What is your Purpose?

Is this a heavy question?  It may be to some.  But do you go through life wondering what your purpose is?  What it is you were meant to do?  Wondering when you will feel in harmony with the life you have chosen or that has been chosen for you?

I’m not talking about what your purpose might be for others.  The purpose of being a kind and loving spouse, a good parent who raises responsible and caring children, and an honest and hard-working employee or business owner are results we all expect to achieve at some point in our lives.

I’m talking about your inner purpose.  What your specific purpose might be when it comes to what it is you are meant to be, or to do, to be happy with yourself and feel at peace within yourself. 

Do you know the answer?

If someone had asked me that question two years ago, I would have come back with the basic answers:  to be a good person, a good wife, a good mother, have a nice home, a good job and so on. 

While those accomplishments might make me happy overall, I really hadn’t thought about how important it is that we also have our own inner purpose.  A purpose which in turn brings us joy, inspires us and fuels the fire within us.  Whether you call them hopes, personal goals or dreams, reaching them can mean the difference between feeling complete and feeling unfulfilled.

I decided to write about this topic after watching a movie my youngest son saved on the DVR for me.  He told me it was a pretty good movie and he thought I might like it too.  The movie is called Hugo and is the story about an orphan boy who tries to finish what he and his father were working on before his father’s death.  It is kind of a sad movie but it was very heartwarming as well.  What struck me the most was a statement young Hugo made to his friend as he spoke about fixing machines.  He said he always felt sad for machines that no longer worked because they can’t do what they were meant to do.  They no longer had a purpose.  When the subject turned to people, Hugo said, “If you lose your purpose, it’s like you’re broken.”

If you already had a purpose and you lose it, I guess you might very well feel broken.  You have lost what had originally brought you joy, meaning and peace with yourself and your life.  You lost what brought out the passion in you.  If for some reason I was no longer allowed or able to write, I believe I would feel broken in some sense.

But what if you have not yet found your purpose?  Would you still feel broken?  Probably not, as you might not yet know what you are missing.  You might only feel a void but have no idea how to fill it.  Many try to fill that void.  It is the fortunate who eventually discover their inner purpose and what truly makes them happy, gives them harmony in their life, and brings out the passion as they connect with something larger than themselves.   

I had no idea I had not yet realized my inner purpose until I began to write.  I have always been creative but I focused more on other crafts, such as cross stitching, scrapbooking or drawing.  While I did write some, I was not able to spend a lot of time with a complete story, only bits and pieces and then, of course, there were my journals.  I’m thankful I finally listened to that inner voice nudging me towards my true inner purpose. 

Now that I have focused on the craft of writing, I have found what delights me and inspires me from the inside.  This particular craft stimulates my creativity and brings out a passion and an outlook in life I have not had before.  Writing is my inner purpose and it has made me feel whole.

Whether you have found your inner purpose or are still searching for it, I wish anyone who reads this the best as they follow or search for what makes them feel truly whole.