“Most of us live our lives by accident, we live it as it happens. Fulfilment comes when we live our lives on purpose”. Unknown
Have you ever felt like you were living your life by accident? When I came across the above statement, it got me thinking about purpose, life and happiness and how it connects to me.
During the same period I remember reading The Art of Happiness, by H. Cutler, inspired by interviews and speeches with the Dalai Lama. In one of the chapters they dive into how living a life with purpose, leads towards a life filled with happiness and fulfilment. This was the second time I was coming across the word purpose, in a week!
Have you ever noticed how when you start looking for something specific, you suddenly start seeing it in front of you more and more often? It’s not necessarily because it wasn’t there before, but now that you have told your brain to seek it out – that’s exactly what it does!
As I wondered about purpose, and how it connects to our wellbeing. I started noticing how it also affected my work. So when I coached people who were dealing with changes, personal development and processings, but ultimately just looking for happiness and fulfilment, I suggested finding purpose. It turned out to be the ultimate pathway to a successful trajectory.
I remember having gone through periods in my life where I felt I was on a constant rollercoaster. Times when I was just living day by day, and the days just passed. Looking back now I understand that those periods lacked that one crucial ingredient. That ingredient wasn’t happiness, or self-esteem, or patience. What I lacked was what I now recognize as purpose. I was always happy, or busy filling my days with activities, work, times with friends, hobbies etc. But I still felt like there was no aim, no fulfilment to what I was doing.
I am not quite sure how or when I started feeling I had found my purpose, it probably happened gradually. It’s as if I had subconsciously told my brain “you need to start looking for a reason for my existence or I am not sure for how much longer I will feel happy”. And with my brain we searched and filtered, listened and interpreted. In the end, we delivered. My hobbies, my activities, my work, my friendships started having meaning because I was able to attach something to them. Nothing felt aimless anymore, I felt there was a greater purpose for everything I did.
As I search for specific moments, I remember I was able to attach meaning when I became a parent for the first time. It wasn’t just about becoming a mom holding a beautiful baby in my arms. It was so much more than that. I felt an extreme weight of responsibility towards this new life. All my actions from now on would also have an immediate effect on someone I brought into the world.
I then started realising there were so many moments in my day when the feeling of purpose would rise. From a beautiful sunset on the beach or a song playing on the radio, to a client telling me the positive effect I have had on their life. All of a sudden purpose was everywhere, and my life was filled with different reasons telling me to keep on thriving and not just living this life.
Personally, attaching meaning to my work means that apart from doing something I enjoy and that I am good at, I am supporting my family but also giving back something to the people who have trusted me. By giving back to my community I feel like my reason of being has value. But this is how I feel, so I invite you to attach purpose to your life, to your favourite activities, or your job and see how that makes a difference today, tomorrow, in a year and for the rest of your life!
