Your True Purpose
Have you ever asked yourself, what is my true calling in this world?
If you are like most of the world, the answer is probably no. Most people don’t find that thing. Or even worse, they do find it, but it doesn’t live up to someone else’s expectation of success- so they don’t pursue it. So many people today are merely reacting to the momentum of other people’s expectations. That is the sad truth. The thing is, lots of people are unhappy with where their own lives have taken them. So, they readily spew their expectations of themselves on others.
Success looks different to everyone, so you cannot let other people’s idea of it, dilute your own. You are a unique person, with your own unique set of beliefs. Not just about success and what it looks or feels like to attain it, but what is the moral way to make a living, what is a proper pass time or hobby. Where should you take your vacations; should you have children? These are all decisions that the masses subconsciously leave to others to make for us. Will you feel more fulfilled by spending your days living in a van, traveling around the country, or working nine to five, juggling the schedules of three children? Be honest with yourself, and drop the stigma surrounding both ideas. Some people truly do feel fulfilled being a parent and would not trade it for anything. Others wake up sometime in the middle and realize they had kids because it was what their friends were doing at the time, and you have not seen them in months now!
The point is, there are too many distractions, too many external ideas about the way that we should spend our life. Even when we at some point, have crossed paths with our true calling. Many of us have found something that has fulfilled us, and given us a true sense of purpose, but it didn’t live up to the expectations someone else has about how much money you should make, or how weird that hobby is. Maybe that documentary on minimalism struck something inside you, but your friends would think you are crazy, right? When people around you live in five-thousand square foot homes, it would make you such an outcast if you decided that was not for you. What would your parents think if you sold and gave everything away to live in a studio apartment at thirty-four? Drop that stigma. Drop the expectations others have for themselves, and stop using them against you! Take the time to ask yourself, am I doing this (or not doing this) because of my own beliefs, or because I am too scared of what others might think of me doing this?
Take that dance class, go on that vacation to ski in British Columbia, pick up a part-time intern job as a sports writer that you can do around the job you hate, or sell all your belongings and move into a van! The quintessential point to take to heart, is that you are the only you. Nobody else can tell you what your true purpose is, you need to take the time to figure it out; and the only way to do that, is to pursue what you were too scared of to commit yourself to. Get out there and do whatever that is... Your true purpose is waiting for you to find it, and I have a feeling you are too.
