“Destiny: Step into Your Purpose”
By T.D. Jakes
2015, Faith Words
$25.00 • $30.00 Canada
255 pages
Around work, you’ve gotten a reputation as the go-to person for certain things.
Everybody has a talent; yours happens to be on the job. People know you’re good, they utilize your ability, and you don’t mind. It’s not a big deal to you, but could there be more to it? T.D. Jakes thinks so, and in his new book “Destiny: Step into Your Purpose,” he shows how your talents may reveal a new path.
In the moments after leaving a meeting with Coretta Scott King some years ago, T.D. Jakes began to ponder something she’d said about destiny. He “lived a life to which [he] felt drawn.” That kind of success, he knew, was attainable for everyone.
You have talents that are inherent inside you, says Jakes. -You may not understand them. You may call them God-given, dumb luck, or fate, but those talents are your destiny and “…people must learn to live genuine lives that allow them to perform the… tasks they are gifted to do.”
In following your destiny, remember that it’s a process. That doesn’t mean things can’t happen quickly, but it’s unlikely. Time will give you the chance to grow and learn to use your talents to their utmost; just be patient and understand that few things happen when it’s convenient. Meanwhile, gather all the skills you can get, which “may be just what you need to propel you…” And remember that “the only reason we have steps is to get us to a higher level.”
Learn to prioritize, not just in your tasks but in your relationships, your finances, and in your dreams. Don’t “fix every problem that comes across your radar.” Know how to handle situations that are important, and “leave behind small thinking.”
Don’t confuse who you are with what you do. Remember that pain and failure are part of the journey, but don’t let them deter you from your destiny and don’t waste a second of your life. And remember that “Sometimes the best hello to a new opportunity is the good-bye you gave to a dead situation.”
As I see it, there are two main aspects that set “Destiny” apart from other books that line the business shelves at the library or bookstore: it’s perhaps not surprisingly quite faith-based, and it’s very surprisingly quiet in its steadfastness.
Author T.D. Jakes is almost laser-focused-insistent in his urgings for readers, in fact, and that’s not a bad thing. Jakes’ words feel like a giant hand on your back, like an industrial magnet pulling toward success and his advice, though sometimes repetitive, is startlingly intense. Again, that’s not a distraction, but there was one thing that did bother me: I saw words on responsibility but not much about what to do if a destiny is misread or, if chased, turns sour.
And so, though I liked this book quite a bit, I would’ve liked to see more of balance. Still, I can’t argue with pages and pages of fierce inspiration and direction – and that alone could make “Destiny” your go-to book.
