A Life of Purpose

Living a life of purpose – this is probably what we all yearn for deep down.

The trouble is, that for so many of us, getting to discover and appreciate our true purpose is not as straightforward as it might appear.

Why might this be?

[box type=\”shadow\”]“The purpose of life is a life of purpose”

– Robert Byrne[/box]

Let me ask you a question …

“Can you say, hand on heart, that you know with clarity what your life purpose is?”

And if you’re one of the fortunate few who can say “Yes” to this question, here’s another:

“Are you living your life on purpose?”

I know what my life purpose is and I feel I am really starting to live it. But guess what? It took me all of half a century to get to this point!

Something missing

As I reflect on my own upbringing, education, working career and family life, I cannot recall ever being seriously challenged to describe (or even think deeply about) my life’s purpose. Not by my parents, my teachers, my work colleagues, my friends or my wife. Not even by me!

Why, if this is such a vital ingredient in enjoying a satisfying and rewarding life, isn’t the discovery, understanding and pursuit of one’s life purpose considered a fundamental part of one’s formative education?

I struggled to come up with an appropriate answer to this until I thought carefully about my own life and the course that it had taken.

Programmed lives

That introspection made me realise just how ‘programmed’ we humans allow our lives to be. It’s almost as if we get locked in to believing there is some kind of ‘life formula’ that we can – and indeed should – follow, or risk straying from the accepted path as endorsed by society.

On the one hand, it seems logical that we should learn from the experiences of others and apply those learnings to improve our lives. On the other hand, I believe we have allowed external perceptions to dominate our actions and behaviours to an extent that deprives us of a most valuable prize.

Looking outwards, not inwards

We have become programmed to judge our success by looking outwards, rather than inwards, for validation and affirmation. The prevailing mentality that ‘others know best what is right for us’ strips us of the need for a strong and confident connection with our intuition and higher self.

We each bear a heavy weight of expectation on our shoulders to conform with the many externally imposed norms, standards and expectations that we humans have devised to regulate life on Earth.

Given the programmed need we have to ‘measure up’ to these external demands is it really surprising that many of us seem to have lost the means or motivation to access our inner (or higher) selves?

And therefore, is it any wonder that so many of are out of touch with the purpose that we are here to fulfill on Earth?

Liberating, emotive and joyful

Yet getting acquainted with our life purpose – and then living it – can be the most liberating, emotive and joyful experience that we can have. For, suddenly, our lives gain true meaning and our days become challenging, inspiring and fun filled.

By following our purpose our success is assured. By focusing on doing what we were meant to do, we naturally attract the very things we need to achieve that purpose.

The big question

So the sixty-four thousand dollar question remains …

In this programmed world, how is one to discover one’s life purpose?

I’ll share my ideas with you in next week’s post 🙂