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True Peak Journey: Jacqueline Way

Note: This is part of a new series where I fea­ture peo­ple who are on their true peak jour­ney.  If you’re inter­ested in shar­ing your story, please con­tact me.

“A jour­ney of a thou­sand miles must begin with a sin­gle step.” ~ Lao Tzu

Today, our guest is Jacque­line Way, from 365 Give | Chang­ing The World One Day at a Time.  Jacque­line recently started on a quest to make a dif­fer­ence in our world, every day, and doc­u­ment that jour­ney.  From that, her site has become a place to share some­thing, every day , that is good in the world — from her, and from oth­ers mak­ing a dif­fer­ence in their own unique ways. 

Jacque­line shares her story of life, and of find­ing a deeper pur­pose in all that she does.

Please read and enjoy…

 

Do you ever won­der what your true call­ing is? Do you ever won­der why you are here or what the mean­ing of your life is?

What Is My Purpose?

I have asked myself this ques­tion often. It started when I began my own busi­ness in my late 20’s. I started in the won­der­ful world if fundrais­ing. Pre­vi­ously, I had many oppor­tu­ni­ties to grow my busi­ness and get involved in the cor­po­rate world but I made a clear deci­sion based on my “call­ing.”  I’m not reli­gious but I heard this voice — that lit­tle voice we all have. It was call­ing to me and telling me to base my busi­ness on giv­ing back. I didn’t have a mil­lion dol­lars to give away but I knew I could raise it through other peo­ple. Fif­teen years later I have done just that. I have used my skills to raise more money than I could ever give by lis­ten­ing to my calling.

Then Comes Mid­dle Age

Then I hit 40. Oh that magic age that makes us sit and reflect what we have done to date. All of a sud­den I was half way through my life, I had a two year old and I wanted to do more (as if rais­ing a child and run­ning my own busi­ness wasn’t enough). But the voice was get­ting louder and louder.  I wanted to get to the end of my life and know I had done every­thing in my power to leave the world a bet­ter place for my beau­ti­ful son, his friends and future gen­er­a­tions. I sat, (I had no choice I had bro­ken my foot – the gifts life gives us!) I pon­dered, I thought, I wrote, I waited to be inspired. I waited..and waited…and waited… and then it came!

Inspi­ra­tion!

It hit me one day when I asked myself some impor­tant questions.

  • When was I happiest?
  • What made me work until the wee hours of the night just because it made me happy?
  • If I was asked to get up in front of an audi­ence with no prepa­ra­tion and speak pas­sion­ately on one topic what would it be?
  • If I won a mil­lion dol­lars what would I do with it?

The Answers 

The answers were there, I just had to lis­ten. The answers to all of my ques­tions came back to the same thing. I wanted to change the world! Wow what a big state­ment from one person.

I wanted to inspire other peo­ple to give more in their lives. I wanted to find a way to make peo­ple under­stand that our every­day actions and choices could change the world. I’m not Bono or Oprah but I am some­one. I am one per­son that could do some­thing every day to make the world a bet­ter place. I had few finan­cial resources to start a world­wide move­ment, lit­tle tech­ni­cal back­ground but I had a vision and desire. I had pas­sion, I was inspired and I had the drive to fig­ure it out. I had one other thing as well that had been hold­ing me back for far too long.…

Fear

Have you ever been so scared to start some­thing you know noth­ing about that you just don’t do it? I have done it many times. I have tons of bril­liant ideas to change the world but fear always held me back.

  • What would peo­ple think?
  • Where would I get the money?
  • How would I do it alone?
  • Who do I think I am?

 Not this time. I had a son to think of and an exam­ple to set. What kind of an exam­ple was I set­ting if I let my fear get the best of me and let my life go by with­out at least try­ing. I took a deep breath and jumped. I asked for help and the per­fect per­son appeared to hold my hand to get me going. I started a blog, 365give.ca. Eight months ago I didn’t even know what a blog was. But I had to write – every­day. It was going to be my mis­sion. Do one thing to give back to the world every­day and blog about it. I did for­get one thing about myself — I’m not a writer! I can ask peo­ple for money for a good cause, but I’m not a writer. I started writ­ing every day. Then came the chal­lenge to get my blog noticed. Twit­ter? Face­book? No one told me I had to become a social media expert so some­one would read my writ­ing! Ahhhh! In comes the fear – I don’t do social media. I do now. I’m not an expert but I do my best.

Hap­pi­ness

Hap­pi­ness comes in many shapes and sizes. It can be as sim­ple as tak­ing the first lick of your favourite ice-cream or lying on a beach lis­ten­ing to the waves. It can be a first kiss or your first born. The hap­pi­ness your get from giv­ing back every day is some­thing no one can take from me. It doesn’t come and go, it doesn’t leave you or fade. Giv­ing every­day has brought me a hap­pi­ness that gets me up in the morn­ing and dri­ves me. It helps me write, it helps me Tweet and Face­book. It even keeps my fear at bay.

