“Living a Purposeful Life” Chapter 25

Are you living with a purpose or just living?

For some people, purpose is connected to vocation and meaningful, satisfying work. For others, their purpose lies in the responsibilities to their family or friends. Others seek meaning through spirituality or religious beliefs. Some people may find their purpose clearly expressed in all these aspects of life.

Everything and everyone has a purpose. The purpose of food is to provide our bodies with the energy to complete our day. However, we generally look at and eat food for pleasure. Taste, color, texture all matter to us when we eat. If it didn’t, we would find the perfect caloric meal and eat only that every day and disregard everything else. For a PALS who is peg fed like myself, there is no other purpose for food but to keep me alive one more day.  The food goes directly into my belly so taste, texture, color doesn’t matter as long as it is liquid and passes through. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying I don’t enjoy food... I love a good slice of puréed NY pizza.

The purpose of sleep is to give our bodies the ability to recover from the day by reenergizing our mind and body.  For PALS, sleep is critical because our bodies do not recover at the same rate as others.  A secondary reason for me is to wake up and see the sunrise. That means I lived one more day.

The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God created man and that He created him for His glory. Therefore, the ultimate purpose of man, according to the Bible, is simply to glorify God and to have dominion over the earth.

The question then is how do we determine our purpose in life?

Everyone is born with skills that are developed as we grow. Athletes play sports, carpenters build homes, religious leaders teach us, and you have your own skills. But are they/you using those skills with a purpose?

I have a friend who coaches soccer for a career. He grew up playing soccer, made it to the pros, and now is a youth coach. He’s not making millions, but to me he is following his dream and making a difference in the lives of those he touches. Those lives include my two daughters. He has a purpose and is living his life well by teaching others a skill he has.

Once you understand your calling, your purpose, and your assignment (what you were put on this earth to do/accomplish), everything will make sense and you’ll get clarity. Knowing what you were put here to do will inform the type of jobs you apply to, who you network with, and how you spend your time. You’ll start to live with more intention.  Work will than no longer feel like work, but instead it will be life-changing for you... and others.

Sometimes when we find ourselves frustrated with our job/career, it’s because it is not aligned with our purpose.

When it is aligned, work is no longer focused on getting the next promotion, but on serving the needs of our team members and clients. Our job is no longer just a means of income, but of fulfilling the larger purpose of God's calling on your life. So, we research and study a lot more to understand why God would want that job and what it contributes to the good of mankind. Our job gains meaning and we get a passion for the job which we would not otherwise have had. Since we are no longer competing with our colleagues for promotions and other benefits, we get along better with them and can build a team more effectively in the workplace.

After retirement from the Army, I had a discussion with Laura about what my purpose was. Sure I was an Military Policeman for 21 years and did well. I led Soldiers, saved lives, and served my country. After the Army I was a contractor for nine months, and then a Government Civilian employee for 14 years before I retired in January. Both followed the security path because that is where I had experience and training. I loved what I did and had success but always felt like something was missing.

Was my purpose in life to work only to support my family and pay my bills? Raise a family? Serve God and then die? Certainly they all have meaning and are valuable, but was it my purpose?

Is purpose time or place driven? I believe God makes no mistakes and therefore I was supposed to be and do what I have done over the past 55 years. So was I fulfilling my purpose?

Laura told me she feels my true purpose is to teach and help others. Looking over the years I have always found myself doing exactly that. Every fond memory I have is connected to that as well.  Police protect and SERVE and I have many memories serving and helping others. Leaders mentor and help others grow and every day that I that I have the opportunity to help someone, I do. Memories of subordinates, peers, and friends getting promoted or having achieved a goal though my help fills my heart.

Today I write my blog and help raise awareness of ALS knowing it may not help me today, but I do it so that someday ALS can be a survivable disease.

Is it possible that I have been serving my purpose in life and not seeing it because I let distractions of money, satisfying others beliefs, and feelings get in the way?

Over the past year I have a much clearer view of my life’s purpose. I truly am happy everyday knowing that what I do serves others.

My goal when starting this blog was to bring awareness to ALS through my journey. If I am able to help one even one person understand this disease, then I have met my goal and fulfilled my life’s purpose. I hear from many readers that I have changed theirs lives and if I wanted to, I could stop right here. However, when we reach our purposeful goals, we should NOT stop. My one is now my hundreds, my thousands. Now I want to touch the hearts of everyone I meet. My goals now are purposeful and focused and when I drift off my path, I take time to pause and get back on.

So I ask you, are YOU living a purposeful life? Or just living life? Have you found your purpose? Relook at your past and find what you may have missed like I did. Look around and see how you can change if needed. Take a pause, focus, and get back on the purposeful path.

I would love to hear what your purpose is in the comments.

Love and Blessings