Debunking the Whole “Life Purpose” Thing

[Thankfulforhelp22]

Someone sent me this about 10 years ago when I was wondering what I should be doing. It helped me.

Debunking the Whole “Life Purpose” Thing

If you are searching for your life purpose, you are in luck. The search stops here.

It’s become a common thing in our culture to try to “find your purpose.” It’s thought of almost like finding a soul mate: there’s a big epiphany as you discover your one true purpose and then… you and it ride off into the sunset. Now you’ve got career direction, a sense of meaning, and a kind of serenity about finally knowing what your purpose is. You can say to your purpose, a la Jerry McGuire, “You complete me.”

Except I’ve never seen it play out this way. More often I hear people talking about searching for their purpose with angst. They feel like they are missing something — like life will be different if/when they get to x…

Here’s the truth: Your purpose is to bring more love to this earth. It is to heal where there is brokenness. It is to bring light where there is darkness. It is to restore sanity where insanity reigns, kindness where fear has taken over.

That’s your purpose.

That’s my purpose.

That is the purpose of every human being here on earth.

If, in the morning, you find at least one minute, sixty seconds of silence to close your eyes and humbly say to life, the cosmos, God — whatever you call it:

Please allow me to be an instrument of love today

Please allow me to serve

Please allow me to heal

Please use me for the good

Or your own form of that… then life will take care of the rest. Life will place in your path the most remarkable, tender, perfect, interesting, set of opportunities to do just that.

Yes, there’s this other secondary thing — the thing we normally call purpose. That’s actually the manifestation of your purpose, the form it takes at any given time. That form will change, and the more creative and open to the force of love you are — the more fluid and dynamic and expansive it will feel.

All the time, there is your consistent purpose — embodying love, bringing light, bringing healing — but it is flowing through the unique prism of your changing circumstances — your time, place, resources, personality, personal experiences, sources of inspiration.

When we focus our attention on wondering about the manifestation, looking for the concrete details of how our purpose will be realized, we get off track. It’s as if we are trying to grow petals of a flower, instead of planting a seed, and then watching as the flowers grow.

Planting the seed is dedicating yourself to be of service, to be an instrument of love. If you do that, humbly, every morning, you’ll feel in your heart the call to specific acts of love and healing. Ideas for how you might spread light and change the world will start showing up, vividly, with a sense of calling attached to them.

Center in your big purpose — spreading love, bringing light, healing — and the specifics will take care of themselves.

[Michael8072]

Thank you for sharing that! Definitely is a different way to look at our purpose here!!

[peacefulandcalm]

thank you....very helpful, I like it...

[Starrlight]

❤️

[Sunrisetabby]

Wonderful words, but what do you do when the ideas don't show up? Re: "Ideas for how you might spread light and change the world will start showing up, vividly, with a sense of calling attached to them." Like many, I am overly concerned about the presidential election in the US, because I don't believe either of the two main party candidates are a force for good. Do you think I should just stay away from national politics? So many people find their purpose in a political party, but my values and ideals don't align with any of then, and for me the ideas for spreading light and changing the world just aren't showing up.

[Hidden]

Makes sense, I like it.

[Hidden]

For years my purpose was directed my human goals of money and knowledgenent. When God and I finally met 20 years ago he revealed to me basically what you wrote. He has molded and shaped me to love, help and care about others. Sure didn’t do much of that before becoming a Christian. Fir 13 years I’ve spend every morning thanking him for the good and the bad . Not easy to do when you feel rotten but when we truly ask him what is his will for us then we have a better shot at so many good things

Very cool post

Thank you

[designguy]

I think the real purpose of life is to learn to love and accept ourselves unconditionally which inherently allows us to love and accept others and all other life forms and life itself on this planet. It's actually pretty simple but our tendency is to think it's much more complicated.

[SwimmerBTC]

I enjoyed reading this. Thank you for posting it.

Do you know the original source?

[Thankfulforhelp22 in reply to SwimmerBTC]

I’m afraid I do not know it’s origin. 😀

[SwimmerBTC]

No worries! Thanks for replying 😉