What Were You Born To Do?
We all like to think that we have a purpose in life. While we struggle to find a meaning for our existence here on this earth, it’s comforting to have a belief that we are here for a reason, that we’re not just taking up space.
If we are lucky, through different experiences over time, we arrive at a moment where all of our gifts and history come together in a deep, penetrating sense of purpose that brings not only joy, but a profound sense of alignment in the universe.
And when you find that purpose, you want to follow it wherever it takes you.
Over the last two and a half years, I’ve been trying to find that purpose. In my studying, writing, serving and communicating, I’ve been following not only a sense of why I am here, but a passionately held desire to really make a difference, at a deep and meaningful level. And while I have a good idea of what that looks like, I have to be honest and tell you that it scares me to death as well.
Because it involves facing my greatest fear.
And I guess that makes sense. Our purpose shouldn’t come easy. Something as momentous as the reason for your presence here and now shouldn’t be something so mundane, so simple, so straightforward.
It should push you to grow, and become not only the best version of yourself, but also the most giving and the most caring. It should also require incredible levels of courage, commitment and clarity.
If you are going to shake the universe to its core, you should probably have your own core shaken.
And that fear often causes us to stay right where we are, frozen in a paralysis of our own thoughts and feelings. Staying still means staying safe, out of harm’s way, avoiding the light and hiding in the shadows. But not moving also means not growing, and even worse, not serving or making a difference.
And I think you are too special to let that happen.
Because whoever you are, and whatever your gifts, I truly believe that there is something you can do to contribute to this world. Muhammad Ali once said “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth”, but I think it goes further than that. Service is not just rent, but it’s the pathway to the greatest sense of fulfillment and alignment that you will ever achieve.
But in order to feel it, you have to do it.
So today I ask you to serve someone. It may be in a small way, or in a way that pushes you beyond your comfort zone and into the fearful lands of doubt. Whatever, however, whomever, whenever.
If you seek to serve others, you’ll soon find the gifts you questioned, and the pathway you have been longing for. Once you begin down that pathway, you will find a sense peace and belonging that can never be taken from you.
Once you know your purpose, and you serve it, your life will never be the same.
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings