photo by Jill E. Williams
So a friend of mine, the same smart friend who is asking herself about how she triumphed each day, recently made this observation:
“One had only spend a day admiring the beauty of a sandy beach or snow-capped mountain vista or the elegance of a stalking panther or the simplistic engineering genius of an amoeba cell under a microscope to realize that we are not here by accident. Which means, friends, that we are here ON purpose. But, for what purpose? What is my raison d’etre?”
We are here ON purpose, indeed. And the question that we need to spend time answering is, indeed, for what purpose. It is the value of discovering that sense of purpose and the resulting authenticity that comes from finding and exisiting in it that most motivated the writing of Beautiful You.
The needs of the world are great. But because we are here ON purpose, we are each meant in some way to address one (or more) of the world’s needs. It could be the need for care, for entertainment, for education, for healthcare, for nurturing, for sustenance, the list of possibilities is endless. But the bottomline is that we each have a purpose that is uniquely ours- our expression of our purpose is as unique as our DNA. If we are consumed by our bodies, then we are taking valuable time away from the work we are meant to be doing and the gifts we are meant to be giving to this world, from our mission, our purpose. If we are in the mirror, assessing, obsessing, critiquing, despairing, we are not doing the work of our lives. When we get sidetracked, we are taking away from the time we can invest in our purpose and passion. We are keeping the world small, instead of letting it realize its best manifestation- because we haven’t yet realized our best manifestation.
That said, our purpose is not always singular or solitary. By that I mean that we can, indeed, have more than one purpose during our lifetime or more than one purpose at a time. For me, I think my purpose is empowerment- engaging with people in a way that empowers them to embrace what they have to offer the world and do it an authentic way. For a long time, I thought the only way I was meant to do that was in a traditional classroom, what I’ve been taught, though, is that life is a classroom and I can transcend the physical space of a classroom with my purpose if I choose to do so. I try to, but I am always a work in progress, always refining my ability to engage in my purpose. But that’s the whole point, right? The journey that our purpose inspires.
We’re here ON purpose. When you consider defining your purpose, what comes to you? Are you living your purpose yet? If not, how can you begin? If so, what have you learned that can help others in their purposeful walk?