The great­est gift of giv­ing is what you receive from it. The look on someone’s face, the first time your son picks up garbage to help the planet with­out any prompt­ing. Or it could be a sur­prise email in your inbox from some­one like Lance that inspires you to keep going.

Explor­ing

Tak­ing the time to explore what it all means to you is time well spent. I have found my call­ing. It is giv­ing. It has made me feel like I am mov­ing in the direc­tion I should be going. It will change and evolve as I move along this jour­ney but I now know I am head­ing in the right direction.

What will you do to move in the direc­tion you should be going? Will you listen?

Jacque­line Way is the founder of 365give, an online diary of one woman’s actions and impact in chang­ing the world every day for 365days. 365give has the poten­tial to cre­ate a move­ment of giv­ing and a com­mu­nity of com­mit­ted ”givers” that can edu­cate and inspire future gen­er­a­tions.  Keep up with Jacque­line on Twit­ter and Face­book.

Note:  Pho­tos pro­vided, in part, by Karen Somers Pho­tog­ra­phy.

Lance writes sto­ries from his heart, aim­ing to inspire and moti­vate, as you align more fully with YOUR true peak. When he’s not here, you can find him hang­ing out with his fam­ily, rid­ing a bike, or just gen­er­ally act­ing goofy.   Sign up for the Thoughts from the Tree­house newslet­ter and get addi­tional inspi­ra­tion in your email inbox!
Lance Ekum
View all posts by Lance Ekum
Filed Under: True Peak Journey Tagged With:

Comments

  1. Jay Schryer says:
    April 26, 2011 at 9:29 am

    This is very inspi­ra­tional! Thank you, Jacque­line, for shar­ing your story here, and thank *you*, Lance, for host­ing her here.

    Jacque­line, I love how you shared your story of how you found your passion…your call­ing. I love how it grew organ­i­cally from the things you had been doing all along. Your soul knew what it wanted to be doing, and so you found your­self in many sit­u­a­tions which were close, but not exactly per­fect matches. And then, one day, it clicked, and you could see how each step before helped you along your path to your true pas­sion. And now, here you are, liv­ing it out. Awesome!

    Reply
    • Jacqueline says:
      April 26, 2011 at 6:26 pm

      Thank you so much Jay. I appre­ci­ate you tak­ing the time to read it. I truly wrote from my heart. It is com­ments like yours that keep me moti­vated to keep giv­ing! Please fol­low me on my site as your com­ments would be appre­ci­ated as well. Have a great day.
      Jacqueline

      Reply
  2. Debbie @ Happy Maker says:
    April 26, 2011 at 12:33 pm

    Thank you Jacque­line for shar­ing your story. Giv­ing is a won­der­ful way live a per­sons life. I believe it is the only way to live our life.

    There are many ways to give, so our options are really end­less. Like you say ask our­selves the right ques­tions and we will find our pas­sion of giv­ing. I do like the way you also talked about fear. Fear is some­thing that holds many peo­ple back from becom­ing what they are met to be.
    Thank you again and may you always be blessed. Debbie

    Reply
  3. Lynn says:
    April 26, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    It’s won­der­ful how you came to know just what you should be doing. I admire that so much. Thank you for shar­ing your story.
    Lynn´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Three lit­tle birds– on my doorstep and visitMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Jacqueline says:
    April 26, 2011 at 6:27 pm

    Lance thank you so much for hav­ing me as a guest on your site. It gave me the chance to really know in my heart why I am doing 365give. I look for­ward to fol­low­ing your story as it changes and evolves. Thank you.

    Jacque­line
    Jacqueline´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Day 209-Every Day Hero changes the Lives of Uganda Street KidsMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      April 26, 2011 at 8:33 pm

      Jacque­line,
      It’s really great hav­ing you here…and if that helped you to touch your heart a lit­tle more deeply…double-awesomeness! Really, I just love the con­cept of what you’re doing — and then to read your story here — and feel your pas­sion for this…that just makes hav­ing you here that much more meaningful.

      Thank YOU…for being here, and even more — for lis­ten­ing to your heart and shar­ing your gifts with the world.

