Often, when we think about "˜purpose', we think about the concept of our life purpose.
"Who am I?"
"Why am I here?"
"What is my purpose in life?"
Personally, I look at purpose a little differently.
If you are one of the lucky few who really feels like you have found your one true purpose in life, then that is awesome, and I encourage you to follow it wholeheartedly.
I, like many others out there, haven't found one sole purpose to base my whole life.
When I was younger, this sometimes affected me. Some people knew exactly what they wanted to do from the moment they started talking. I had friends that passionately wanted to be doctors, or teachers, or astronauts. Still today, I know people that have one dream that they work hard at every day, and perhaps to them, this is their purpose in life.
I never had this.
I drifted between dreams and ideas, from professional dancing to investment banking and everything in between. I desperately wanted to find my purpose; that wonderful thing that would make sense of my life.
Many years later, there are still a dozen things I want to do with my life. I still don't have a one and only purpose. I have many!
Though no longer do I feel confused or disheartened by having so many passions. In fact, I feel quite blessed. I am lucky enough to have more than one passion and more than one purpose.
I am multi-passionate. I am multi-purposeful.
I have learned that purpose does not need to be one almighty thing. Your purpose can be a collection of a thousands of small things. Your purpose can be multifaceted and multi-layered. You might have a broader purpose for the year, and a smaller purpose for each and every day within. You might have six different purposes going at one time. Maybe you have a different purpose at work to that which you have at home. Maybe your purpose is constantly changing as you discover more and more about people and the world.
When I created my business, my initial tag line was going to be: "Katie O "“ Find Your Purpose."
With the help of my husband, I later changed this to: "Katie O "“ Purposeful Living."
Although similar, there is a distinct difference.
One looks at purpose as a thing "“ something that needs to be found; something that you can distinctly define.
The other, the one that I went with, looks at purpose as a habit. It looks at purpose as a mentality and a philosophy. It looks at purpose as a way of living.
This is important.
We often think that peace and happiness arrives when we find a purpose, but it is my view and my experience, that peace and happiness also arrives when we live with purpose.
To me, this is what is most important: Living with purpose.
Furthermore, a purpose does not always need to be found. It can be created.
You have the power to make each day purposeful simply through what you choose to say and do. You have that power every single morning when you wake up; a decision to make the day meaningful.
If you don't think you have a purpose, then make one. It doesn't have to be a purpose for your whole life. Maybe it is a purpose for this week, or for this day, or even for this very moment. Maybe it is a purpose for this project, or this experience, or this relationship.
In each situation you find yourself, ask yourself these three simple questions:
- 1) What am I learning?
- 2) Who am I meeting?
- 3) How am I helping?
Somewhere buried within these questions, you will find a purpose. I guarantee it.
So stop waiting.
Chances are, there will never be one magic moment when all of a sudden you find your almighty purpose. And even if there is, don't sit around waiting for it, because as you do, you will waste all of the wonderful moments in the interim; all of the wonderful moments where purpose exists too, if you dare to seek it.
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