Fully Engaged by John Busacker

“We have a deep desire to live a life of significance and meaning – a life where we're fully engaged and satisfied.” (111)

Busacker wants you to be fully engaged in life. He wants you to do less and be more.
He invites you to ask yourself one question: “What should I do with my life?” (18) If your answer is what you are doing right now, great. You are part of the one percent of people who are fulfilled by what you are doing. You are fully engaged. But if you are in the other 99 percent, this book is for you. “God uses ordinary people like you and me to do astonishing things if, and only if, we are fully engaged.” (24)
His book is divided into three sections: awareness, alignment, and action.
Busacker wants you to be aware of your life worth: “the investment you make into and the return you receive from all life dimensions.” (31) Your life worth reflects your spiritual wealth and engagement. It is a realization that relationships, health, work, hobbies, learning and faith are all related to your life worth. (He has an assessment you can complete.) Busacker has a section of questions for the reader to answer to discover and articulate one's life story. That includes attitude, experience, important lessons, outlook and understanding.
He helps readers understand their values which, in turn, determine choices. Clarity of values empowers one to say “yes” to what matters and “no” to what is unimportant. He provides the process to discover values.
In the second section, Busaker wants the reader to align values to what you are doing with your life. A sense of calling is when you know you are doing with your life exactly what you should be doing. “Calling is the powerful intersection of passion and motivated abilities.” (73) He again provides an exercise to determine the intersection of your passion and your giftedness. He has an exercise to help you identify your life dreams.
Busacker is ruthless when it comes to our idolatrous attachment to technology (such as email). He reveals the detriment of excessive business. Again, he has an exercise to help you determine which activities to drop (pace, presence, promise).
“Adversity introduces us to ourselves.” (112) “...[T]he seeds of consistent full engagement are forged in the moments that test us to the depth of our being.” (113) Failure may be a defining moment setting you on the course to full engagement. He provides an exercise to determine your defining moments.
Busacker reminds us that we need to quiet our mind from the distraction of worry. We should start each day with the quiet conversation with ourselves and with God. We need “to seek out God's wisdom and counsel first before we step into the fray.” (124) He encourages us to seek out the wise counsel of others, a support team.
Busacker says we should be generous. We should look at generosity as a natural response to being richly blessed. He helps determine how and where to give generously and provides an exercise.
Busacker encourages us not to wait. Live boldly, “choosing to make good on all the talents and promise you were born with...[it] empowers you to enjoy the satisfaction, success, and excitement that comes with a fully engaged life.” (147)

I received an egalley of this book from The B&B Media Group on behalf of the publishers for the purpose of this review.

Summerside Press, ISBN: 978-1-609361150/Paperback/147 pages/$14.99