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Blowing Passed The Finish Line
216 Plays2 years ago
What if retirement wasn't the end but in fact just the beginning? What if it wasn't the time to slow down but the time to kick things into high gear? The uncommon path generally tries to find a way to love what you do so much that you don't ever want to retire. But for those of us where that part didn't quite work out, retirement can often be the catalyst to doing more than you ever thought possible and loving it, just like Rayma Dinnen.
In this episode we're talking with Rayma, who went from spending decades as an ER nurse in Chicago to leading teams doing impactful work in Uganda and here in the States. Along the way, she had multiple encounters where God intervened in her path, including giving up a position of influence within the Reiki community as a noted practitioner and sharing Good News with the last person in the world she would have expected to. This is a story you don't want to miss!
To reach Rayma, you can email here at: Rayma444@comcast.net.
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Transcript
Introduction to Uncommon Wealth Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Everyone dreams of living an uncommon life and the best asset you have to achieve your dreams is you. Welcome to the Uncommon Wealth Podcast. We're going to introduce you to people who are living uncommonly. We're also going to give you some tools and strategies for building wealth and for pursuing an uncommon path that is uniquely right for you.
00:00:26
Speaker
Hello and welcome, everybody, to another episode of The Uncommon Wealth podcast, where I'm your host, Philip Ramsey. And I'm Aaron Kramer. Thanks for tuning in to another podcast. I can't wait for this one. This is one that I've been trying to get on for quite some time. Yes, you have. I know. And at the end of the day.
Financial Empowerment through Passion
00:00:41
Speaker
Aaron and I are financial advisors that believe that you are your best asset. What does that mean? That's true. I always say that. What does that mean? It means that we really think that you are your best asset and to invest in what your passions are, what you get excited about is the key to your success and happiness. Maybe not really.
00:01:00
Speaker
But no, it is. It's fun as an adviser to be able to empower other people to use their money in order to fulfill their life and be excited about what they're doing. A lot of our meetings go longer only because people get excited about it. We get excited about it. And we do, too. So there you go. There's a commercial of what Aaron and I do at Uncommon
Living an Uncommon Retirement: Raima Denon's Story
00:01:19
Speaker
Wealth Partners. But today we're talking to a rock star. The reason why she's a rock star. She's my aunt. Yes, she is. And the reason why I wanted her on the show is because I think there is
00:01:30
Speaker
The normal is to retire and just sit in a chair, rock back and forth, and just get a reminisce about your life. That is the exact opposite of an uncommon person. And that's why we want Raima on the show. Raima, welcome to the show. Raima Denon. Thank you, guys.
00:01:46
Speaker
Cannot wait to unpack this because you have done the exact opposite. Where other people started retirement and started slowing down, I felt like you hit the retirement tape and sped up probably three times as fast as you ever were. Am I wrong in that? No, you're exactly right. In fact, to even be more specific, I felt like my whole life was on hold until I was able to be retired. I mean, I-
00:02:15
Speaker
I mean, I made money. Um, I worked really hard, you know, but that job controlled my life. It was rough. I'm not that other people's jobs aren't rough, but, um, I mean, a few days after I retired, my son says, you should have retired sooner. I mean, I just totally changed. Right. And that's true. And here's the deal at the end of the day. Here's your bio. You have a son, uh, and you were a nurse, am I wrong for how many years?
00:02:45
Speaker
I was an emergency room nurse at a level one trauma center for 5 million years. I don't even know how many years that's right in Chicago. And there's like, there's like TV shows about this. So you were in the throes of it.
00:02:58
Speaker
So to say that you were like running a hundred miles a minute is no joke. And just dealing with the bureaucracy of, of hospitals and all that stuff. Like it was a tough job, but here's the deal at the end of the day, like this podcast is not only about you, but it's also about your faith.
Faith Exploration and Transformation
00:03:15
Speaker
And so if you're not a faithful person, if you don't have anything of it, you might want to skip this podcast, but I'm telling you, there is some golden here because one thing that I really want to highlight for you, Raima is your testimony and your walk and your journey.
00:03:28
Speaker
of your faith. So when did that start for you? And when did things start changing? Because I've known you my whole life. But it wasn't just till recently that you are older, that you found your faith. And I think that is what catapulted you into looking at life in a different way. Am I wrong?
