Alive with a Purpose in Mind

Since we’ve been alive, the concept of finding one purpose has been a topic greatly pondered by mankind.

What is Purpose?

Aristotle claimed that each person should use their abilities to their fullest potential to achieve their life purpose. Confucius championed ethical harmony, morality, and self cultivation when discussing ones purpose. Ralph Waldo Emerson stressed the importance of individuality and independence, that the path of enlightenment lies in searching within ones self. Henry David Thoreau explained how that at times, simple is best when trying to find purpose or meaning. Even Jesus gave insight on a life purpose when he said to “love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And to love your neighbor as yourself.’

1,000s of books, seminars, podcasts, and movies all revolve around finding and fulfilling ones purpose. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t read or listen to many of these myself. All of us want to know whether or not we are on the right path, or even want to figure out what path we should be on, to make sure everything will turn out good in the end.

All of us want to know whether or not we are on the right path, or even want to figure out what path we should be on, to make sure everything will turn out good in the end.

Finding Ones Purpose Revamped

So now... I want you to throw that concept out the window.

The one where we obsess that we want everything to turn out “good” in the end. Of course I want everyone to have a good life and for things to turn out well. But sometimes this obsession leads us to do not picking a path at all, too fearful to chance the risk or picking a path along “The Cycle” because we think it’s the safest, most used course of action.

I think about the future, same as everyone else, if anything I’ll admit I probably think about it more than average person. But I also know that Jesus once said to not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring it’s own worries. Today’s troubles are enough for today.

So for us, what do I think these troubles should include? Getting up every morning, kindling and growing the fire inside you, and doing the things that make you feel the most alive.

Because an important question each of us must answer for ourselves is, what gets me out of bed in the morning? And don’t you dare say it’s your alarm clock. We all know we can sleep through those. So its important to consider, are you getting up out sense of duty---to do something that you THINK is necessary but isn’t something that gives you joy and passion or do you get up excited thinking that today is the day I get to be the person that I want to be, doing the things that I love, helping people that I love. When you start to see people as unique, valuable, and made in the image of God, suddenly the people that you love aren’t just your close friends and family. It’s the group of people you get to impact each and everyday doing the things that make you alive.

What do I think these troubles should include? Getting up every morning, kindling and growing the fire inside you, and doing the things that make you feel the most alive.

Think. What Would You Do?

So how to be alive with a purpose in mind? Consider, If you had all the time, the money, the energy, and resources in the world and knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do? Now Don’t get all irrational on me and say this is impossible. Answer the question! What. Would. You. Do?

Let your imagination run wild and you will find that you might come up with an answer closer to your purpose and the things that make you feel more alive than you realize.

Let go of what I call your executer voice-you know the voice that is first to say "how in the world can I do this? This is impossible." In this moment by letting that voice go, you are able to enter a part of yourself that’s a little more vulnerable, past the mask, past all the walls of so called “practicality” and get to heart of what you really want from life. To get the heart of what you want to BE in life. That’s where your purpose lies. And that’s your fire inside. And I can tell you every single person has this place within them, but you have to have the strength, the courage, and the willingness to seek it out and kindle it.

Finding and fulfilling your purpose isn’t this thing to be saved for the distant future nor do I believe you have to struggle and use trial and error to find it. By the time we’re adults, or at least at minimum the age of 18, we have gone through enough experiences, thought of enough things, have interacted with enough people to know the things that make us light up inside.

In waiting to find our purpose, we may miss out on opportunities that present themselves today. OR when we try to force ourselves into a certain mold or idea of a purpose that’s been externally given, it may end disappointment and frustration.

If you had all the time, the money, the energy, and resources in the world and knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do?

The things that make us come alive either come from our fire inside or by spreading this fire (in many different forms) to other people, it’s not often something that comes from the outside. Although many different things on the outside can affect your fire inside.

My Story: What Gets Me Up in The Morning

Personally, something that comes to my mind when I consider my fire inside is that Mom used to tell me (and she still does) that, “You are blessed and highly favored. That you are different and Your walk in life will not look like everyone else.”

For a while, I just listened to those words but didn’t do much with them, I mean let’s be honest, at first I didn’t see those words as anything more than a good way for my mom to encourage me when I felt down.

It wasn’t until I moved to the other side of the world, being in a country where all western social media is blocked (took me a while before I found a good VPN), to really take the time to think about what I wanted out of life. Before I moved, all I could tell my parents is there had to be more to life than this. By this I mean: the perpetual cycle of applying to jobs, not getting a job, going to grad school, getting into more and more debt, trying to sell myself and seem more competitive, taking a lower salary, being jealous of others, and feeling like I don’t know how to be an adult, I’m tired of it, I was convinced and still am that there has to be more to life than this!

There is more to life than the perpetual cycle of "adult life" to which we have all been subjected.

And so I went back to the drawing board and asked myself my favorite question, what gets me up in the morning? I thought back to the words my mom always told me and took them at face value. I didn’t want to choose a purpose because I thought it “sounded” good or that it seemed like the most practical option, nor did I want to do everything that all of my friends were doing because I’m not them. But I wanted to truly get to the heart of what makes me, Jasmine Myers, feel the most alive.

As a result I came to two realizations: The first being I am the most fulfilled when motivating and inspiring others to do things that they didn’t think were possible and the second is bringing people together from different walks of life to do things together that others think aren’t possible. These are the things that get me hyped up and ready to shout it from the rooftops. These are the two reasons why I get out of bed every morning. I simply tell myself, Today is the day I get to motivate and encourage someone and bring people together to do things much bigger than ourselves. This sense of purpose drives me in anything and everything that I do including the development of The Counterweights.

What gets you up in the morning?

Dare to Be Different

When we light up this fire inside us, it shouldn’t be hidden, but put on a stand for all to see. It represents a beacon of hope to let others know that we don’t have to spend our whole lives stumbling in the dark. But that there truly is something more to this life.

What if we start telling ourselves and each other that it’s okay, heck, that its great to be different. That each of us were made with different talents, passions, interests, and personalities all crafted to light our fire inside and make an unique impact on the world. And its even more exciting to think that when we get together and mix and match our differences to achieve a higher purpose, that we can create things, do things that this world has never seen.

Are you ready for that? Because I am.

Act on it

In order to be alive with a purpose in mind, even if you get an inkling of what you think your purpose is, act on it, don’t ruminate for too long, refining can come later and is actually done better when paired with action. You’ll know real quick whether it’s something that either ignites or dampens the fire within in you. It's also key to remember on your journey to find your purpose, that it’s not only about what’s in it for you but also what you can contribute to others. We all want to be apart of something bigger than ourselves and that can only happen when we also take the time to look outward and consider how we can we make a contribution to others. It’s proven that the act of giving rather than receiving is truly what makes us feel alive. Keep that in mind as you journey to ignite and kindle your fire inside. Here are some things to help you get started on that process.

Practical Takeaways:

Think, consider, and write down the answer to these questions:

• What gets you up in the morning?

• If you had all the money, time, energy, and resources in the world, and knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do?

• What do people close to you know you for? What are the themes or things these people often associate with you?

• How can you use your talents, passions, and interests to contribute to someone else’s life?