Do you wake up every morning dreading going to work? Have you been putting all your energy into a job that leaves you feeling uninspired and drained? Are you investing the majority of your time into a career that lacks meaning and value to you?
You’re not alone.
The priorities of the “modern day” person would suggest that life consists of spending the majority of your existence working endless hours at a mundane job to accumulate an excess of possessions and a sizeable retirement fund to finally attempt to enjoy yourself in your later chapters of life. If we were to only ascribe to society’s ideas of life’s pursuits and purpose, perhaps we’d all be chasing after money signs in the never ending rat race of earning, spending and repeating.
I don’t know about you, but what’s been fed to us as the only or proper way of surviving in today’s world doesn’t sound so appetizing to me. Do you dare deviate this master plan and define something unique for yourself?
How do you define the purpose of life?
I know. That’s no simple question, but one worth pondering in our impermanent state of limited days and moments. How will you choose to live your precious, unique, beautiful life? How can you claim your happiest life today?
What is your purpose in life?
≫ Follow Your Bliss.
One of the surest ways to find answers to this deep, pervading question is by following your bliss. Ask yourself, “What can’t I live without?” Is there a passion in your life that when completely absorbed you lose track of time? The saying goes, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life!” Consider how you wish to be remembered. How do you want to invest your time and energy?
Start dreaming the all so possible dream in which your greatest passions can also become your livelihood and mode of sustaining yourself.
Perhaps you don’t even get paid to give this service to the world. We often put too much emphasis on career and what we do as livelihood as defining our worth and who we are. So much so that one of the first questions we are upon meeting someone new is, “What do you do?” “Well, I do a lot of things!” I often enjoy responding to playfully challenge the notion that to know me is to know my day job. I encourage you to answer the more important question that leads to the essence of who you are… “What are you passionate about?”
Now go do that!
You can live your life’s purpose and spirit’s desired service whether or not it provides an income. Perhaps you really love animals? I trust you would get great fulfillment and soul nourishment from volunteering at an animal shelter or sanctuary.
Maybe your greatest passion is dancing, but you don’t wish to compromise your relationship to it with the involvement of money and its influence. Then find ways to share your love of movement through performances or offer dance instruction to those who couldn’t access it otherwise.
We can fulfill our life’s calling in ample and creative ways. You can fill the cup of your passions whether or not it pays the bills.
What does your heart song sing?
If we all ask with deep sincerity, we’d all find a similar answer: to live a happy life.
So how does one achieve a life of content and meaning?
A meaningful life is one that connects you with others in a way that contributes to their lasting happiness, as well as your own. Consider what unique traits, talents and experiences you possess and then ask yourself how you can use these to better the world?
Are you a patient and empathetic listener? Consider being a counselor or mentor for those struggling with mental illness, recovering from addiction or healing from trauma. Do you love to bring more beauty into the world by creating art? Find ways to use your medium to share messages of love, understanding and equality to a wider audience, further advancing social justice and change.
Ask yourself how you can support the world in its consistent progress and evolution.
Know that your efforts to uplift others will not only gift the world with your compassion and precious presence, but will grant you lasting happiness and a deep sense of purpose.
≫ Find Role Models.
If there’s something you long to pursue, but you don’t know how to get started, seek out individuals who are successful in your field of interest. Ask for their tips, experience and guidance in achieving your own goals.
Do you long to start your own wellness blog, but don’t know how to get started? Then seek out the wisdom of those who have already begun! Is your greatest passion creating painting, but you feel too scared to start selling your pieces? Find a fellow artist who’s successfully done so for encouragement.
On the other side of every success story is a spacious beginning where your role model likely had similar fears, questions and inexperience as you do. Start believing that you are just as capable as those you admire. You need only begin.
≫ Allow your passion to become your purpose.
Howard Thurman once said, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
Imagine a world where everyone pursued what elevated their spirit, spoke to their heart and fulfilled their deep longing for purpose. I imagine we’d live in a far more harmonious world with a chock full of passionate, inspired individuals.
What can you do to strive towards being one of these vibrant beings?
This is your call to take action.
Explore! Try new things. Discover what feels important to YOU.
And please… be patient.
You are not finishing an assignment for a class… you are not meeting that heavy and ambitious deadline sentenced by your superior…
You are responding to your calling.
This is a joyous, lifelong pursuit. One that will not only nourish you, but also all you touch along your path.
Be inquisitive. Take risks. Believe in yourself and your dreams.
Enjoy the journey.
Mahalo,
Alyse
