This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
George Bernard Shaw
Showing posts with label life purpose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life purpose. Show all posts
Here's another way to find out what you really want out of life. The questions aren't necessarily easy, so take your time.
1. If you won a $1 million, what would you do differently in life?
This is not about buying your dream house or going on a world cruise or even donating the lot to charity (because money is the root of all evil?). Think about what you would actually change, the different activities you would engage in. (Okay, maybe you do want the house, because you have a need for a secure home base to pursue your activities. Or you'll go on a world cruise, because that's where you can find the most people to start your new evangelistic religion...)
2) If you were going to die in 6 months time (and had perfect health in the meantime), how would you spend the time?
It's possible, if you are living completely on purpose, that you wouldn't change anything. There was some writer or the other, who just continued writing when he was told he only had a few months to live. He obviously felt he was living his life purpose. But are you? I can certainly think of a couple of things I'd like to squeeze in. There are still a few places I want to visit, a lot more dancing to do and so many more things to create.
3) Which one quality of your character, if you were to develop it further, would serve you the most fully in life?
This one requires some self-knowledge. How are you? Which characteristic of yours would be most useful to fulfil your dreams? Check out your other answers first, if you, like me, find this question difficult.
4) If you had a magic wand, and could grant any one skill or a ability, what would you choose?
No, I don't mean facebook inspired superhero abilities. What is it you really need to learn or do to be most in alignment with your dreams? For instance, if you want to hold workshops, learning how to teach would be useful.
5) What is it that gives you the most joy and satisfaction in life?
There are moments where you are totally in the flow and time seems to disappear. Activities can also trigger those "my cup runneth over" feelings, where you are so full of joy that you feel your heart will burst. What are you doing when you get these feelings? I can dance the night away, debate into the wee hours of the morning. Creating anything also puts me into a space time warp.
6) What legacy would you like to leave?
Imagine you were writing your obituary. What would you like to be remembered for? Try and go for more than just being a nice caring person, great parent, etc. Dream big. A guru? A media moghul? Or known for your involvement in saving the whales? Or eradicating malaria? (Even Bill Gates has his dreams he is working towards.)
7) What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew that you could not fail?
This one is usually somehow connected to the last question. Climb Everest? (It doesn't matter if someone else has already done it. If you want to do it as well, go ahead and make it your dream.
If you're already doing all or most of these things, you are really on track with your life purpose. If you aren't, ask yourself why you aren't and then start moving in that direction.
Sometimes we have more than one purpose in one life. To take Bill Gates as an example again, he built up Microsoft (and whatever anybody says about the guy, he did build the company) and now he wants to eradicate malaria. As you fulfill a dream, another takes its place. Or sometimes, life purpose changes and another dream becomes your new dream. At which point, you might want to consider asking yourself these life purpose questions again.
Now, go out and do all of those things that you wrote about. Why wait until whatever? Do it now.
You could just randomly brainstorm and write down all the things you love and bring you joy in life. A more fun way to mind map all the things you are passionate about is to make a word collage of cut-out words. Spend an hour or so browsing through magazines and cut out key words that jump out at you from the page because they resonate with your soul. Put them all into a little box or tin.
Next, try arranging them on a page in your journal or any blank piece of paper. Group them into sections that make some sense to you. Arrange them in shapes and patterns, possibly connecting them with lines.
Now you have established what you truly love, make sure to indulge in at least some of the pleasures every day. Ultimately, your goal might be to incorporate all or most into your daily life and work. Doing what you love and following your bliss is, after all, your life purpose. Keep looking at your word collage and let it carry you away into your ideal life.
Looking at my word collage, I might think of opening a craft coffeeshop that also serves as a meeting point for spiritually minded people. Or I could blog about all the subjects dear to my heart. Or I could open a spiritual retreat centre offering art and personal growth workshops. The possibilities are huge. And yes, I am working on a couple of ideas and letting the universe guide my on my path ...
