Stop Ignoring Your Purpose.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Purpose.
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What I have learned about life is that it’s passing us by.
Time doesn’t wait for me. It doesn’t wait for you. Not for any man does time stall.
Your life is important. And all of your “ignoring life” points to a deep belief that, indeed, life has purpose.
If it did not have meaning, you wouldn’t try to ignore it.
You would not sit for a day tuned into fiction on the screen. Not knowing how or why or what our purpose is, is the reason we numb the pain. When we’re little children we believe the stories told to us. Anything is possible. We believe the stories told in books and the stories told in our day in day out, humdrum lives. We believed that sea monkeys were real and that we could do anything and that being a waitress was a glamourous career because we could write on a notepad and wear a fancy apron. But then something happened. We didn’t realize we were believing other stories too. Dad’s aloof; he’s angry. I’m not loved. Mom is sad. I’m all alone. We believed the stories told about our value and our worth. Slowly we got the picture. The jig is up. Of course. Have you ever met a jaded 7 year old?
Our good mom and our good dad didn’t know. They didn’t know that the stories were believed. They didn’t know that you took it for truth; that you believed the lie that you aren’t loved unconditionally and that God did not love you fiercely. No, you believed the lie of life. But that’s ok for now. They did the best they could with what they had at the time.
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I woke up at 4:00am this morning for no known reason. I laid there wondering why. Maybe an angel woke me up — maybe my car got hit again, if it did Mike will be pissed, maybe it was a gunshot…I still hear something in the distance. I try to go back to sleep. No comfortable position and I’m not really sure why. Something feels off. A little discontent, something’s caught in my craw. Maybe I’m upset because I haven’t swifered in a week and my dog’s hair is creating little hair islands on the floor? Maybe it’s because the dishes aren’t put away? Maybe it’s because I haven’t written in two days or maybe it’s because I’m on the verge of something big. A big change that I can’t quite make out. A change that I can barely see off the coast — I have no idea what it looks or feels like — I can only hope it is what I think it might be — but I can definitely sense it. I can sense it coming for me.
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But first. What is it?
Purpose doesn’t mean grand.
It doesn’t mean world changing. It can mean that. But Purpose really means without waste. Purpose is the reason you were created. You are not an accident. Your purpose is in you. It’s in your bones. It is planted in you as you were planted in your mama. It is as natural as the sea and the wind. It’s as real as the table.
Life is an unrelenting current of “things not working out the way you thought they’d work out” that all are born into. It’s our weary task to swim against this current as the salmon do. It is our ancient instinct; our Divine Invitation, to fight it good and jump up. But life is also unrelentingly beautiful and heartbreakingly sweet. It is all the good and all the bad. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s also our job to soak it all in and spread the goodness all around.
“I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.” -Hugo Cabret
No one said purpose was easy.
Do ask for Divine help and not so Divine help.
It may take you all of your life to know. But I hope that it doesn’t. I hope it’s happening now. All I can say is that you are able call out to the Leader. You can ask for help. You can live right. You can risk and see. You can make something new come alive in you. Take the first step. Keep taking the steps in front of you. Have faith. Do your part of being honest, being kind, being awake, and simply Being.
If you’re feeling broken, maybe you just need to go see your Purpose and make friends with it again like you did when you were a kid.
Things will distract you from your purpose.
Do not believe the dark voices along the way.
Do not give center stage to murmuring doubts and slanderous self-loathing. Banish it from your heart. As if cutting off a gangrenous limb, cut out rotting, wasted time sucking habits. They are a slow death.
Mistakes will be made.
Do forgive yourself.
We’re only aiming high. Aim, aim, aim. That’s the point. You must aim and keep aiming. Thanks Vik.
Bigger than a muscle.
Do not listen to advice that tells you to simply trust your heart.
Your heart is a muscle inside your body that pumps blood through your veins 24 hours a day 7 days a week, 365 days a year from the moment you’re little zygote self has blood cells roughly resembling a pumping heart. Do not trust the heart. Trust the Thing that sustains the heart. The Invisible Force that pumps all life everyday. Bonus Do: Do listen to God. He is there and you know it.
Fair-weather feedback.
Do not listen to shifting winds.
Keep doing your thing. The world is crazy and likes crazy things. What’s in fashion today will be crass really soon. Don’t listen to fashionable feedback. I think you have instincts for creating for a reason. I think. Create your ideas. Now.
The sun’s coming up now. The sky’s still pale and the birds are awake. I have no idea what’s next. No clue at all. But I know it’s good. At least I hope so. I’m going to dig into this day and try to listen for the clues. I’m going to try and pull it all a little closer to me so I can see it more clearly. I hope you do too.
Well said, all. I think the biggest enemy is distraction from purpose. We fill our lives with distractions. Afraid, maybe.
Hey thanks Alan!
I really appreciate that. Thanks for commenting. Isn’t it the truth?! I struggle with it all the time.
But I suppose that it’s about getting back on track every time we get off track.
Hugs,
Bri