How Can I Find My Life Purpose?

Most of us at some point, have really struggled with finding our life's theme or purpose. And I don't know if it is necessarily the kind of job we attain or what we do with our time--although those can give us clues as to our purpose. I think that a person has to look deeper, to look behind those things. What drives us?

"To figure out what your primary theme might be, don't look at the surroundings of your workday. Look in, at the constant urge that echoes in your spirit no matter where your life might take you and dictates the impact you have on the people around you." (Browne, 32)

I like the phrase, "and dictates the impact you have on the people around you." When I use that as a guide to help me see my purpose, it all seems a lot more clear. For example, what is behind my interactions with people is usually looking for how I can help relieve their burdens and help them be the healthiest they can be--emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Actually I've always wondered if my life theme/purpose was to help people in some way. When reading, listening to others, or researching, I would make a note of what I learned in case it might help others. Also my fantasies about the future always had me in an orphanage or discovering ways to reduce outbreaks of malaria in Africa, (I know, big dreams right?) or on a smaller scale to be a beautician and help people to feel encouraged, to feel good about themselves. I lost this for a while during a dark time in my life. I didn't care about anything outside of myself because I was hurt and confused. I was such a mess that I couldn't give outwardly to anyone. In fact most times I just wanted to push people away. But as healing and understanding came, so did a renewed passion to help others be healthy--emotionally, spiritually, and physically. I've noticed that I get really excited when I acquire knowledge that could help others. My passion kicks into overdrive there. But it wasn't always easy to see what drove me, what I was good at, and what I should be developing.

I believe that emotional and spiritual health are very, very, very important precursors to understanding your life's theme and your gifts. Because health is truth, and health yields love. Truth and love illumine things--they bring understanding. It's funny how many things begin to fall in line when we begin to live a life of truth and love. I've seen this happen in many others besides myself.

What do I mean by living in truth? 

"...I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies." Philippians 4:8,9

In short, living in truth is reminding yourself of truth and of good, positive things. So an example of not thinking truthfully would be when someone at your work says, "You can't do anything right" and you begin agreeing about your inability to produce anything good. That is a lie. Everyone can do at least several things well. If we fill our minds with lies like these, then we will lose our grasp on reality. What you should do instead is to first of all discern the truth of his statement in a proper way. Second, discern where he is coming from:

"I can do a lot of things right. I play piano well, I teach piano well, I cook well, I am good at encouraging others, I am a good friend, etc. I just have not been as attentive as I need to be when my boss gives me instructions. So from now on I will listen better and my work will improve. He doesn't likely mean what he said. I'm sure he thinks I do a lot of things well. It was likely an emotional response because he was anxious about the project being finished."

Do you see also that the above self-talk assumes positive instead of assuming negative? This is how to tell yourself truth about a matter instead of becoming self-degrading or jumping on the opposite extreme and shifting blame to someone else. When we fail to think about things in a correct and fair way, we can't see others, ourselves, or life clearly. That's what I mean when I say that truth illumines things--truth clarifies.

Love seems to come along with truth and health. Speaking truth to yourself as opposed to accepting everything negative that someone says to you is showing love to yourself, is it not? And speaking truth to yourself as opposed to shifting blame, is showing love to others.

Health, truth, love, clarity, understanding, wisdom--they are all a package deal. So practice speaking truth to yourself. Look at accusations fairly and respond to your automatic negative thoughts in a fair way too. You may find that your path and how you were meant to impact the world, become easier to see.

Browne, Sylvia. Blessings From the Other Side 

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