What Is My Purpose?

This is the buzz question/topic of the year. I’ve personally read countless articles and books that help people define their life purpose. I’d like to share my experiences regarding this question, as it came up for me a few years ago, and I’ve figured out my answer to this seemingly perplexing question.

I remember the day that this question poked me on the shoulder. It was back in 2014 when I was going through a difficult time in my life. I thought to myself, “What is my purpose?” Then I started to panic because I couldn’t figure it out. I kept pondering the question. I got emotional about it. Then I thought, “Oh, my God…I don’t have a purpose and time is running out!”

Every day, I’d contemplated the question and heard the little voice inside my head say, “You still don’t know what the hell you’re doing here. What is your purpose?” Honestly, I still didn’t know. I’d self-talk my way through it: “Maybe you shouldn’t call it a purpose, maybe you should call it your passion. Yes! That’s it, “What is my passion?”

(Further down the rabbit hole) My reply to self, “I don’t have a passion.” Panic! “Oh, my God…I don’t have a passion, either. Time is running out. What the hell am I doing here?” (The voice got worse) “I don’t belong here. There’s something wrong with me. I don’t have a purpose or a passion.”

Now what?

Then, I read something that struck a nerve. It was from an old book titled, “What Makes a Master?” by Harriet Luella McCollum. I can’t remember the exact wording, but it was something like this; if you don’t know your purpose/passion, then bring attention to whatever it is you’re doing right now and do it with the best effort possible–regardless if you like it or not.

So, I did that. I put in wholehearted effort into whatever it was I was doing at that moment without complaining. While this did feel more fulfilling, I still felt irritated that I couldn’t yet define my purpose.

Then I had an epiphany. What I thought was a natural part of my existence was actually my true purpose and passion in life; understanding human consciousness. Don’t get me wrong. I was never involved in any formal studies about consciousness. It’s been a topic of interest that I’ve consistently studied over the years.

I found that every idea, decision, question, I make is through the filter of consciousness. I take to heart my actions and how they may affect myself and others. In other words, I ponder, “How do my ideas, decisions, and question serve others?” I believe that being conscious of our actions, our relationships, our Earth, our “Now,” is a life long spiritual practice; one that needs attention and nurturing every day.

Therefore, my purpose and passion is to be conscious. If you don’t know what your purpose is, wouldn’t consciousness be a great place to start? To be conscious of our every breath, all our blessings, of being aware of the significance of right here and right now. I think, so.

I will end with a quote from his book, “A New Earth,” by Eckhart Tolle.

“Your inner purpose is to awaken. It is as simple as that. You share that purpose with every other person on the planet – because it is the purpose of humanity.”