For the past week now, I’ve opened my eyes each morning immediately knowing that something isn’t right. There is an empty and hollow feeling hovering in the air like traces of stale cigarettes. And, each morning as my eyes adjust to the darkness in the room, my mind recalibrates to the reality behind the sadness greeting me. My mentor, my spiritual father is dead.
On Sunday, November 9, 2014 at 5:10 PM, Dr. Myles Munroe, his wife Pastor Ruth Munroe, Pastor Richard Pinder and six other passengers on a private plane lost their lives in a horrific plane crash.
Even now, as I write these words, they seem foreign and cold. But these are the only words that feel safe to share, because raging in my heart is a firestorm of grief, anger and confusion that scare me. But despite the darkness of this tragedy, hope remains. As I contemplate the many things that Papa Myles shared, I realize that the greatest gift he gave was hope.
It was nearly 25 years ago, I heard him speak for the first time. A failing college student in the throes of depression, I clung to his teachings on purpose with a quiet desperation. Every day, I lived with a seemingly bottomless emptiness. I longed to hit rock bottom because at least I would know things couldn’t get worse.
I would meet him in person four years later. Tagging along with my sister and future brother in-law, I found myself at a dinner table with this powerful visionary. Still insecure and struggling, I listened while everyone around me talked.
It was suddenly quiet and I then realized that he was talking directly to me. He asked me to share one of my poems. I nervously conceded and when I finished, he looked in my eyes and told me my future—that my words would travel the world and change lives.
Dinner continued, but from that moment on my life changed. He dared to speak what I had longed for in my heart—for my life to have meaning. To others at that table I may have been no one worth noting, but he saw my potential! And he dared me to release it.
I met his beautiful wife Ruth a few years later. She was a woman who stood in her own strength and purpose. Knowing her identity enabled her to embrace others with a warmth and kindness few can parallel. She understood that is was her relationship to him that empowered him to be who he was to millions.
I am confident that time and history will reveal the true magnitude of the impact the Munroes had on the world and generations to come.
Today, I can say that you are reading this column, because 20 years ago as I hid from my own shadow—my mentor challenged me to live! He told me I was born to make a difference and I believed him—even when I did not believe in myself.
I know that the best way to honor their legacy is to live the messages they literally gave their lives to share.
We don’t get to determine our life’s entrance or exit, but we do get to decide its impact and content. Today, I encourage you to live fully and stop fearing the power of your gifts.
Death is certain, but living must be a decision. Give all that you can to this world and be determined to die empty!
Please join me next week as I share five of Dr. Munroe’s principle that changed me forever.Named the “North America’s Next Greatest Speaker” by eWomenNetwork, Coach Felicia is a Certified Empowerment Coach™ who empowers her clients to “Turn their Worth into Wealth” as she partners with them to DISCOVER their WORTH, DO the WORK and DEFINE their WEALTH. Get more insight, download the FREE “8 Choices Winners Must Make” seminar MP3 on her website.