00:03:47
Speaker
No, you're you're exactly right. I had accepted Christ like 40 some years ago. But the church I was attending wasn't wasn't feeling right for me. I went on a spiritual journey talking to five million people about, you know, their religion, their beliefs. And I landed on New Age for, I don't know how many years. And it's I don't even remember
00:04:19
Speaker
Well, I guess I do remember, you know, how I got out of it, because I was kind of popular and had, you know, I was in Reiki, and I was a Reiki master teacher for 20 some years, had quite a following, etc. But then
00:04:40
Speaker
When my stepfather died, I had met your mom and dad in Des Moines. We were sitting at a restaurant, having dinner, and I was watching and listening to Chris and Phil, and I got this whisper, and it was, it's time for you to have a church family again. I'm going to get emotional, but anyway.
00:05:04
Speaker
So, you know, my stepfather had passed, we got his apartment all cleaned out, came back home. And that weekend, I walked into Willow Creek in South Barrington. I texted Phil and I says, guess where do you think I am? And he's like, I don't know, like Geneva, I don't know what you're doing. Willow Creek, and I'm sure that their mouths dropped open, because they had been concerned about my spiritual walk for quite a while with this Reiki stuff.
Sharing Faith in Personal Relationships
00:05:34
Speaker
And so literally from that day, I mean, I immediately went to a welcome dinner afterwards and dah, dah, dah, dah, had some leadership training there. I mean, God like put my life pedal to the metal as far as my spiritual walk goes. And that's, that's when it started. And that was like, you know, just a very shortly after I retired. Yes. So how old were you when you retired?
00:06:02
Speaker
Um, now that's a tough question. Uh, I retired like a year or so before I had to, or before I could. So I think no 65 or 66, something like that. And then how old are you currently?
00:06:14
Speaker
Uh, I will be 74 in September. I love it. Okay. Uh, so let's talk about this new age thing. Cause I think some of our listeners don't know what that is. Yeah. Yeah. Reiki new age, this stuff. It's the, I'm quoting here. It's called spiritually guided life force energy. It's like hands on healing, but it has nothing, nothing, nothing to do with Jesus.
00:06:38
Speaker
But those spiritually guided life force words, okay, then I'll do that. Sounds good, felt good. Lots of positive things happening to people when I laid my hands on them. But there there is no Jesus in that. And once I learned that, you know, I stopped my relationship with Ricky ended.
Raima's Love for Uganda and Support in Education
00:07:00
Speaker
Wow. Your journey with faith started around 64. Let's just say like you're true. Like we're going to go in. And then so when did what made you go to Rule Creek? Because this was before, if anybody knows anything about Willow Creek and Bill Heibel, this is before any of that kind of came out. And so Willow Creek, I mean, was a church. And when I say like a church, it was a mega church.
00:07:25
Speaker
was doing some amazing things. Like they had a dentist office in the church. Oh wow. They had a mechanics garage in the church. Crazy. They had lawyers in the church. They had a thrift shop in the church. I mean, it was a mega mega. Oh, I'm saying mega mega in Chicago, harder Chicago. They helped. And they helped a lot of people. And their big thing was about leadership. I remember Raymond and I actually went to a conference. What was that conference called, Raymond?
00:07:51
Speaker
It's their annual leadership conference. Leadership Summit, yeah. And it was awesome. We got to kind of hang out with some of the church leadership. A lot was going on. So what made you go to Willow Creek? Well, because I was with Phil and Chris, you know, we were sharing a hotel room that that whole time. And one evening I said to Chris and Phil, you know, I'd heard this whisper, and this is the kind of church I'm looking for after my
00:08:20
Speaker
looking around and not being satisfied with churches, I told them specifically word for word what I wanted in a church. And Chris says, it's too bad that Willow is too far from you, because it sounds like that's just what you're looking for. You know, but them not being familiar with, you know, what's far here in the area, it's just like, oh, no, this is a few minutes away from me. So that's, that's how I walked into Willow.
