All Revved Up
All Revved Up delivers inspiring conversations and insights for spiritual leaders, guiding you to deepen your purpose and amplify your impact. Tune in for purpose-driven discussions that fuel your mission and help you connect more deeply with your community.
All Revved Up
#001: Why Am I Here? Discovering Purpose in Turbulent Times
Hi, I’m Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren, and this is the first episode of "All Revved Up", a podcast for New Thought ministers and spiritual seekers looking to explore meaningful conversations and find purpose in their work and everyday lives. In this episode, we dig deep into the question: Why are you here?
Originally recorded on Election Day, November 5, 2024, this episode takes a reflective turn as I share my journey of launching this podcast and the unexpected realizations that shaped its direction.
From personal stories to universal truths, I discuss how we can live with purpose and create ripples in the world—even if we don’t always see the impact.
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In This Episode:
- The Question at the Heart of It All: Why are we here, and what is ours to do?
- A Defining Moment: The story of my 1990 near-death experience and how it shaped my belief that “I’m here for a reason.”
- Living with Purpose: How everyday actions—big or small—can create ripples of positive impact.
- The Catalyst for "All Revved Up": How Election Day and a pivotal conversation with Rev. Amy Steinberg influenced my decision to move forward with this podcast sooner than planned.
- The Power of Putting the Ball in Play: Inspired by Mookie Betts and the 2024 Dodgers, this guiding principle serves as a metaphor for taking action without needing everything perfectly planned.
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Key Takeaways:
- You don’t need a near-death experience to wake up to your purpose. Purpose is in the everyday moments.
- Life isn’t about one grand purpose—it’s about creating ripples that extend beyond what we can see.
- Sometimes, you just have to “put the ball in play” and see what happens, even if it’s uncomfortable.
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What’s Next?
Be sure to listen to Episode 2, where I sit down with Rev. Amy Steinberg for an open, real, and heartfelt conversation about purpose, spirituality, and showing up authentically—no matter the moment.
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Thanks for Listening!
If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to *All Revved Up* and join me each week as we explore the intersection of spirituality, purpose, and creating a positive impact in the world. Let’s create ripples together!
Follow the Podcast:
- Website: AllRevvedUpPodcast.com
- Social Media: @ThorChallgren
Namaste.
Hi, I'm Rev Dr Thor Chalgren and welcome to All Revved Up. This is a show for New Thought ministers and spiritual seekers looking to dig deeper, explore meaningful conversations and find purpose in their work and everyday lives. It's a space for real talk on how we can show up authentically and make a positive impact. Originally, I had planned to open the show in a completely different way. I actually recorded this first episode. Why Am I here on November 5th, 2024. If that date rings a bell yes, that was election day in the US. You're about to hear that entire original recording in a moment. Like I said, it was meant to be called why Am I here? My original plan was to launch this new series on December 29, kicking off 2025 with All Revved Up. I'd even scheduled my first interview with Reverend Amy Steinberg, set to be recorded on November 7, just two days after the election. Then November 5th happened.
Thor Challgren:The next morning I woke up with a completely new perspective. I realized that the interviews I'd be recording with people couldn't ignore the current moment. Now, this is not a current events show. That's not its focus. But at the same time, I knew I had to be willing to open up the conversations to whatever they needed to be. It had to be real. So I called Reverend Amy and said hey, would you be open to talking about anything and everything? And she said absolutely. And so we did. That conversation with Reverend Amy is episode two, and it's coming out the same day as this one. So I wanted you to have this little preamble to the original version of episode one, because here's the thing Tuesday morning, november 5th, I spoke the words why am I here?
Thor Challgren:Out loud, and within 12 hours I began to get the answer. And no, my place isn't in politics, but it is here in the present moment. In this moment, I realized I couldn't just sit on these interviews until 2025. I had to move forward, even though it's really uncomfortable for me. I'm taking action without knowing how it'll all play out.
Thor Challgren:Now the old me, maybe the pre-reverent version of me would have needed everything planned, mapped out, neatly calendared. That old version would say everything's unfolding perfectly, no matter what. But would I have really believed it? If I'm not willing to let my life prove that everything is unfolding perfectly, no matter what, then they're just words. I have to be the one to make them real. So one guiding principle I'm holding for 2025 is to put the ball in play. I'll share more about this before the year ends, but here's the quick version.
Thor Challgren:After the 2024 World Series, I heard Los Angeles Dodgers player Mookie Betts say that when the team stepped up to bat against the Yankees, the Dodgers hitters' goal was just to put the ball in play, not to worry about where it goes, how far it goes, whether it's a single double, triple or even a home run and, by the way, the Dodgers in 2024 were really good at hitting home runs. So it would have been easy to get to the plate and say I've got to hit a home run, I got to knock it out. Instead, it was put the ball in play and see what happens. You never know what will happen until you put the ball in play. So this is me standing at the plate sooner than I expected, putting the ball in play. So, with that said, here now is the original episode one.
Thor Challgren:Why Am I here? Why are you here? Yes, I mean right now, this exact moment. I don't mean why are you listening to the show, though I thank you for that. But why are you here in life? If you're a spiritual leader, you're here for a reason, probably lots of reasons Going into the office, writing your Sunday talks, prepping the class you're teaching, posting on social media, doing a counseling session, writing a fundraising letter. Those are all the relative reasons we're here. Right, the things we show up for, but are they the reason we're here? Is there something more, a bigger reason? Let's talk about that today.
Thor Challgren:Let's ask the question why are you here? This is All Revved Up and I'm Rev Dr Thor Chalgren. Why are you here? That's the question I asked at the top of the show. So, first off, this is a brand new podcast and you found it. So you're here because you're curious. You have an intention for what you hope to get from this.
