Are you living on purpose? Or, are you just living? There are seasons we go through where it feels like were are just living, but if that becomes the norm, we are all missing out. You are missing out on the originality of you and we are missing out on your originality.
How do we live on purpose? There are books that deal extensively with this topic, but let me share some thoughts I’ve gathered over the years.
Pay attention to you. What drives you? What makes you smile? What makes you excited about life? These feelings and thoughts are a part of your originality and help define your purpose.
Pay attention to those around you. I believe we are placed in various situations for a reason. Look at those in your family, in your work place, in your friendships. Those around you need your originality. What is it that you offer that they need? Explore these reasons – it’s very likely is has to do with your purpose. (This doesn’t include abusive situations or unhealthy relationships where other issues need to be dealt with.)
Pay attention to that undying desire within you. Is there something inside of you, that in spite of all you do, it just never goes away? Maybe it’s learning to play the piano, or becoming an artist, or writing a book, or speaking to thousands of people. Maybe it’s traveling to another country, or being at teacher. You may not be able to write a book today, but there are steps you can take to prepare for writing a book, or for traveling to another country, or for becoming a teacher. Nurture that undying desire within you.
Pay attention to what moves you. Have you ever been at a performance, or watching a movie, or listening to a speaker and tears fill your eyes – but you don’t know why? It may be that the performance has something to do with who you are. Or, that the speaker is talking about something that hits upon your purpose, your originality. Our tears sometimes tell us more about ourselves than what we allow our minds to tell us.
Finding or defining our purpose may take months or years. It may look somewhat different from season to season, but there will be an underlying theme that remains throughout those seasons.
As your purpose becomes defined, you begin to live life on purpose. How you spend your time is determined by that purpose. How you spend your money is determined by that purpose. The relationships that you focus on are determined by that purpose. It may be hard at first to say no to those things you put up with or that you have endured. But living with purpose is saying no to those things that do not align with our purpose and saying yes to those things that do align.
Living on purpose is not only fulfilling, it clarifies life. Life becomes enjoyable and meaningful. Explore your originality and share it with others. You will be fulfilled. And, those around you will be more fulfilled.
09/04/2009 at 10:47 am Permalink
Thanks for the thoughts and questions that you shared to help me in my journey to find my purpose. Clear and simple assessments of myself… so that I can move from just living to living on purpose! I love the picture of exploring “MY originality”… even in the middle of this season… that the season may bear fruit and bring fulfillment. Fulfillment has eluded me now for years. But each season has to have a bigger purpose than it may seem, possibly a hidden fulfillment that I’m missing. There is a season for every activity under heaven, it just may look a little different. Looking forward to answering the questions… Thanks
12/04/2009 at 1:23 pm Permalink
While reading this article, I was, somewhat, reminded of the movie “Yes Man” with Jim Carrey (caution: If you decide to see this movie, there is some objectionable content in it). Jim plays a man who says “No” to everybody. He goes out of his way to avoid people. That is until he attends a seminar that challenges him to say “Yes” to everything, to experience ALL that life has to offer (although, he should have said “no” to some of those things). The one thing, though, is he was OBLIGATED to say “yes” to everything, regardless of the situation, instead of saying “yes” because he wanted to. The thing is, is that he experienced things that he was able to use to help and serve others, and also to find true love. Some of the things that I believe align with my purpose that I would like to experience: (besides starting a film ministry) Learning to play the piano (or keyboard, same thing), learning to speak Japanese and maybe Russian (why only these two languages, I’m not sure), among other things. The problem is in finding the resources to accomplish these things.
Varlen (The VMan)
16/04/2009 at 7:39 am Permalink
Varlen – That’s interesting you mention that movie. I had just noticed it recently. I think one of the ways we can find what our purpose or our dreams are is to just start doing different things – then pay attention to how it makes us feel. It is very cool that you already know some of the things that align with your purpose. I did some quick checking for language options… the Internet is a wonderful resource.. you might try the following links: http://www.russianlessons.net/ and http://japanese.about.com/. Have fun pursuing your dreams!