There's not much purpose in just knowing your life purpose; you must live it. (In a way, it's worse knowing your mission in life and not doing anything about it. It makes you feel like a real unprincipled louse. I've been there...)
I have found the only way to really live my life purpose is to surrender myself totally to my Higher Self / God / The Universe. Mystical traditions refer to the need to die before being reborn and the way to do this is to surrender totally and put yourself in the hands of the Universe.
Yes, it's frightening and it DOES mean relinquishing control and trusting that everything will work out. Changes WILL happen in big ways and you WILL have to make sacrifices in your life. There is always an element of sacrifice in surrendering, but keep in mind that the things that are sacrificed are the things that are stopping you from living your life purpose. For instance, I was "moved" halfway around the world from Switzerland to the Seychelles. This "moving" seems to be a recurring theme in my life and each time I have to give up all my worldly possessions and lose daily contact with close friends and family.
Step one: Ask and ye shall receive
With an open heart surrender yourself to the Universe. Find a quiet time and ask for help. Say a prayer, shout it to the sea, announce your intention and readiness to surrender. Do it out loud. And do it with a trusting heart and faith.
Step two: The Universe is speaking: just listen
The Universe will respond immediately (well, sort of immediately). Don't expect a voice coming out of a burning bush. But then again, you might be lucky... Trust that you will be supported, go with the flow and look for your messages. These may come in the form of a book, something someone says, a sign on the road. Messages come in all shapes and sizes, often in a humourous manner. If you are open to receiving them, you will recognise them.
Step three: When opportunity knocks, take it
The Universe will also provide you with plenty of opportunities to live your life purpose. Take them. Going with the flow does not mean not acting. Surrender does not mean you will never do anything again. Wait for your cue and then ACT with focus and intent.
Step four: Practice makes perfect
It helps to state your intention to surrender every day. Surrendering is something to be practiced continually and in all areas of your life. For instance, I recite the Gayatri mantra every morning. It is a Sanskrit prayer and it's essence is "I will to will Thy will". Find some form of this prayer that is right for you and practice every day.
Step five: When you get off track, ask again
You may be more enlightened than me and never have to ask again. Most of us, though, do get off track from time to time. Our good intentions fly out the window, when "life" interferes. When I got to the Seychelles, I got sidetracked by going to the beach all the time. A life of leisurely sun-bathing and sipping gin tonics at sundown wasn't really part of my life purpose and things soon started going wrong. (Which is a message in itself!) I had to surrender again, rededicate myself to my life purpose. And I was given (yet) another chance. God is forgiving... Just go back to step one and start again.
Some years ago I was suffering from fibromyalgia and general misery, when one day my back gave way and I was confined to the bed for three days. These three days turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I was forced to take the time to rethink my life. I realized that I had been living off track for many years and SOMETHING HAD TO CHANGE. Lying in bed, dosed up on painkillers, I pondered on the meaning of life, the universe and everything. I remembered that the ultimate purpose of life is to feel joy (of the “my cup runneth over type”) and I wasn't experiencing much of that. "Why not?", I asked myself and came to the conclusion that it was because I wasn't following my individual life purpose. The logic behind this is: If you follow your bliss, you will experience deep happiness and thus fulfil your divine purpose. Joy being the ultimate purpose of life as mystics of most religions point out .
My creative energy surged, as it usually does after a period of enforced inactivity and, tapping into the recesses of my brain, where a lot of self-help knowledge was stored from different sources (can't remember all the wise people who contributed, but here's a general thanks), I developed the following method of finding your life purpose in under one hour. The method involves identifying your mission and vision and forming it into a concise statement to live by. If you then live by this, happiness will be yours. I can testify to this. Halleluiah!
Identify your mission
Your mission is your raison d'etre, the "Why am I here?" A mission statement covers your personal life, your work life, your social life and your spiritual life. It is the “what and who am I” statement.