00:08:44
Speaker
Yeah, kind of an intimidating church, though, to go in. And the cool thing that Willow Creek did was they had section leaders. I remember this, right? Depending on where you sat, because normally when you go back to a church, you kind of sit in the general vicinity of where you always sit, which I think was brilliant. And they understood that. So they had like these individuals that would kind of
00:09:05
Speaker
figure out who the new people were that were sitting down and then they would kind of go and introduce themselves, make them feel welcome. Maybe we'll take them out to coffee, like pretty neat thing. And that's how you start getting plugged in. But not only is it intimidating because it's a thousand person attended church every week.
00:09:22
Speaker
But so it was neat to see how God like really wrapped his arms around you in that time. And I remember just like talking to you, every time I talked to you, Rehma, from then on, I'm like, every time I talked to Rehma, I'm encouraged. And I feel like she points me towards the gospel even more. So it is so cool to see somebody's life transform after they get the Holy Spirit on fire for
Healing from Divorce through Faith
00:09:45
Speaker
the Lord. And Rehma, you are no exception. I would say you're almost like,
00:09:50
Speaker
You're almost running faster, which is even more encouraging to me. Yeah. So tell me this because I would say that, like, how long have you been divorced? Oh, that's another question. I don't know the answer to it. I mean, it was a really long time, long time, lots and lots and lots of years. I would even say before your son was, I mean, like five.
00:10:12
Speaker
Oh yeah, before then and Kevin's in his 50s now, so yeah. Right. And it was one of the most, and I didn't hear any of the specifics, but it was a horrible divorce. And the marriage was very abusive.
00:10:29
Speaker
Yes. And then afterwards, like he put sugar in his inner tank to like ruin her car. Yeah. Like just ridiculous stuff. And that was like maybe the tip of the iceberg of what, how horrible this was. One thing that, yeah, he did that a whole bunch of times. Right. Uh, and so after you now have a personal relationship with Jesus, what was one thing that you were convicted of? Cause this story has to be told. I don't care if we get anything else out, Raymond, we were talking about this. This is amazing.
00:10:58
Speaker
Well, um, he, you know, he had a really unhealthy lifestyle and they ended up with liver cancer and a bunch of other stuff. And my son called me one day and he said, you know, and my ex was always manipulative, wanting me to come back to him. And so I, and Kevin says, you know, this is the real deal now. He really is dying and he would like you to call him. And I says, you know, I'm sorry. I just cannot, cannot.
00:11:23
Speaker
And he says, okay, I understand. And so in the following couple of days, I mean, I was considering calling him, but talk about throw up in the back of your throat. I was having PTSD and you name it. I just couldn't. And then all of a sudden, one day I was putting up the Christmas tree and I just, I guess I was convicted.
00:11:49
Speaker
and I called him and it was such a blessing that I couldn't recognize his
Spiritual Growth through Leadership in Uganda
00:11:53
Speaker
voice because I recognized his voice. It would have been really difficult for me to talk to him. It would have brought up too much stuff. So anyway, he says, oh, you know, come back to me. I said, wait a minute. I'm calling you for one reason only. I want to make sure that you're going to heaven. Oh, yeah, I know. I'm going to heaven. I've been a good person all my life.
00:12:13
Speaker
I said that's not how it works. So I laid out the gospel for him and he seemed to accept Christ. He said the sinner's prayer, he accepted Christ on the phone. And I thought, well, maybe he's just making that up. I didn't know if it was real or not. And he asked me if I would
00:12:44
Speaker
And then the after stuff, the meal and everything. We got to pull back because I know this, but I don't know if our listeners would pick this up. How many days after you talked to him, did he pass away?
00:13:00
Speaker
uh, less than a week. Yeah. Less than I was, I remember it was like three to four days. Yeah. And the reason why, and I totally think that God shielded you from his voice because he was on his death bed. And that's the reason why I didn't recognize his voice, but praise the Lord. And so now we can go back to, okay. So you go to his funeral. There you go. Sorry. And so somebody came up to me and said, you know, he was so happy about that phone call. He was a different person after that phone call.
00:13:29
Speaker
And so I thought, well, then maybe he really did. And then, um, I was still going to Willow.
Health Challenges and Self-Care
00:13:36
Speaker
I was back at, you know, um, and it was about maybe two months. I don't know exactly. After his funeral, I was setting in a service at Willow and I heard this whisper. I answered your prayer.
