Yesterday, I helped out in the purpose room at Choices. Purpose is the DO part of BE. DO. HAVE. BE committed to DO what it takes to HAVE what I want. My purpose is what I do, everyday to make my dreams come true.
Trainees are invited to create a statement about their special and unique qualities and how they apply them in their lives. As an example, my Purpose statement is: To share my unique gifts and inspire others to embrace their freedom to live in love, joy and harmony.
Every time I work in the purpose circle, I feel honoured by the trust each individual places in their coaches to guide them through the process.
American essayist and psychologist, Og Mandino, said, “I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.”
Sometimes, someone in the purpose circle will say, "But I don't have a purpose."
Everyone has a purpose. Most of us are living our purpose without even realizing it.
When we help a friend, shovel a neighbours walk, volunteer at an animal shelter or boys and girls club. When we always have a kind word for someone in need, or take care of a friend's children so she can get her hair cut or buy groceries -- we are living our purpose.
For me, my purpose reminds me that whatever I do, I need to be creating a safe place where others feel inspired to stretch their wings and fly free.
My purpose is a song that sings in my heart creating harmony in my world. My purpose is my passion.
The actual things I do to live my purpose vary. Writing, for me is a big part of my purpose. Coaching at Choices is also an integral element of living on purpose. Sharing my story, giving presentations to women who have been in abusive relationships, or to those working with them, is also part of my living on purpose. Being a good friend. Listening from my heart, touching people's hearts with words of support, gently opening minds with words of inspiration, these too are part of my living on purpose.
Finding your purpose is not difficult -- it just requires quiet time, deep reflection and a commitment to celebrate yourself for all your worth.
Finding your purpose begins with giving yourself permission to 'brag' about your life. Steve Pavalina, at Stevepavalina.com suggests in, How to discover your life purpose in about 20 minutes", that you take a blank piece of paper, ask yourself the question, "What is my purpose?" and write down the first thing that comes to your mind. Keep writing until you get to something that makes you cry. The one that makes you cry, Steve writes, is your purpose.
Tears are the words our hearts cannot express.
When we find a statement that reflects our truth, our hearts open up and tears fall.
In living my purpose, my heart is always open, to tears of joy, of laughter, of love. In knowing my purpose, in believing in me enough to live it every step of my journey, I give myself the gifts of focus, attention and passion in my everyday life.
In living my purpose, I become the best of me, and share the best of me with the world around me.
As Mandino says, I am here to grow into a mountain.
The question is: How high is your mountain growing? Are you growing in leaps and bounds, singing for joy, dancing with abandon? Or, are you standing on the ground looking up and wishing you knew how to climb? Where ever you are on your journey, are you willing to live your life on purpose?
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What if we considered for a moment the opposite point of view, that in essence our life does not have a purpose? Maybe we have been asking the wrong question. What if those of us who are healers simply enjoy being healers? What if we enjoy being the conduit of healing energy? What if those of us who are readers simply enjoy being readers and watching the spark of recognition come into the eyes of those people we read for? Aren't inventors often driven to create a machine or a software that can do this, this and that more efficiently? They didn't dream of doing this since they were babies. They simply see this as a puzzle to be solved, and they enjoy solving the puzzle. By now we are all familiar with the Edison story. Did he really try 2,000 different ways to invent a light bulb because that was his life's purpose? Or was he simply challenged by this puzzle and he pursued it until he found a solution? When email was invented, was a person just trying to see if they could create a method to communicate more quickly than regular mail and cheaper than long distance phone calls? Or did they think of this as their life's purpose? For those of us who are more metaphysical, perhaps we prefer to regard life as full of mysteries, rather than puzzles. When a singer or musician creates a beautiful new melody, are they just reveling in singing or humming this melody, or are they considering this to be their life's purpose? Are all doctors doctors because they consider it their life's purpose, or do some embrace the joy of solving puzzles, devising ways of keeping damaged hearts beating, when previous doctors said that it couldn't be done? Are all architects and interior designers in those professions because they consider it their life's purpose, or simply because they enjoy creating beautiful living spaces? Are some people great chefs because they consider it their life's purpose? Or do they simply enjoy finding different ways to create with food? Yes, the sales of millions of books with this concept or phrase in their title seem to indicate that people have a hunger to discover their life's purpose. But what if there is no purpose? What if some of us simply enjoy what we do and people pay us for that? Some of us get well known for that which we choose to do, and ultimately get paid more. The other night, the History Channel showed a special on Edgar Cayce. It mentioned that he did not charge set fees for his work, but simply accepted donations and that he did it because he was doing what he felt best doing. Could it be that each of us does not have a purpose that needs to be discovered? The evidence seems to be that we will be most happy if we simply focus on doing what we enjoy doing, and find a way to do more of that. There is no little vault somewhere that we open that tells us what we are supposed to be doing and what our life purpose is supposed to be, so there is no point looking for it. Instead of asking what our purpose is, perhaps we are better off asking how we can spend more of our time doing what it is that we really love to do.
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