Searching For Your Life’s Purpose

How often do you ask yourself why you’re here, and what your purpose is? I think everyone wrestles with this at some point in their life. You might be looking for signs you’re headed in the right direction so you don’t make a “wrong” decision and possibly fail. Maybe you’ve had a number of different jobs because none of them quite fit. Each provided something, but none of them lead to feeling you’d found your calling. You were looking for that lightning bolt and instead felt confused by your apathy. Instead of looking inside for answers, you changed jobs, hoping the next one would be THE ONE. The problem is you’re looking at it backwards. Experiences don’t come from purpose; purpose comes from experiences. It is by doing that you end up stumbling upon your purpose, and your purpose is the ongoing journey. I used to have grandiose ideas of what finding my purpose would feel like—it was going to be big. Millions would be drawn to my work! My relationships would be out of this world! So of course, when those lightning bolts didn’t hit, I was faced with a lot of disappointment because I wasn’t getting closer to the pinnacle I envisioned. It wasn’t until I started surrendering to life that my purpose started to take shape. Now I simply have experiences, without any expectation of where they might lead; it’s fun! That uncertainty may sound scary, but to me it’s exciting because the world truly is my oyster. It’s not about giant highs and lows—it’s about the little experiences that give meaning to my life every day. It’s not to say BIG experiences do not happen, they do, but it is not the extreme feelings of success or failure. It is the living I do with whatever is going on, rather than shrinking from it. If you find yourself asking yourself what your purpose is, you’re not fully living in some way. Instead, ask what you’re afraid to commit to, then take a small step in that direction. Don’t sit and think about it—do it! When you’re at a crossroads, commit to a direction and be open to the experiences that follow. There are no true right and wrong decisions when it comes to your life path, and you will never mentally figure it out. The more you try, the more stuck you’ll become from doing things the same old way. Many great success stories start with a small kernel that leads to the next step and then the next. Your meaning isn’t at the end of the Yellow Brick Road… it’s in your everyday. Move toward what lights you up and let the path lead where it may.