Almost six years ago I quit my job, sold my house, and moved into my sister's basement in Nampa, Idaho, order to free up my finances and pursue a life-long dream of making a difference as a writer. As a result, I now have a daily trivia column—syndicated in a handful of newspapers—along with a series of short-term contract writing positions and a small but growing number of published articles, essays, stories, and poems. But it hasn't been easy. For one, I'm thirty-four years old and still living in my sister's basement. For another, an awful lot of people think I'm crazy.

But life has never been more fun, and through this process, I believe God has been revealing to me the source of real joy: discovering what I was created to be and being just that—nothing more, nothing less—finding the place where I can just be myself, where I'm finally free to give. It is in this act of giving that I find everything I need.

Give away money, and I escape from financial need. Give of my time, and I escape from the rat-race mentality that rules American society. Give up on trying to maintain my reputation, and I find freedom to be myself. Give. And the world responds.

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