00:13:54
Speaker
And I immediately knew because all during our marriage, I had prayed that he become a Christian. So there it is. Isn't that amazing? Awesome. And so here's what a cool thing because out of all the people that you would think that you would want to share the gospel with and make sure that he has an eternity in heaven would been that individual. Am I wrong?
00:14:23
Speaker
No, you're correct. And yet you did. I think I just could be goosebumps thinking about it, like thinking about all the wrong and hard times that he put you through. And yet you were like, nope, there's one reason, one reason I want to call you. And how many people would have just looked at him and be like, if there's one person that needs to go to hell, it's that guy, you know, other than me. Yeah. I'm over here listening a lot because I don't know your rainbow, but like,
00:14:48
Speaker
Tell you right now. I've been like, no, you can go where you deserve. So, Rama, you are the most uncommon person that we've ever had this podcast because your uncommon comes from the Lord. I'll tell you that right now. And that's what I wanted to say, because that all of a sudden didn't come from me. It's like, all right. That wasn't me. That was definitely God.
00:15:06
Speaker
Yes, but you were obedient into what God was asking you to do. True, true. Yeah. Okay. So I now want to kind of fast forward this a little bit, not even fast forward, but all through this whole time, like you were starting to go to Uganda. You really had a passion for Africa through the church. Right. And so let's talk through like your journey with that, where you're at with it now and kind of like your passion. And I would say you're almost full-time job.
00:15:33
Speaker
almost after retirement of just pouring into these African community. Yeah. I've been to Uganda three times since I retired. The last time was last September. Um, the first time I went, I canceled a whole bunch of times. I was just so nervous. I mean, I just like, I don't know if you guys watch Naked and Afraid. I thought, yes, yes. You know, that's going to be my life except I'll have clothes on, you know, you know,
00:16:01
Speaker
And finally, one night, my son and daughter-in-law called me and they said, you know, and after I had canceled a whole bunch of times, they said, look, we know that you are supposed to be on that plane. And all of a sudden, I got a vision of that plane taking off and me not being on it. And it would have broke my heart had I not gone. Wow.
00:16:21
Speaker
And so then the flight over, I mean, it's 17, 18 hours. And, you know, by that time I'm all bloated, nauseated and exhausted. And it's just like, you know what, as soon as I get to Uganda, I'm going to get a flight back. I'm not even, I'm not staying. And so then as soon as we got there, it was the middle of the night, we're all exhausted and all that kind of thing.
00:16:44
Speaker
And as I'm not exaggerating, as soon as my feet touch the ground, I felt like I was home. I was in love. Wow. Isn't that awesome? Yeah. Unbelievable. And our team leader said, Rama, there's something different about you. What's happened? I said, I don't know. You know, I mean, I was just, I was just, I was in love. I was even thinking about moving there the first night. That's crazy. I was crazy.
00:17:11
Speaker
And I still am crazy every time I'm there. I just love it. I, you know, I'm supporting some kids, you know, through high school and college and went through nurses training and one with a bachelor's in business. I mean, you know, given and I've given people a hand up instead of a hand out. I mean, literally, Uganda is my second home.
00:17:32
Speaker
Wow. That's so cool. Wow. I remember listening to you, uh, talk about Uganda the first time. And I mean, you couldn't, you couldn't get two words in that way. I mean, amazing. And your pictures, like you just look like you were glowing just with these kids and just like what God was doing through these kids, what God was doing through you. And like, all you had to do is say yes. Yeah. And a horrible flight.
00:17:58
Speaker
but still said yes. And then not only did you do it once, you've done it two other times after that. Yeah. And I led the team this last time. Never in my wildest dream would I have imagined that Raymond Jean's going to be leading the team in Uganda. I mean, that was unbelievable. And everyone that had known me, you know, through the first time, from the first time,
00:18:20
Speaker
commented, I mean, I had so many compliments about how I had grown spiritually and how well I led the team. And it was all God. You know, I mean, you know, I'm an old lady, you know, I got the back pain one thing and another. And when I was asked to go this third time, much less lead, it's just like, God, I don't even know. I mean, my back, what about my back? Yeah. And I am not exaggerating. I for two weeks after I said that prayer, I didn't have any back pain. So I went.
00:18:49
Speaker
Wow. Oh, so we're hearing like a maze and you're hearing all right. So you like interact. I'm just like we're here like an all.
