This is probably one of the most frequent questions I get when I talk to people. They’ll usually ask me that question after they’ve heard me talk about the importance of knowing why you are and how fulfilling your life will become when you find your purpose and begin to pursue it. Who I am? Because I am here? These questions have been asked for centuries. This question can be found at the birth of exploration, it was the spark of many wars and conquests and has given rise to countless philosophies and religions.
How do I find my purpose? You can see it?
AL Hollingsworth taught me a very important lesson; If you cannot see it, it is very difficult to do so. That’s not word for word, but the concept still holds true. It looks like this: if I asked you to give me a pooku shmooku, what would you give me? Exactly! But if I told you that a pooku shmooku is like a pencil, when I asked you to pass me a pooku shmooku, what would you give me? Exactly! Would you pass me a pencil.
He had to see what it was first before he could take action. This is very important when you are in the planning / vision part of your process. It amazes me how a potter can take a lump of clay and see the finished product on that lump of clay and start pulling it out of the lump of clay, so to speak; They see it first, and then they begin the process of bringing it into being. This may seem like a very simplistic perspective, but it is very applicable. When I said you have to see it before you can, it could start out as a simple thought or idea.
Any successful endeavor requires the ability to see what it should look like and what it will look like; There may be some minor or even major adjustments that are made after the job begins, but there must be a vision first. Do you see? There is one thing that I think is very important for you to remind yourself as you navigate through this process and that is the fact that it may take some time before you really figure out what your purpose is. Many times the answer is directly in front of you, but most people tend to ignore it or ignore it because it is so obvious. Since I was in fifth grade, you found me helping people, especially if they were being bullied or perceived as helpless.
Well, I’ve always been that kind of person; even if I felt powerless to do something to help someone. Injustice would drive me crazy and I lived a life in my early years as a silent rebel. I would have so many plans to help people, adults and children alike; I remember wanting to keep the teachers from being so mean to some of the kids in my classes that they seemed to get the brunt of the teacher’s anger. I would often sit in silent anger, cooking and smoking as I witnessed the injustice happening right in front of me.
I’m sure many of you reading this are nodding your heads as you remember whatever your hot button was. If you were to take an objective look at your past, I’m sure you will start to see certain patterns that can give you a clue as to why you are. I’m sure there are some folks who are reading this blog post and have a pretty good idea of what its purpose is, but you may never have thought of it as your purpose, it’s something you do naturally.
For me, vision is linked to direction; How can someone reach their destination, their goal without knowing how to get there? I always say that it is a lot like loading the SUV and hitting the road to go somewhere you’ve never been and don’t have some kind of GPS system or roadmap. You can risk asking some random person on the street and hope they know what they are talking about or you can hope for the best while heading in the direction that seems right to you, you just know that this is the right way to go. Hmm, that’s a little sketch for me.
How do I find my purpose? Are you strong enough?
Okay, here’s the part where I hope I don’t lose some people; This is the part where I use that dreaded four letter word: work! Many people want to be an agent of change; they want to be that person of importance. So here comes the heavy lifting, so to speak; it is extremely difficult to have a vision of your future when you are struggling with your present and if we are going to go there some of you are trapped in your past. Think about it; here you (your emotions, memories and identity) are stuck in the past while trying to reach the future while reeling in the present.
There are many times when you have tried very hard to move on, but often you will find yourself back where you started and cannot figure it out; “Why does this keep happening?” The heavy lifting I was referring to is this; If you want to detach yourself in areas of your life, if you know exactly what your purpose or goals are but cannot see it, if you are desperate for things to change, then there is something I would like you to do. to consider. They told me this not long ago; we build our life story and our life story could be working against us.
From the things that were told to us and within us, we begin to develop what life is like, due to the things we witness at a young age, to some of the things that happened to us, and how we live life as a child. whole; then we begin to embark on a life that will confirm what we have previously concluded what our life will be like. Many people do not realize how they tend to repeat the same activities; They tend to have the same thought processes, the same relationship patterns, and continue to repeat the same types of behaviors. Why is this? Because this type of life does not require any type of change and because there are no requirements to change the cycle, this “rinse and repeat” cycle has become a safe place to stay.
What happens with this “cycle of life” in which we live can be easily justified; We work hard to defend the things that happen to us and then we blame those things on the reason why we remain stuck. So the question is this; What are you willing to do to allow a change to occur in your life?
How do I find my purpose? Edit your story
Much of the story we build about what our life will be like is lived in the past. People tend to stay here because it’s easier to test and confirm what we predicted our life would be like. If we live in the past, how can we see what is in the future? Due to this vicious cycle, many people resign themselves to a fruitless quest to try, but never achieve their goal. We’ve gotten so bogged down in settling for a compromise that we’re satisfied with the fakes. I must tell you, this is not a fun place to be and I know that from personal experience.
Here’s something I want you to think about, you can break this current “life cycle” if you want! I’m going to pass this by the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it; Would it surprise you to know that you can actually go from living in the past to living in the present? When we choose to live in the now, the present, we find that there are endless possibilities present and available to us because we are present. If we are present in our daily life, then we have the opportunity to face the things that are happening to us in the present and that surround us head on without being afraid of being wrong or failing. When we remain present we see things clearer, we can look at all the possibilities that we have within our reach.
When you are present, you become responsible for your life and the amazing thing about that truth is this; Once you start to take responsibility for your life and learn to operate without those previous restrictions from your past, you will be able to see something really good. You can see that you can start rewriting our history live, yeah! You can create a new life story and start living your life in a way that tests and confirms what you predict your new life will be! I teach many people to piece together their life story and then see how they accomplish things they never thought they would be able to do. Once you can see more clearly, you can better understand why it is and not what your past told you.
Once you can see more clearly, you become aware of the things that lie hidden in that life of the past; When you are able to see all the possibilities that are available to you, you become aware of all those things that have been speaking to the question that used to elude you over and over again. And that question is “why am I here?” “What am I supposed to be doing?” You find your purpose when you stop living in the past while trying to reach a future that you always wanted but could never see. When you choose to stay in the present and take responsibility for your life, you can become that much-needed agent of change. It takes a certain edit on your part, but you can do it.
