Do you feel that you are stumbling along in life without knowing what you want? Do you marvel at those who know what their life purpose is and pursue it with passion? Do not feel smaller than those who have found their life purpose, do not lose heart.
It is often assumed that life-purpose has to be something grand and difficult such as the desire to become a world-famous musician, a leading social activist, founding an organization or starting a social movement. This is not the case at all.
All of us are born with a life purpose, and the unfolding of our life’s journey will sooner or later reveal it to us. We will not come upon our life purpose through an act of will or mere introspection by setting aside time. It will often dawn upon us one fine day, often in moments of crisis or transition, such as the ending of a relationship or marriage, losing a loved one to death, moving to another city or country, or a major accident or illness. A person battling cancer suddenly experiences remission and recovers completely. She realizes that she wants to support patients of cancer and offer them hope. As a result she writes a book on her experience of surviving cancer, then goes a step further by becoming a speaker at various forums so that she may better convey her message of hope by interacting live with the public. This is her life purpose. An African American teenager is falsely accused and sentenced to four years in prison for the crime of car-jacking he did not commit. After his release decides he to become a lawyer so that he may advance the cause of justice, especially in the African American community. This is his life purpose. Your life purpose could also be something simpler, such as being a parent and finding fulfillment in it. Not everyone feels they must become a world-renowned musician. True life purpose lies in the ability to recognize our special gifts and talents, and finding a way to share it with the world. Your life purpose could be to share the music you make with family and friends. For those upon whom life purpose does not dawn one fine day, reframing our fundamental questions over and over at different stages of our life journey, is another way of eventually uncovering it.