00:19:00
Speaker
Yes. So now I want to go through this because like, Raymond, like you are running hard. And I mean, like when I say hard, like you could only probably imagine as a listener of how much like just prepping for an international trip is one thing, just prepping for the flight even. But then now preparing a team for that at 73,
00:19:23
Speaker
Like you got to be honest with you, you kind of burnt out. Is that not like your body was just like, I can't take it anymore. And you're just kind of on the tail end of coming, coming back up of that. But I do want to talk about that because I think as, uh, as we kind of age and as we get retirement, I think it's such a perfect opportunity to then pour into other people, which you have done Rama and done it well. So.
00:19:45
Speaker
well done, good and faithful servant. But at some point your body is telling you something and either you either take the signs or the signs are going to get you. And that's kind of what happened to you. So I wanted to kind of talk about your recent kind of health stint and maybe kind of what your realization was after that and kind of where you're at currently. Yeah. Yeah. Because when I was getting ready, uh, you know, with the planning and all that stuff, with this third trip,
00:20:10
Speaker
I had started a senior ministry and was leading that, and we had quite a bit going on then, and then I'm on another team, it's a healing prayer team at church, plus planning this trip. That, it was a lot. And I've pushed myself, you know, 12, 16-hour shifts in the emergency room, you know, all of that craziness. Push, push, push. And so,
00:20:37
Speaker
Uh, about a year ago or a little less, I was introduced to a functional doctor. I didn't even had never heard the word. And so I started going to him. I got this whisper, the woman that was going to him and told me about him said, you know, she was just talking about him and that kind of thing. And I got this whisper go so that you can serve others better.
00:20:58
Speaker
And now, uh, end of April is when I started getting all these horrible, I got a viral, uh, uh, muscle inflammation and it's led to some, uh, decreased vision and my ears are a mess and one thing and another. And he said to me, he says, when you came to me, I, you were, your body was just about ready to crash. Hmm.
00:21:23
Speaker
And, you know, and I did really well for months and months, but then, you know, I just continue to push myself as I just told you. And so then this happened. He says, I have pushed my body for too long, too much. Wow. So, you know, I've stepped down from leading the senior ministry. Somebody else wonderful is leading it. And, you know, I'm just doing the healing ministry and, uh, you know,
00:21:50
Speaker
It's been quite an effort for me to say no. It's still an issue for me. And I've learned part of my reason for running like crazy is to prove that I'm not old. But it's time to accept I am getting there, you know, and live
The Role of Nursing in Spiritual Journey
00:22:10
Speaker
appropriately. You know, it's honor God.
00:22:12
Speaker
I love the fact that you're like 74, you know, I'm getting there. Yes. You can tell you're related to my father, but if you know, my father listers, you know what we're talking about here.
00:22:25
Speaker
I do think there's a lot of that though too. And so saying no isn't easy. So how have you transitioned kind of this new season? Are you energized? Are you excited? Are you nervous? Are you, cause I think I would be nervous if I were you like, you know, one speed and it's full throttle. And I do think that God's gifted you with leadership skills. Like even when you were doing this new age stuff, leader,
00:22:47
Speaker
People kind of looked at you in this leadership capacity and nothing's really changed. I think God's blessed you in that way. So I think the new kind of challenge I think is how do you lead in a healthy position? And sometimes it is just to say no, which is not easy for me or you, right? Like it's just a challenge, but I think that it can be done. And I think God can be honored in it.
00:23:14
Speaker
I'm learning to be more calm because I've had this vision of instead of being a leader with their head cut off running on a hamster wheel, I want to be a really good listener. And with that comes some calmness and just continuing my walk with Christ to be
00:23:35
Speaker
more and more and more, you know, for him to transition me into the leader that he wants me to be, you know, and through that practice, through that, you know, constant communication with him, you know, it's, it's happening, but it's just, you know, I still have to say, uh, Raymond, what did you say? Yes to, you know, now, now, that's so true. So true. I got to ask him, uh, Philip knows you all this, but like, I'm always fascinated to hear.
00:24:05
Speaker
So you being a nurse in the trauma one department in Chicago, I know you weren't like a big believer at that time, but like looking back at that time, all the trials that you had to go through to prep you for this stage in your life, what do you think those were if you've ever thought about it?
