Searching for purpose
My adolescence and a part of my young adult life saw me searching for something deeper than what life was able to provide me at face value. Guided by my blind ambition, I failed to understand that what I was truly searching for was what I now understand to be my purpose. There is nothing wrong in searching for purpose. The road which leads to purpose is oftentimes edged in rash decisions and following a path carved for others. This period is synonymous with frustration as one constantly gazes into the lane of others and lose sight of your own path you ought to travel. Yes, and of course this time is characterized by countless moments where we play the blame game, where we hold others responsible for where we ought to have been along life’s journey.
The action of searching suggests that it is known for frustration as one eliminates the fake from that which is real, discern how to say no to invitations which expect you to respond in the affirmative and to remain focused amidst the barrage of criticism coming from others who themselves have never discovered their own purpose. It is at this critical juncture in life that we tend to pay attention to the opinions of those to whom we owe nothing or who has never contributed to our lives in a meaningful way. This moment is also known for us bleeding through our wounds. We never learn to appropriate the truth about ourselves and fail to understand that we are far from perfect – we are a work in progress. Generally, searching entails suspending one’s exploration for a while until you can gain a fresh perspective before resuming the ardent task to interrogate the various options available to you.
I vividly recall how my desperate search for meaning in life brought me in contact with people whom I knew made the right sounds, but who were far from experts. They created the impression that they had graduated Summa Cum Laude from the academy of life, but they barely managed to hold things together. We often mistake our purpose for finding a life partner and raising children behind white picket fences. Purpose does not merely reside in the place of comfort. It always re-imagines and strives to the next dimension. For purpose propels us into a place of discomfort at times, it challenges our resolve, it asks of us to reconsider our steps and points us in the direction of paths others have neglected to explore. The difficulty with purpose is that it gives one enough time to catch your breath at the summit of your accomplishments when it demands that your gaze be fixed on the next move. Just as potential is a propeller for purpose, so purpose serves as the fuel which brings us to destiny. The one who finds and understands purpose is often less concerned about the unfavourable conditions of today, because they understand that conditions usually transform into opportunities for growth. Moreover, every dry area in life provides an opportunity to drill down into rock-bottom in order to develop a threshingfloor in which to unearth purpose.
For some purpose lies in the pages of a book and reading a line motivates one to reach higher. Yet, for others purpose finds expression in the originality of an idea or in the hearing of others saying something is impossible to overcome. Truthfully speaking, purpose begs to be discovered. It often stares at us when our are eyes are far removed from our current reality. There are those moments when purpose stands looking at us through the eyes of a stranger, but we are blinded by a distorted paradigm. On other occasions purpose speaks to us through the passing of a loved one, because purpose is often born in the face of adversity.
A lack of purpose makes us cynical and make some to major in the negative. The discovery of purpose is aligned to maturity. For only the heart who has discovered purpose can manage the enormous responsibility betrothed to it. Such an individual can look beyond the inadequacies of the present and see the possibilities which are clutched in the bosom of the future. Purpose sharpens the vision and provides insight into the dangers of impending decisions. It does not measure the value of decisions against the backdrop of what is trending in society. However, it rests in the knowledge that one’s worth is not merely determined by the external, but intrinsically measured by how one uses your own worth to shape the destiny not merely of yourself, but especially that of others.