Take ten minutes to chose three of actions from the following list that are what you enjoy doing most. I know, it's hard to pick only three, but it is possible.
accomplish, achieve, acquire, adopt, advance, affect, affirm, alleviate, amplify, appreciate, assist, associate, believe, brighten, build, call, cause, change, choose, claim, collect, combine, command, communicate, compel, compete, complete, compliment, compose, conceive, confirm, connect, consider, construct, continue, counsel, create, decide, defend, delight, deliver, demonstrate, design, devise, direct, discover, discuss, distribute, draft, dream, drive, educate, elect, embrace, encourage, endow, engage, enhance, enlighten, enlist, enliven, entertain, enthuse, evaluate, excite, expand, explore, express, extend, facilitate, finance, forgive, foster, further, gather, generate, give, grant, heal, hold, host, identify, illuminate, implement, improve, improvise, increase, influence, inspire, integrate, introduce, invent, involve, keep, know, labour, launch, lead, live, love, make, maintain, manifest, master, mature, maximise, measure, mediate, mold, motivate, move, navigate, negotiate, nurture, open, organize, originate, participate, perform, persuade, plan, play, possess, practice, praise, prepare, present, produce, progress, promote, provide, pursue, realise, receive, reclaim, reduce, refine, reflect, reform, relate, relax, release, rely, remember, renew, resonate, respect, restore, return, revise, sacrifice, safeguard, satisfy, save, sell, serve, share, speak, stand, summon, support, surrender, sustain, take, teach, touch, trade, transform, translate, travel, understand, unify, use, utilise, validate, value, venture, verbalise, volunteer, work, worship, write
Now take ten minutes to choose three values that are core to your being.
achievement, altruism, charity, cooperation, creativity, dignity, economic security, emotional well-being, equality, excellence, fame, faith, family, freedom, friendship, generosity, happiness, health, honesty, honour, hope, humility, independence, individuality, inner peace, integrity, joy, justice, kindness, knowledge, love, loyalty, nobility, pleasure, positive attitude, power, recognition, relationships, respect, safety, self-worth, service, simplicity, trust, truth, wealth, wholeness, wisdom
Take your three actions (and another ten minutes) and form them into sentences with your core values.
For example, my words are: communicate, inspire, create and joy, wisdom, transformation. The sentences I made are: I communicate wisdom. I inspire transformation. I create transformation. I inspire joy. I communicate about transformation. Or, all in one: I communicate, inspire and create joy, wisdom and transformation. Ultimately, I got to: My purpose is to creatively transform beings and objects and to inspire others to find joy and wisdom.
Play around with the sentences and see what feels right to you. You might need to consult a thesaurus to get the exact word you need for your statement. Ask yourself if this statement can be applied to every area of your life.
The sentence you feel most comfortable with and which resonates to the core of your being is your mission statement.
Identify your vision
Your vision statement is the unique way in which you accomplish your purpose. It states how and in what areas you carry out your mission.
Take ten minutes to choose three causes / fields from the following list that you care most about.
addiction, environment, family issues, education, health care, elderly, children, the poor, the homeless, immigration, energy, agriculture, the justice system, veterans, nutrition, law, politics, government, news, journalism, performing arts, visual arts, literature, crafts, gender issues, music, design, sports, food, computers, printing, publishing, religion, community, reproductive issues, science, women, gardening, media, youth, churches, spirituality, the disabled, public safety, consumer issues, human development, personal growth, infants, childcare, child safety, healthcare, tourism, defence, space exploration, animal rights, animal care, literacy, civil rights, counselling
I had to "cheat" by combining a couple of similar areas to get down to three.
There are many other issues in the world; if you find what you care about most is not listed, just add it to your list.
Take your mission statement (and yet another ten minutes) and combine it with your chosen fields and form it into a sentence.
For example, I chose publishing, arts and crafts, human development / spirituality and got to this statement. I accomplish my mission by communicating my ideas through writing, art and counselling others on their personal growth and spirituality.
Your mission and vision statements have to "ring right" to you. They must inspire and excite you. Play around until you get the wording exactly right for you and you alone. It is, after all, YOUR purpose and YOUR statement to "do or die" by.
As the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote: "The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wants me to do; the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live or die."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