      Namaste,
      Lance

      Reply
  5. Andrea DeBell @ britetalk says:
    April 26, 2011 at 9:30 pm

    Hi Lance and Jacque­line,
    Beau­ti­ful story and even more beau­ti­ful cause. It’s extremely reward­ing to give from the heart with no agenda and want­ing noth­ing in return. The pure plea­sure of giv­ing and serv­ing oth­ers. I applaud any project that moti­vates us to give and to serve oth­ers.
    Thanks for the inspi­ra­tion! Lov­ing bless­ings
    Andrea DeBell @ britetalk´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Awe­some­ness boot camp– demys­ti­fy­ing our fears once and for allMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Sandra / Always Well Within says:
    April 27, 2011 at 1:47 am

    Jacque­line,

    What an amaz­ing story of tak­ing the next steps to refine your life­long focus on giv­ing even fur­ther. May every­one in this world have such a com­pas­sion­ate epiphany! I have found my pur­pose too and though life has its ups and downs it couldn’t be bet­ter. Thanks for the inspi­ra­tion. Can’t wait to pop over to 365 give.

    A big thank you to Lance for this inspi­ra­tional series.
    San­dra / Always Well Within´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Hope and Fear in Blog­ging and LifeMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      April 27, 2011 at 9:42 pm

      Hi San­dra,
      So, so good hav­ing you here!

      Love that you have found your purpose…and know, San­dra, that I get so much from vis­it­ing your site and soak­ing in the deeply thought­ful writ­ing you share.

      Reply
  7. Hilda says:
    April 27, 2011 at 5:02 am

    Hi Jacque­line,

    Maybe you weren’t a writer, but you sure are now! That’s a very inspir­ing post, and you asked your­self the most won­der­ful ques­tions. It’s been a while since I asked them myself, but with a quiet-looking sum­mer approach­ing this seems to be a per­fect prompt for me :-) Thank you!
    Hilda´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Be adven­tur­ousMy Profile

    Reply
  8. rob white says:
    April 27, 2011 at 6:59 am

    A won­der­ful story and mis­sion, Jacque­line. We feel most alive and at peace in the world when we cre­ate ‘inspir­ing addic­tions’ that have us in ser­vice to the world. There is no bet­ter feel­ing than to be won­der­fully obsessed with a mis­sion and pur­pose that expresses our Authen­tic Nature.
    rob white´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..The Val­ley and the MeadowMy Profile

    Reply
  9. Giulietta Nardone says:
    April 27, 2011 at 7:50 am

    Hi Lance & Jacqueline,

    Like this TPJ for­mat! Great illus­tra­tion of the human need to have a strong rea­son to get up in the morn­ing. Too many folks don’t know why they get up. It makes life painful when it really can be a fan­tas­tic adventure.

    The 365 Give reminds me of a favorite quote of mine:

    What do we live for, if it is not to make life less dif­fi­cult to each other?
    – George Eliot, Middlemarch

    We’ve already tried to make life more dif­fi­cult for each other, let’s try to move in a dif­fer­ent direc­tion. Will check out your site Jacque­line! Thanks, G.
    Giuli­etta Nardone´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Get­ting to BeginMy Profile

    Reply
  10. Mark Harai says:
    April 27, 2011 at 8:57 am

    Wow Jacque­line, I love your prospec­tive on life!

    If I was to go through these same ques­tions, they would be very sim­i­lar in nature. The only big dif­fer­ence between us is I hap­pen to be male : )

    It’s this very mind­set that will absolutely change the world, whether it’s global in nature or just in our homes and neigh­bor­hoods. Life is about giv­ing and when you have big aspi­ra­tions, big vision and big heart, it can open many doors to serve oth­ers in very impact­ful ways.

    Cheers to your future accomplishments!

    Reply
  11. Audra Krell says:
    April 27, 2011 at 1:12 pm

    There are lay­ers and lay­ers of inspi­ra­tion here, thank you! As far as writ­ing, the ONLY way to get bet­ter is to do what you did. You put your bootie in the chair and shake it all about! Okay, maybe not the shake part, but you sit down and write. Every.Single.Day. Love that you lis­tened to the voice, for me, it’s God and he won’t be ignored. Every bless­ing as you con­tinue this great, won­der­fully pas­sion­ate work!
    Audra Krell´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..The Box­ing WriterMy Profile

    Reply
  12. Delena Silverfox says:
    April 27, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    Thank you, Jacque­line, and thank you, Lance, for shar­ing such an amaz­ing story!

    I love how you never gave up, even when you didn’t think you knew what you wanted to do or what inspired you, and when the prac­ti­cal­i­ties (like social media) began to intim­i­date you. It seems like, when we want to do one thing well, we have to learn to do ten things we don’t like –and we have to do them well!

    That’s always where I get caught. =) This gives me a lit­tle moti­va­tion to keep going.

