How to Figure Out Your Purpose In Life

What is life without meaning, without direction, without purpose?  Purpose gives us the desire to press onward, no matter how challenging life can be.  We overcome circumstances, situations, problems, and hardships when we feel we have purpose.  We become larger than our problems.  I’ve seen people survive events that should have ended their time here in this life and say, “It wasn’t my time.  I have more to do here.  I’m here for a purpose.”

The interesting part of life is that we never know the effect we may have on others.  We may have a specific intention in what we do and say, but there may be unintended consequences to our intentional acts.  Since we cannot know prior to its fulfillment what our purpose may be, how can we determine what action we should take to ensure its fulfillment?  We may have a suspicion of what our purpose might be.  We may be convinced we know what it is.  But ultimately, we cannot know.  We are not meant to know.  But there are tools to assist us in navigating this terrain.

Step 1.  Intuition.  That gut feeling that lets us know what action to take or not take can be a powerful tool to discover our purpose.  That natural instinct that gives you guidance is so easy to ignore or overlook because many times, it's not the loud, compelling feeling.  Often, it's subtle and small.  But it provides you with useful information to guide you through your day.    

Step 2.  Meditation helps you to connect with the voice of greater wisdom inside that provides insights and guidance.  Circumstances, situations, conflicts can often become clearer when you quiet your mind and let your natural wisdom flow.  The answers lie within and connecting with that powerful force can help you better understand the purpose of your existence by providing you with better understanding of the events and situations in your life.

Step 3.  Don't get too hung up on understanding your purpose.  This may seem odd but the philosophical quandry can be so perplexing that it immobilizes you.  There's a song called “That’s How the Lost Get Found” by Britt Nicole that was inspired by a situation she experienced.  She was at the mall and she saw this woman, a stranger.  She said that God told her to go up to that woman and speak to her.  God didn’t exactly tell her what to say but she said God touched her heart and told her to go speak to this stranger.  Well, she didn’t.  She was afraid to.  This experience impacted her to such an extent that she wrote this song. So, was part of her purpose to reach out to this woman or to reach millions more with the words of her song?  

Tip:  Purpose is a grand cosmic endeavor with many facets. Walking a path of seeking purpose leads to enlightenment on many levels to the elusive ultimate purpose - which perhaps might be as simple as to leave this planet a little better off than when we entered it.

Tip:  There is not right or wrong answer, only life happening and our struggle to understand it.

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