Thor Challgren:Right, I'll talk more about the show itself later, but for now, I come back to the question of why I mentioned there are things we do in our lives commitments, obligations, and hopefully those are things we're passionate about. But besides those worldly things, is there something more? To quote the Peggy Lee song, is that all there is? Instinctively, most of us would say, yes, there's more. Absolutely, we feel this pull, this sense there's a larger purpose, but what is it? What's ours to do specifically?
Thor Challgren:You ever had a moment where you just know okay, I'm here for a reason. Those moments can come after a brush with death. People often have these near-death experiences that shake them awake to a sense of purpose. Could be a serious illness, an accident, something that dramatically jars you out of your daily routine. You know, you're just going along coasting through life and suddenly, oh, this thing happens. It's like life holds up a ticket and says hey, this ticket is your entry to the life you're meant for, but you have to take the ticket.
Thor Challgren:For me, that moment came in September 1990. I was in a serious car crash, and by serious I mean I was run over by a semi-truck, and by run over I mean crushed by the semi-truck. The roof of our car was smashed down to the level of the seat tops. It was one of those. No way they survived that kind of accidents, but I did survive. I crawled out of that car. My passenger window was now a sunroof above me. I got out. I helped my then girlfriend, now my wife, get out. Both of us walked away. We had some cuts, scrapes, a few broken bones, but we were alive. The ambulance took us to the ER. The doctor who treated us said something I'll never forget he had seen our crash on his way to work and he said there's no way those people survived. But we did. But we did.
Thor Challgren:So that night, lying in bed, I remember thinking why am I here? In the days, weeks, years ahead, that question stayed with me. Why am I here? Why am I here? Every time I thought about it, all I could think was you're here for a reason. I mean that had to be it right To survive an accident like that, when other people don't felt like a second chance, a gift.
Thor Challgren:Imagine someone gave you a gift, a wrapped box. Let's say they know you really well, they know what you're good at, what you can use in life. So they hand you this perfect gift. You unwrap it, lift the lid and there it is the exact thing you need in life and you know precisely how to use it. When I think back to that second chance, I wonder did I use that gift? I mean, I received it that day, sure, but I don't know if I ever understood why.
Thor Challgren:Maybe that's true for all of us. We have these moments where we know, oh yeah, I'm here for a reason, but we're not exactly sure what the reason is, and that leads to a big question Will we ever know, will we get some kind of burning bush moment, a sign that tells us we've done the thing we're meant to do? Some people might say, yes, they'll tell you they felt a clear message, something just clicked into place. But for most of us, life isn't always like that. We're conditioned by movies and TV shows. They tell us you're here for one specific reason. You know I'm here for one reason. The characters will say and in these stories often everything just lines up just right for the hero they save the day, change life. We see that and we think well, maybe that's true for me. Maybe I'll have one reason why. I have one reason for being here.
Thor Challgren:For example, I think about my role as a father. Was I put here just to raise my daughter so she could grow up and do something incredible? It's like the father of the president notion. What if my role in life was to raise a child who would go on to become president, or give an I have a dream speech, or find a cure for cancer? Sometimes I think about purpose that way that maybe I'm here to influence, inspire or uplift one person and they're the ones that are meant to do something extraordinary.
Thor Challgren:Truth is, we may never know if there's a reason. It's not like the movies In real life you might have a brief connection with someone, Changes everything for them, but you'll never see the result. You won't know if you've already done the thing or if it's still to come, and maybe your part is just a spark that starts a fire in someone else. So I don't think we'll ever have that crystal clear moment, that burning bush signal. But that's okay, right. Maybe we're here for multiple reasons, not just one grand purpose. Every day we have a chance to inspire someone, to create a ripple. What if you left your house each day thinking my presence today is could make someone's life better? You wouldn't know who or when or how, but you'd trust, you'd have faith that you matter. Like dropping a small stone into water you won't see every ripple, but you'd know. The ripples are there, moving outward, touching lives beyond what you can see. So that brings me back to this podcast.
Thor Challgren:Initially I thought about calling it here for a Reason. Can you tell why this show is an evolution from my previous podcast, every Day a New Thought, which is still out there. I recorded 150 episodes of that show. Then it went on hiatus in September of 23. I got busy with the second year of my ministerial classes, which ultimately led to me earning my doctorate of consciousness. During that time, I kept thinking I'd go back to that podcast, but as time went on, I had a change of heart. In April of 24, my father passed away. A month later, I became a minister. Another month after that, I earned my doctorate.
Thor Challgren:After those events, I really sat with that question why am I here? What is mine to do? I want this new podcast to be a place to talk about what inspires me, what gets me excited, what I feel passionate about, what revs me up. That's the title. I wanted to have conversations with people who are on a similar journey, people who are finding their purpose, who feel driven to make an impact. Together, we could explore those questions. What lifts us up? What's ours to do? I'm still asking myself why am I here? My hope is that through these conversations, we find some answers, and maybe these answers will rev others up as they discover their own answers.
Thor Challgren:I'll circle back to that story I shared about the car crash. Do we need a near-death experience to wake us up? Do we need something extraordinary to motivate us to live with purpose? I don't think so I mean, I certainly hope not right, but I think we can choose to feel that motivation in every moment of every day. We're here for a reason, even if we don't know exactly what it is. Our lives can be that ripple. Think about dropping that small stone into the water. If you're looking directly over it, you won't see all the ripples, but they're there. Maybe it's enough to know that your ripples keep moving, even if you can't see them. Maybe that's why I'm here. Maybe it's why you're here to create ripples in the world that go beyond what we'll ever see. So yeah, maybe I'm here. You're here to create ripples in life. I look forward to being in this water with you. Thanks for being here. Thanks for listening, namaste.
