What is Purpose – Part 1
I’m aware that there are those who think all of us are just a huge collection of cosmic accidents, that our only purpose in life is survival and reproduction. I think that’s a self-centered, sad opinion to have and a sad premise to live your life by. There is a significant purpose behind our being on the planet.
Most of us don’t know what our purpose on the planet is but finding out is part of the fun, especially once you have some clues about how to go about it.
Here are a few hints to help you discover your purpose…
Finding out what your purpose on earth is starts, STARTS! with this realisation: we are here for others and not ourselves.
This doesn’t mean we must all turn into Mother Theresa’s, and it’s not a noble selfless attitude where we neglect ourselves in order to benefit others. We take care of ourselves, because then we are able to take care of others. I’ve learnt that lesson very clearly in my life. You have to take care of yourself first to put yourself in a mental, emotional, and psychological position to effectively focus on others. That’s not an excuse to be selfish, it’s just the way it is.
We are not here to drive nice cars (although there’s nothing wrong with that) or live in amazing houses (although there’s nothing wrong with that) or have a stunning guy or girl (although there’s definitely nothing wrong with that). There’s nothing wrong with any of that but that’s not the core purpose of your life.
I remember reading a piece of fiction about a guy who wanted to know what heaven and hell is like. So an angel took him to a place with two doors. They went into the one door and saw a group of people sitting around a table with long spoons tied to their hands. There was the most delicious feast on the table, but they were all starving and ill because the spoons were tied to their arms and the spoons were too long for them to put the food in their mouths.
Then the angel took the guy to the second door and there was also a group of people sitting around a feast. They, on the other hand, were very well fed and happy. The man noticed that they also had the long spoons tied to their arms, but they were feeding each other, so they all managed to eat.
Your passions are a clue to your purpose.
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that; because what the world needs is people who have come alive!” – Dr. Howard Thurman
Someone once told me that there’s no such thing as doing what you’re passionate about. You decide to be passionate about something and then do it with your whole heart. I think that’s a bunch of clap trap and the person who told me had an agenda behind it – he wanted me to be passionate about what he was passionate about because he was paying me to do that, and it just wasn’t working for me.
In my life, I’ve always done stuff with my whole heart if I’m passionate about it, and if I’m not passionate about it, I can’t put my whole heart into it, the inspiration and creativity just don’t come.
To get clues about the specifics of your own purpose, ask yourself what makes you laugh, cry, happy, sad etc. Ask yourself that right now. Take just one minute and open notepad and quickly do it.
Think of times you were angry, happy, sad, inspired etc. What were you doing? What did you want to become when you grow up? What did you become?
The cool thing is, once you know what your purpose is, it gives you clarity. You can live life strategically, you can live life… “on purpose”!
Our purpose is to contribute in one of three ways.
I have a theory about everyone’s purpose in the world. We are all here to contribute in one of three primary ways:
- With our minds
- With our hearts
- With our money
With our minds…
People like scientists, teachers, professors, and researchers fall into this category. They are gifted intellectually and that is how they will contribute to the world, by introducing new drugs, new technology, by teaching the next generation, and so on.
With our hearts…
A few years ago there was a girl I knew that I loved with all my heart. She dedicated two years of her life to go live on a ship that travelled all over the world bringing medical aid and education to suffering communities all over the world. It was while thinking about her and what she was up to that this idea of “The Three Categories of Contribution” occurred to me.
Some people are just good with children, or good with people in general. They don’t have a lot of money, but they’ve got a lot of heart. They support people when they’re going through a rough time and just want to help alleviate pain wherever they can. Those people contribute with their hearts.
With our money…
The last group of people are not necessarily people-people. They don’t necessarily know how to relate to others well. They might not have a lot of brains on their side, but they have an idea, a dream. They are good in business.
The first two categories usually need the third kind of contributor. This girl I knew needed someone to sponsor her to go on this voyage around the world. Scientists that research new drugs need people to sponsor their research until the time comes when that new product can be marketed and turn a profit. And guess who will be rich from it: Not the scientists who made the drug, but the financial contributor(s) who sponsored the effort, distributed and marketed it.
The problem with people who are gifted in making lots of money is that they are sometimes materialistic. The cancer of greed often drives them and it prevents them from using some of their money for what its purpose was in the first place, to contribute to the world, to make people’s lives a better place.
Conclusion
One of the biggest problems with us as people is we forget, or fail to realise that our gifts and talents are there to equip us to fulfill our purpose, which is about helping others. If you will realise, right now, that your purpose in life is to help others, I promise you your life will make a complete turn for the better, even if it’s already pretty good.
There’s something indescribably incredible about consciously, “on-purpose“, stepping into your purpose in life. Making the distinctions outlined above will bring you at least 50% of the way there.
I hope this helped you.