And you may ask yourself -- Well...how did I get here?"
-- Talking Heads
To me, living a joyful life is about knowing what your life purpose is, and then building your day-to-day life around it. Your life purpose is as unique as your fingerprints. Mother Teresa was called to serve God and the poor, and Mr. Blackwell was called to critique the clothing of Regis Philbin and Marg Helgenberger. However noble, or lofty, or grand, your life purpose is that one special thing that makes your heart sing. Sometimes, we lose track of our life purpose. We get "down into the weeds" of daily living -- dentist appointments, karate lessons, and status report updates. If you're like me, a feeling of disquiet or disillusionment may build inside for a span of a few months or years, until suddenly you stop dead in your tracks and realize, in the words of David Byrne, "Am I right? Am I wrong? My God! What have I done!"
Perhaps you've misplaced your life purpose, or are living one someone else created for you, or you have never landed on one in the first place. Whatever the reason, you can re-focus on your life purpose. "Great," you might ask yourself, "how do I even know what it is?"
Try asking yourself a couple of questions to see if your life purpose emerges:
- If you had only one week to live, what would you do?
- Think of a time in your life when you felt pure bliss. What was present in your life at that time? Try to be as specific as possible.
- A friend is preparing to write your eulogy -- what would you like them to say was your greatest contribution to the world?
And yes, you do get to have your very own life purpose.
