sapientbreeze

Have you ever wondered how some people are able to achieve so much more than the rest? Perhaps you’ve fantasized about being the best at something, but had those fantasies destroyed upon witnessing excellence. The answer is purpose… true purpose. If you are at the pinnacle of your craft, yet are soundly beaten by another, that person’s “why” was ultimately superior to your own. Without a true sense of purpose, greatness is impossible.

Perhaps you find these words at a time in your life where you’re struggling to rise… you might feel like everything you do is mediocre or decent at best, you might feel unhappy or dissatisfied with your life. Perhaps you feel like regardless of what you try, your results always seem to be lacking. Perhaps you are even quite capable… smart, able bodied- but still you are stuck in a life that feels like it’s going nowhere. Regardless of you aptitude or skill, without true purpose, your accomplishments will always feel hollow. Purpose is everything.

Finding one’s purpose is what life should be about. Our modern era has lost it’s way… consumerism pretends to sell purpose, but no one will find purpose in collecting material possessions or riches. Social media would sell you purpose in the form of collecting followers; however, if we measure success in how many people “like” our lifestyle, then we will quickly find our life reduced to the lowest common denominator. We are sold the lie that our life must be appealing to others, or else it isn’t worthwhile. Meanwhile, the only people following your empty life are attempting to escape their own empty, but comparably less glamorous, lives. In this everyone loses, and when they’re confronted by their own emptiness, everyone is left wondering “why bother “.

If this comes anywhere near the mark for you, know that there is hope, and that you can take back your life. There is no quick path from this lonely plane to happiness… your struggles will be brutal, your heart will be broken, and at times suffering may be your only companion. This is why you must first find your true purpose. This will not be someone else’s purpose; not some idle fantasy held by children or adults, nor will it be a path to success taken by many. It will be your “why”, your reason to push beyond suffering. Find this, and in it you find that kernel at your core that is unchanging and truea.

To connect back with yourself, you must stop doing whatever you’ve been doing (within reason). Please don’t quit your job without a plan, but if you think your job is crushing your soul, find a way to take a week off, or even 2 weeks off. Take some time from your normal routine, and go somewhere peaceful. If you feel like you need to be alone, go alone. If you are lonely, find your closest friend and ask if they’d join  you for some self-discovery. Ditch the phone, the internet, the books you were reading or the videos you were watching. Find nature, go on a long hike or camping… or whatever retreat speaks to you.

For this to work, you must promise yourself true honesty. No lies to yourself… promise to entertain the possibility that any part of your life is there for the wrong reasons. Remember that it is very natural to build a life for the wrong reasons: get a job because you want more money, a relationship because you’re afraid to be alone, etc. It’s okay to admit that part, or even all, of your life isn’t right for you. Most people are stuck in misery because they’re afraid to be honest with themselves. It would be better to admit you’ve wasted a decade of your life in a bad relationship than to suffer with that misery for the rest of your life.

As you review your life, the way that you spend your time… ask yourself simply this: does this activity ultimately bring me higher, or lower? Drinking is fun and might seem to bring us higher, but in time, we find that it ultimately brings us lower. Many such activities might ultimately bring us higher in moderation or on special occasions, but too much ultimately brings us lower. Much of modern life is filled with activities that are like this: you must review your life, and honestly answer for the things you do everyday. There is no list of things that bring people higher or lower… this is individual… personal… this is about YOUR life, not some click bait.

As you triage your life, know that it’s quite possible that very little of your time is spent doing things that are actually improving your life. However, if you can find the things that are… this is your clue to purpose. The next logical question is this: if you leaned into what you naturally are doing that brings you higher, how could you build a life around that? Don’t worry about proving anything to anyone. If this is for mom and dad, or a girl or boy, you’re not ready to find your purpose. This has to be for YOU for the sake of leading a life that YOU are proud to live- nothing more, nothing less.

You may find this stirs audacious ideas that feel embarrassingly far out of reach. Remember, you’re starting from square 1, and you don’t know what’s possible or what you are truly capable of yet. Find a path that resonates deep within you, that stirs a fire in your heart, and then begin. Make a plan… how can you take a step towards that purpose. This is not to be your side project… what you do on nights and weekends. This must be something you live every single day of your life. As you progress, continue evaluating everything you do: if something brings you closer to living your purpose, try to do it more often and do it better. If it takes you further away, limit or even eliminate that activity from your life. Every day is an opportunity to take a single step towards living your purpose.

This is no get-rich-quick scheme, nor a secret formula for the perfect life: you will face hardship. This is walking The Path- it will be hard. Perhaps, this will be the hardest thing that you ever do. Change is hard, but forcing that change yourself is harder still. Friends will leave you, or be left behind. Relationships will change, beloved activities that have held you back will be abandoned. There will be obstacles that get harder and harder to navigate. As things go wrong, think of it like this: confronting obstacles is like throwing wood on a fire. If your fire burns low, then it will smother or diminish the fire. Should your fire burn hot and bright, this wood will only feed the fire, allowing it to burn hotter and brighter than before. Until your purpose burns bright within you, don’t stop searching… it will reveal itself in time.

The difference all comes down to framing. For someone will true purpose, obstacles are merely opportunities to prove that they want this more than anyone else alive. Let every setback be a lesson… a reason to reevaluate and try something new. Those of weaker purpose take setbacks as excuses to fail. Learn to ask yourself “what could I have done differently” instead of lamenting outside forces that make your life harder. I’m not saying to blame yourself, because blame is something people without purpose use to alleviate guilt. Blaming things you can’t control is a waste of time and energy, and blaming yourself is foolishness- just do better.

Burn bright, warrior. I know this might seem out of reach for you, but there was a time that all of humanity lived deeply meaningful lives. That is still available to us all, regardless of who you are or what you’ve done. Only you can decide that you deserve more. Only you can decide that you are worth it. Transform your suffering to fuel, and you transform your life.