A life of purpose is living in alignment with values. Visualize a circle on a piece of paper with you at the center. How many actions in your life orbit within the circle of your being? If you are like most, it’ll look like a constellation of stars across a midnight sky.
When in your life is in alignment with your purpose, from what you eat to what you do, you are able to walk with greater clarity in the world.
We are each born into this life with a task to find our deepest meaning. In this way, animals have it easy. They are all purpose and intuition. Erich Fromm said that “man is born as a freak of nature, being within nature and yet transcending it.” Perhaps getting in touch with our “animal nature” is the secret.
It stands to reason that the more we flow with nature – eat whole foods, exercise, get outside and quiet the mind – the more connected we will be to our core. Without this deep connection we are just going through the motions hoping nobody will notice.
When you know your purpose, you are living the truth of your life. And try not to over think or make it into something bigger than what it is. More often than not, it’s quite simple: “I am here to give my gifts. I am here to love and connect.”
I found a passage from Douglas Adams’ “The Salmon of Doubt” that helps me contemplate our purpose:
“imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, ‘This is an interesting world I find myself in — an interesting hole I find myself in — fits me rather neatly, doesn’t it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!’ This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, frantically hanging on to the notion that everything’s going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.”
Oh, yes. That captures it well. I just might come back to this for a future post! I appreciate the depth you bring the community dialogue. Thank you so much.