Living Your Purpose in Life

If I asked you your purpose in life, I bet you would tell me about your responsibilities.  You would tell me the same kind of things that you would say if I asked, “What do you do?”. Most of us identify what we do with the set of responsibilities we take most seriously.  For those of us who work for someone else, that means, what we do so we can have a life.

It might mean caring for children if the person is a Mother of small children not yet in school.  It might mean being the manager of a factory or a worker in that factory.  We usually associate our purpose with our work.  Some of us would answer in terms of our faith or religious affiliation. If we have a fundamentalist view of religious teachings, our minds are only open to a purpose in line with the current and accepted principles of that faith.  We would not have any purpose or entertain any idea not tolerated and accepted by those teachers of the law we follow.  For most of us that means we do mostly good stuff.  It also means we opt for not thinking about the hard stuff – if we are fundamentalist in our views.  When something is wrong in the law, it could never be right no matter what. If something is right in the law it is always right in every circumstance.

If you are open to ideas and not easily diverted by every wind that comes along, then you will choose a course that with some minor modifications and constant course corrections, will take you 20 years into the future.  I think this flexible course that has principles but can bend to accommodate new ideas, or people with different ideas, will give you a purpose that can keep you well and at peace throughout your life.

I can not tell you what that course is, or what those principles are.  If we have a discussion, I can share my resources and experience with you but I can not tell you what to do.  If we are very opposed, all I can do is thank you for telling me your point of view.  I can not tell you that you are wrong unless you mean me harm.  Or anyone else harm for that matter.

If you are confused about your purpose in life, let me share a few resources with you. The first one is an exercise on the website of Steve Pavlina.  I don’t agree with all he says and does but he is a remarkable writer.  I like this one item and I will pass along the link to his, Steve’s, article on Finding Your Purpose in Life in 20 Minutes. In addition to other books you may be reading on this subject I would refer you to Critical Path.  Remember it is a book not the book!