00:24:23
Speaker
Yeah, I, being a ER nurse and a tough ER, um, it was a good fit for me because my mom and grandma were tough, hard women. And so, and that's how I, you know, learn to be so, you know, like a warrior, you know, I can, I can take care of anything. I can do anything. Um, so that,
00:24:52
Speaker
It's a plus and it's a negative. You know, I didn't at the time, I didn't learn to, you know, love myself more and take care of myself more. But now I'm learning it on the tail end, you know, because it's a if there's something tough that needs to be done, I can do it. But I have to do it. I have to complement that now with loving myself at the same time and taking care of myself as God wants me to. It's a I'm still in school for that one.
Future Spiritual Endeavors and Healing Ministries
00:25:20
Speaker
Yeah. So do you think seeing all those horrific things as a nurse, what did it mean to me? I'm thinking, Oh my gosh, how'd you get through that? Not being super close to Christ, but do you think it kept you like, I mean, I could see the other side too, though. Like, how do you do these horrible things keep on happening? And then you're telling me that there's a God out there that can prevent this. It's like, how do you think that played a role? Well,
00:25:48
Speaker
When I mean, I would be really tired, really exhausted. And I would just say my prayers before I went to work and say, God, you know, I'm going to I'm going to stay focused on you this time. And five minutes in, you know, some horrible thing was happening. I had to run down the hall and I and I lost. I wasn't able to stay in touch with him during that. And I, you know, if I could go back now with my walk with him now,
00:26:18
Speaker
but it was, it was just so hard to not be a stronger Christian and running around, you know, I, does that make sense? Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Here's a question, Rayma. What would you say to your younger self like 30 years ago? What would you say to yourself then now that you know, the experience that you've have now? Hmm.
00:26:51
Speaker
itself and all those kinds of things, but I didn't listen. And even three years ago, I still wasn't listening and people were still telling me, you know, it had to be this tough thing to happen for me to pay attention.
00:27:08
Speaker
Right. You know, I respect that a lot. Yeah. I agree. I get, you know, so I, you know, I'm a me head at my hobby and I like to lift a lot of weights and I always get these like old timers that I was like, Oh, you didn't give that up. I used to do that. And I'm like, I'll stop. You wouldn't listen to yourself when you were this age. It's like, but for you to actually admit like, you know, I wouldn't have listened. Yeah. I love that. Oh, thank you. It's a, yeah.
00:27:38
Speaker
It's one of those truthful things. I guess, you know, you got to be true before you can
00:27:44
Speaker
Heel, I think, you know, you really got to see the truth. Yeah. But that really shows the light of like why you're a good leader. You are right now because you're honest with yourself. And then like when you're talking to somebody, it's maybe wired similar to you. Like you're going to say things. They're like, oh, wow. Thanks. Like you get it. Right. Thank you. Right. OK, what's next for Raima now with all your life experience? Amazing faith. What's the next thing? What's the next phase that you're looking forward to?
00:28:13
Speaker
I'm still recovering physically and emotionally learning more about myself. Our Wellspring's team, our prayer healing team, I'm going to be more involved and be able to just to focus on that and some aftercare groups and that kind of thing. I'm really excited about that.
00:28:36
Speaker
So until God leads me someplace else, that's going to be my focus because that program is growing immensely. You know, and we're I mean, it's just it's miracles, miracles just to watch the healing. And maybe I will go back in May or June to Uganda. You know, we'll see if we'll have the whole body doing and the rest of it. I'm just waiting on God to show me.
00:29:06
Speaker
Yeah. Wow. You're the best. I love you so much. Thank you so much. Just for encouraging my faith and my leadership and just being a huge source of wisdom for me. And I know our listeners. So if they wanted to reach out to you for any way, could you just give them your email? Uh, I don't know how many people will, but you never know. Uh, it's RA Y M a four, four, four at Comcast.net.
00:29:35
Speaker
That's perfect. Well, you've been listening to the uncommon wealth podcast. I've been your host, Phillip Ramsey and I'm Aaron Kramer. Until next time, go finish hard and have faith. Thanks for being on. Thanks for listening. Thanks. That's all for this episode brought to you by uncommon wealth partners. Be sure to visit uncommon wealth.com to learn more about our services. Don't miss an episode as we introduce you to inspiring people who are actively pursuing an uncommon life.