There is something deep within our human essence that calls us to seek a life of significance and purpose.   This yearning can easily be crushed by the day to day tasks of raising a family, paying the bills, or the voices in our head that tell us we aren’t good enough.  The voices in our head shout loudly an anthem that rings “you will fail.”  Launching an epic adventure to find our calling is scary but when we are gone I doubt any of us wish to be remembered for simply “being nice” or “playing it safe.” Rather we all long to be remembered for changing the world for the better.

Earlier this year, I had a life changing experience!  Almost two months ago, I became incredibly sick.  My physician didn’t want to come out and say, “Anna, you almost died” but I knew I almost died.  I had a combination of the flu B and a bacterial pneumonia infection.  I remember lying in bed unable to move and crying because each breath hurt.   I remember sitting in the doctor’s office slumped in a chair and feeling the need to tell Chris, my husband, good bye.

Thankfully my story didn’t end with this illness.  This experience did, however, remind me that life is so very precious!  I tend to be a perfectionist and focus on accomplishing tasks.  This bout with severe illness forced me to face the fact that I often live a distracted life.  I am learning to engage with my children, friends, and husband on a deeper level and relish in what is truly important.   We have the choice each day to live an epic adventure or take the safe road and pursue a life of comfort and ease.  During my illness on day three of being in bed, I received a message from Acton Academy that I had been accepted into their program.  I was so broken physically that I really couldn’t celebrate.   I did realize, however, that launching an Acton Academy was the beginning of a journey that would encourage me to grow as a mom and business woman.

Over the past few weeks, I have battled my own personal voices that say. “What if nobody comes to the school?” “What if you are wasting all these resources on a dream that won’t work?”  These fears can be excruciating and immobilizing.   That is when I try and recall that life is a story and that living a life of significance takes risk.  Looking over history, the individuals who made significant contributions to the world didn’t play it safe.  I want to be an example to my children of pursuing dreams and working hard to create a lasting mark on the world.

I recently heard a podcast that discussed how to determine your life’s calling.  The speaker suggested that if you feel passionately about a cause and you have the resources and skill to effect positive change, you should consider yourself summoned to that cause. I feel that changing the educational landscape in Las Cruces is my personal calling.  I feel that children should learn in a self-paced environment, be celebrated for their gifts, and be in an environment that prepares them for the real world.  Acton Academy does all of these things in a beautiful format that recognizes that each child is on a heroes journey to find a calling that will change the world!

Launching Acton Academy is taking me completely out of my comfort zone.  Would it have been easier to put my kids in an existing school – yes!  Would it have been more financially secure to not kick out all our paying tenants from our building to start a school with initially only my three students – yes!  Would it have been less work to ignore the voice inside that pushed me to start a school- yes!   With all that said, I want to live a life of significance and purpose.   Henry David Thoreau said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”  I challenge you to find your calling and begin a hero’s journey to change the world.  You have a story worth telling!

Anna Emerick-Biad
Acton Academy Las Cruces, Inc.
www.actonacademyrockford.org
575-680-3119

Raising Positive Kids In A Negative World Zig Ziglar
Strengths Finder 2.0  http://www.strengthsfinder.com/home.aspx  (Learn what your gifts are by taking a strengths test.  I took this test and it was incredibly helpful)

Acton Academy Las Cruces Update:
Open House June 25, 3 – 5 pm @ 1730 Tierra de Mesilla
Early Enrollment Discount of $500 until July 1.  Apply today.  https://actonacademyrockford.org/apply/