I’ll start this post with a few life musings for you:
Is it purpose or meaning we seek? Are we really living or simply surviving? Why do we get up in the morning? What’s truly important? What will be the thing that makes us fulfilled and when will it reveal itself?
The answer to questions like these is ever-evolving, for every one of us. In my experience, the answer is often a reflection of the relationship we have with our emotions, and the quality of life we seek. In our human instinct, we all have qualities that we lean into in order to survive and succeed. In that regard, in the simplest of terms, our Purpose is; we live to survive. Tuning into your feelings can push or pull you one way or another when life is or isn’t going your way. Trusting in your intuition can guide the answers to these questions, motivate you, shape life’s goals, provide a compass and help make sense of one’s place in the world.
It’s true that we “survive” with every day that passes. But, we “live” because people love us and want to live life with us. We all have people around, our family and friends, that we want to be happy with, are hopeful for, and are emotionally invested in what happens next in their lives. We rise in the morning because those family and friends make life worth living. One shouldn’t go through life just “surviving,” one needs to truly be “living.” Everyone one of us has value and matters. You are important to somebody. Your life purpose is your daily, positive contribution to the world and the lives of people around you. Read that last sentence one or two (or ten) more times!
Life’s purpose isn’t found tomorrow, it’s in your contribution to today.
Ever wonder how much time we spend looking for something in life and we don’t realize it’s been right in front of us the entire time? You see, life itself is the rarest thing in the world, a gift. Why?
As humans, we have conformed to a societal view of what life’s purpose should be. In doing so, some of us spend way too much time trying to find it, rather than living it. We do things in a “pre-programmed” way out of instead of being authentically ourselves. Finding one’s purpose is often looked at as one BIG tangible thing. Ok, sure, and then what? Why limit ourselves to one major moment or contribution in life? Every day we have the opportunity to contribute something purposeful, to make someone else’s or our own life more fulfilled. Don’t count the days, make the days count.
Find your signature strengths, then flex them for your purpose
Hopefully, this is not the first time you’re hearing this, but your “purpose” is not always connected to your vocation. (Read that last sentence one or two (or ten) more times!)
One’s daily contribution in life doesn’t need to be a big, visible tangible thing. In fact, sometimes it’s not a thing at all. Sometimes it could be a feeling, or as I like I call them, “little pulls at your heartstrings,” that guide your direction based on one of your own signature strengths. “Hey Ayerim, what the heck is a ‘signature strength?”, you might ask. Signature strengths are what make you, you. Your personality and character. What you’re naturally good at. Your guiding values of fairness, gratitude, respect, trust, and empathy towards others. Even as I write this I’m having a mini-epiphany that our purpose is to really lean into ourselves and learn how to use these strengths for a better more fulfilling life. When you know your signature strengths (and weaknesses) you get a better understanding of how to manage them.
For now, my thinking has evolved to this school of thought; One’s life purpose is to discover and lean into our own signature strengths in order to go beyond “surviving and existing” to “living and thriving.”
We’re on a discovery journey together, I’m not too shy to share.
Along this journey, I’m learning more and more that, whatever your passion is, you need to embrace it and allow it to guide you. As we learn together, I’ll courageously try to dive deeper into each of these strengths to live purposefully, daily. Areas such as being: empathetic, intuitive, creative, passionate, responsible, and kind to others, a leader vs. a follower, etc.
Think about this…what if maybe, today, your purpose was just to be kind to someone else?
What if we adopted a more intentional approach to the things we are great at, that energize and motivate us and ignite our curiosity and passion? When we do that, we’re reaping the rewards of the “gift” that is life.
Until next Time ~ Ayri
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