heath Ledger, Christopher Wallace, (Notorious B.I.G) and Prince all have in common? Well, you guessed it, they were all people who had fame and fortune, yet they struggled to maintain happiness and peace in their personal lives. At one point, they had it all, but this so called “good life” couldn’t keep them happy. Ironically, they are all now equally known for their tragedy and how their lives ended. As you are reading, I’m sure that some of you are thinking, “yeah but if I had what they had, their misfortune wouldn’t happen to me!” Well, the truth is, unless you know the secret that these people didn’t, you would probably end up with a similar fate. But fear not beloved, there is good news! There really is a secret way to having wealth and a happy life, without having to endure the drama and sorrow that many rich and famous people eventually encounter. Many of the rich celebrities who were mentioned, were actually tormented by the fame and fortune they worked so hard to achieve. It’s crazy to think that something you’ve worked so hard for, could actually turn around and betray you by rewarding you with misery and regret.

Celebrities in Hollywood have worked very hard to become famous. But now, it seems that one of the things they desire most, is a little bit of privacy and time away from the spotlight! They’d like nothing more than to keep their personal lives private so that they can enjoy it in peace. As it stands now, many of them can’t even enjoy an intimate relationship without it becoming a public spectacle. Society scrutinizes their relationships very heavily and as a result, poor relationships and failed marriages become commonplace in Hollywood. Then, the media can’t wait to tell you all their most intimate detail. Sadly, money and fame can’t solve this problem for them. So, I ask you, is it really success when you have many trophies, luxuries, and amenities, but you lack inner peace? Is it profitable to gain the whole world, but lose yourself?

Well, I’d like to tell you that there is a way for you to be prosperous, wealthy and successful, without having to face the misery and sorrow that many other people have had to face. One purpose of this book is to share the secret of achieving your own unique greatness and success, while helping you to avoid the pitfalls and traps that many others have fallen into. Whitney Houston, Marilyn Monroe, Bernie Madoff, Robin Williams, and Michael Jackson all seemed to be at the top of their game, however, they all had inner demons that drove them into destruction. I would imagine that their demons were frequent visitors. Fear is usually the ambassador, the demon that shows up first. If fear is allowed in, he’ll hold the door open for anxiety, loneliness, and depression to come rushing in. Many people have responded to these spiritual intruders by turning to drugs and/or alcohol. Drugs and alcohol, supposedly numbs the pain and takes away the sting that fear and anxiety bring. Those substances provide a temporary escape from the pressures of life. However, an unintended partnership may develop between them and their seemingly friendly drug and alcohol spirits. Eventually, those “friendly” spirits become a part of their struggle. Ultimately, drug & alcohol abuse will begin to magnify a person’s misery and sorrow.

In addition to all of these struggles, there are some rich people who live in seclusion, because they don’t know if they can trust the people who are around them. They secretly wonder if their friends and family members are scheming to get their money. Trust becomes a real problem for them. Inwardly, they think, “Who can I trust? Who is really here because they care about me?” These folks battle with the idea that someone’s always plotting to get their money.

So, while the media makes sport of exposing these people’s inner pain and misery, does this really sound like the good life? Maybe, some of our deepest convictions about happiness are all actually an illusion. The world keeps telling us to chase wealth, luxury, popularity and fame and we’ve essentially responded like Pavlov’s dogs! So, while many people spend their lives chasing these things along with romantic pleasure and good times, my question is, “Are these things the key to happiness?” I’m sure that within the proper balance, there is nothing wrong with any of these things, but our lives have to amount to more than just the pursuit of pleasure and entertainment, in order for us to be fulfilled.

We all live in a society that is constantly trying to tell us what we should want and what we should do. But it requires a great deal of wisdom and insight to see through this mirage. In essence, there is nothing wrong with desiring any of those things, but when you allow those things to disrupt your internal balance, you create problems for yourself. If you allow those things to become your priority, your life will slowly begin to unravel! Therefore, the goal is to have those things, without letting those things have you! Be careful not spend your whole life “chasing waterfalls” when God has provided lakes and rivers to sustain you.

It is possible for you to have wealth and a great, satisfying, and rewarding life. Yes, you can have fame and fortune and still maintain great relationships, good health, and inner peace. The key to having all these things lie in your full understanding of the following proverb.

“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22)

This book is dedicated to providing you a blueprint, showing you how to obtain the blessing of the Lord and an incredibly great life! The title of this book is “You Were Supposed to Be Great…” Being great and being blessed are not always the same thing, but this book is about being both!

WARNING: This book is NOT about religion or religious practices. This book is about YOU~ the Creator of the Universe, and Kingdom. All people, male and female, were commissioned to be kings on this earth. However, so few people actually achieve this because most don’t really understand how to do it. Religion creates a lot of confusion about God and man, but universal truth is hard to deny once it has been discovered. God left us hidden instructions on how to be rich and how to sustain joy at the same time.

Once you discover your kingship, you will realize that you have access to all of the wealth and resources you will ever need. When you understand the instructions that are to come, you will also understand that trying to manipulate and control other people (other kings), is the wrong approach to sustained success. Manipulation will wreck what you have tried to build and unhappiness will be your end result. The spirit of this writing is based in Christianity, but...