    Delena
    Delena Silverfox´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Audi­ble Coupon CodeMy Profile

    Reply
  13. Jacqueline says:
    April 27, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    Thank you to every­one for all the great com­ments. I love the idea of shak­ing my bootie in my chair com­ment. Some days you just need to do that! So many of you have sites I look for­ward to get­ting into and read­ing. I so appre­ci­ate all the won­der­ful sen­ti­ments. Oh just maybe one day I will say out loud I am a writer! For those of you inter­ested I just got nom­i­nated as one of the top 30 blog­ger Mom’s in Van­cou­ver by Van­cou­ver­Mom. (http://www.vancouvermom.ca/) I will need all the votes I can get next week so I can share my giv­ing with as many peo­ple as pos­si­ble. I will be tweet­ing and post­ing about it and your vote would be greatly appre­ci­ated. I am hon­oured to be in the group with such won­der­ful peo­ple for the con­test. Thank you again and have a won­der­ful day!
    Jacqueline´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Day 209-Every Day Hero changes the Lives of Uganda Street KidsMy Profile

    Reply
  14. Jody - Fit at 53 says:
    April 27, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    WOW! What a pow­er­ful post! Thank you & thx Lance for shar­ing! Got me think­ing big time.. fear is there — mainly due to try­ing too many times & not work­ing out the right way & los­ing money along the way. Scary at 53 when the “crash” has already taken your retire­ment from you & to try some­thing dif­fer­ent but you do have me think­ing!
    Jody — Fit at 53´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Train­ing with Gun­nar Peterson-Pictures!My Profile

    Reply
  15. Justin | Mazzastick says:
    April 27, 2011 at 8:00 pm

    You just have to go with it in life and not let fear get in your way. Our hearts know what to do but I mind often stops us.
    Justin | Mazzastick´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..The Sand­boxMy Profile

    Reply
  16. Jk Allen says:
    April 28, 2011 at 9:56 pm

    Hello Lance, thanks for shar­ing this great jour­ney from Jacqueline.

    This entire read was inspi­ra­tional, but I really loved the ques­tions under “Inspi­ra­tion”:
    When was I hap­pi­est?
    What made me work until the wee hours of the night just because it made me happy?
    If I was asked to get up in front of an audi­ence with no prepa­ra­tion and speak pas­sion­ately on one topic what would it be?
    If I won a mil­lion dol­lars what would I do with it?

    I love ask­ing myself ques­tions and find it to really help me assess the direc­tion that I’m head­ing in, com­pared to the direc­tion where I want to head. My per­sonal ques­tions tend to be ran­dom and rarely con­sis­tent. I’m going to use these ques­tions here, as my own — to help keep my jour­ney trans­par­ent to myself.

    Thank you!
    Jk Allen´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..And Finally…Why I Hus­tle! A Q&A SessionMy Profile

    Reply
    • Jacqueline says:
      April 28, 2011 at 11:39 pm

      Thanks so much for the great com­ment JK Allen. I am so glad my ques­tions have helped you think a lit­tle dif­fer­ently. They cer­tainly helped me be true to myself and my giv­ing jour­ney. I may not know the end result or where it will take me but being true to who I am has been worth more than any­thing. Thank you again!
      Jacqueline´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Day 211– My Date with Craig listMy Profile

      Reply
  17. Naomi Estment says:
    April 29, 2011 at 1:08 am

    Way to go, Lance & Jacque­line (your writ­ing must have been good or be much improved)! This is a won­der­ful read :-) Keep on jour­ney­ing and enjoy­ing, xo
    Naomi Estment´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..“Time to say goodbye”My Profile

    Reply
  18. Galen Pearl says:
    April 30, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    What an inspir­ing post! Along with oth­ers com­menters, I’m look­ing for­ward to vis­it­ing 365 Give. I like the idea of doing one thing every day to make the world a bet­ter place. Your enthu­si­asm is contagious.

    Lance, I’m happy to be read­ing your blog again. For rea­sons I never under­stood, I was hav­ing trou­ble with your blog for awhile–my com­puter would freeze up. But I thought I would try again and voila–it worked just fine! So glad I thought to pop over today to find such a great post.

    Thanks to both of you.
    Galen Pearl´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..The Joy of Sad­ness– the Sad­ness of JoyMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      May 1, 2011 at 11:04 am

      Galen,
      So great hav­ing you here! And I’m glad what­ever the trou­ble you had with my site is now fixed. I have been doing a few things behind the scenes, so maybe that helped? Any­way, great see­ing you!!

      Reply
  19. Betsy at Zen Mama says:
    May 1, 2011 at 11:31 am

    Jacque­line,
    It’s won­der­ful to read your story! It’s amaz­ing that when your able to focus and some­thing or some­one other than your­self, hap­pi­ness, con­tent­ment and pur­pose arrive at your doorstep unex­pected. Look­ing for­ward to going through your web­site!!
    Betsy

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Send 365give your favourite post | 365give says:
    June 24, 2011 at 10:56 pm

    […] you have writ­ten. We will share the most inspir­ing story with every­one. This is mine I wrote for The Jun­gle of Life. Now send me yours. 365, blog, com­ment, favourite, give, giv­ing, How to give, philanthropy, […]

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