Purpose
Many of us spend our whole lives trying to determine our purpose.
Trying to figure out where our place is on this Earth and what we are put here to do.
This is such a hard thing to determine. Honestly, I think that we have multiple purposes in life and some of them change over time.
In college, I determined one of my purposes was to help the planet and lead others to do the same. Maybe this was a purpose before college, too. It just took certain experiences in my own life for me to determine it.
Recently, I have a new purpose – raising my son to be a kind and compassionate person.
Determining your purpose takes time and some internal reflection, but it is worth is and can help you live a happier life!
Purpose in life is about so much more than determining what you are meant to do, though. It is about LIVING a purposeful life as you are making your way towards whatever you feel your life purpose is.
The key is making purposeful decisions about every single thing you do. The way you spend your time, the items you buy, the people you surround yourself with.
Because the truth is, these everyday small decisions ultimately shape what our lives become.
Make sure each of these decisions has a purpose. More importantly, make sure they reflect your values and lead you in the direction you want your life to go – leading you to your purpose.
Whenever I make a decision about something in life – whether it be things I buy, how I spend my time, or people I surround myself with – I ask the same questions. Will this bring me joy? Does this item/person have a purpose in my life? Does this action lead me in the direction I want my life to go?
I started this journey towards a more purposeful life by looking at the materialistic side. Many of my day to day stress comes from the crazy amount of stuff I have. I always feel like I am trying to organize my things, cleaning something, or picking up. This was taking away from time with my family and making me unhappy/overwhelmed at times. I looked around at all of the items in my house and determined what their purpose was. Did they have a purpose? Did I really need them? Did they bring me joy or were they just a source of stress? My husband and I have never really had an overwhelming about of “stuff”, but surprisingly I was still able to find items that weren’t serving a purpose.
I got rid of 4 cookbooks that didn’t reflect my goal of eating healthier. I got rid of excess dishes (we did not need 4 whisks) and cut my wardrobe by half. All of this new space freed up room for me to organize the things that actually do serve a purpose.
Along with getting rid of items we already have, I have focused on being conscious of what I am buying. Asking myself the same questions about what purpose this new item will have and if I really need it.
We are a materialistic society, so we have to make a real effort to buy less. Advertisements for the next new product are everywhere. Tempting us to spend our hard earned money on things you don’t really need.
In order to avoid these temptations we have to think back to what purpose they serve and do they add value to our lives. Really think about an item before you purchase it. Can you picture a place for it in your home already? Do you already have a perfectly functioning item that serves the same purpose? Does this item bring you joy?
Even with a more conscious effort to consume less, I do still buy new things – like more plants (always more plants). Plants serve a great purpose in my life by bringing my joy.
I still buy new clothes occasionally, but try and offset my new purchase by getting rid of something I don’t like as much from my current wardrobe.
Cutting down the items in my life to just the items that serve a purpose has reduced my stress and made me happier. I tend to appreciate the items I do have and don’t feel that nagging want for more.
This seems like the easier area of life to start making this change. When we talk about making more purposeful decisions about our time and people we surround ourselves with, it tends to get a little more difficult.
It is hard to let people go from our lives, especially if we have been friends with them for many years. But over time our viewpoints and values may change, so it makes sense that our friendships may change too. Surround yourself with people who lift you up. People who help you serve your purpose and reach your life goals.
Time is one of the most precious things in our lives. It goes by so fast and it is something we can never get back. We should focus on living each second of our lives purposefully. Making decisions that bring us joy and lead us to our goals.
This can be one of the more difficult areas to make purposeful decisions in, though. There are so many outside factors when determining how we spend our time. We have to take into account the fact that we have to make money somehow. So we need to spend our time at a job. Well, find a job you love.
If we are married or have kids, we have to spend some time doing something everyone enjoys. Marry someone who enjoys doing the same things you do. Find joy in the things your kids like to do – I can also bet that you will find joy just seeing how joyful they are doing the things they love.
So, even though I think it is important to try and figure out what your purpose in life is – it is so much more than that. We have all of this time as we are moving towards fulfilling our purpose that we should be focused on, too.
Work towards making purposeful decisions during this time – and watch how much happier and fulfilling your life becomes.