Purpose? Find Yours!

I’m writing this on the veranda overlooking the grounds, lake and woodlands of my ‘away from it all’ place. I’m spending time reading, writing, reflecting... and getting up late. I miss breakfast time but it’s totally worth the joy of not needing to be up at any particular time!

And as I write, I’m remembering a recent telephone conversation with a colleague. We were discussing living our respective passions, what stirs us, what enthuses us, what pulls us forward whether we know it or not.

And these words seem paltry compared with the sensational inside YEEESSS! you feel when you’re on track with yourself and your purpose. There’s no vocabulary for this or the certain uncertainty which accompanies you when you tread a path you’ve never trod before... yet you know ‘this is it’!

Our conversation also reminded me of the many times I’ve said ‘NO!’ to that urging, that which captures my attention and tugs at me to follow the sign even if I don’t understand what it’s about or exactly where it’s going. The times when I’ve raised my eyes to heaven, and still do, yelling, “Haven’t I done enough already?!”

The answer is of course “No!”... Because my purpose unfolds and develops just as I unfold and develop as a person. The ways in which I can express my purpose change over time as I change and grow. So there’s always something else to be done... which is exciting!

It’s also more than just a bit flipping scary!

But when I think back to my earlier life when I stuck to the straight and narrow, did what was expected of me, behaved as I imagined I was supposed to behave... you know the rest! Although I was ‘living dead’, I was also in pain, a restlessness, a feeling and cognition that ‘there had to be more to life than this’. And of course there was and is.

So, if you sit very quietly with yourself you might just hear your own restlessness, your own inner ‘voice’ calling you to what floats your boat even if you don’t quite know what that is right now. What you’re most likely to do is to tell yourself it’s nonsense.

I remember when I wanted to do a degree my ex husband saying to me that I should have thought about that before I got married. And that’s one of the kind of excuses you can give yourself... that it’s too late, it’s not the right time as if there’s ever a right time! or who do you think you are to be different... or even “Who me?! I can’t do that.”

And even when you know your purpose and passion, you can still trick yourself by using the same old cruddy excuses. I know because I can still do that to myself sometimes!

However, the truth is following your passion, being successful at what you be-do, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to overthrow your current life at all... or if you want to that it has to be done in one almighty tumultuous crisis. Although of course that’s up to you!

What it does mean is you start living dangerously exactly from the point where you are in your life right now. You get a sense that there’s something for you to be-do in the world, however small or large that is. Whether that’s growing African Violets or nurturing your children or becoming the next Anita Roddick... or all three!

And despite the scariness, I promise you you’ll feel skin prickingly alive if you do... trusting the not-knowing and how little by little, if you don’t already know them, it’ll show you your passion and your way forward... for now!

Here are some questions to start juicing up your purpose and passion...

#1 What billboard attracts your attention and what message does it give you?

#2 What subjects did you love at school... even if you didn’t pursue them?

#3 What are you doing when you feel most alive and enthusiastic?

Look for the theme or themes running through your answers and you’re right on track for uncovering your own purpose and passion!