What is my life purpose? I have asked this question to myself, since I can remember. After several years I came to a conclusion that I would like to share. For those who are asking the same question without getting clear answers, feel free to join me here to explore this.

There are many ways to address this question. I was always looking for something deeper and more meaningful. I guess that is why I read so many books on this topic without finding answers that would satisfy me.

One of the simple answers I have found could be that our purpose is to survive. I have to agree with that biological point of view. Since we are born we fight for survival. We do anything to stay alive. We could even kill to save ourselves or our loved ones. Many scientists say that our genes are responsible for this. Our genes tell us that we have to survive and it is not us who are important but our genes. We are only carriers of those genes who survive in our children and then their children and so on. So here you go! It’s really simple. Our purpose is to survive and replicate. That’s it!

Ok, I know there is more to it. At least I hope. Who knows for sure! Do you?

I would like to clarify here that what we love doing or end up doing in our life doesn’t have to be our purpose. I could be a happy taxi driver but it does not mean that is my life purpose. Let me explain in a bit more detail. Think of a tree. What do you think a tree’s life purpose is? (Leave out survival and replicate...) One could say, well that depends what kind of tree it is. OK, let’s say it is an oak tree in a public park. Now we are getting a little more specific so we can start thinking of its purpose. This oak tree might provide a nesting place for birds. It might give us shade on a hot summer day. We can cut it and make something out of it – furniture perhaps or we can burn it and produce heat. Does it mean that all of this is the oak tree’s purpose? I don’t think so. These are all descriptions on how this tree fits in its environment and what it can be used for. So comparing it to the earlier example, if I am a taxi driver it is just a way I choose to interact with society or environment. If I choose to be a taxi driver, that’s what I do and like. The tree’s purpose could be to clean the planet’s atmosphere and replace carbon dioxide with oxygen. It doesn’t matter what kind of a tree it is and where it grows. It will keep producing oxygen as long as it is alive.

Let’s have a look at another example. What is a purpose of a honey bee? The first logical thing to say is: to make honey. But is it its real purpose? I think the real purpose of a honey bee is to pollinate the plants, they make honey so they can survive. They do not care about pollinating the plants; they care about collecting food for the others in the hive. Same for the oak tree, it does not care that it produces oxygen. It needs carbon dioxide to grow, oxygen is expelled as a waste.

We should use this similar approach whilst trying to find out our own purpose. It is not what we choose to do or how are we live our lives; our purpose is the residue that is left after we are done with our work. We are luckier than the honey bees and oak trees; we can actually choose or define our life purpose. We can willingly choose how to live our lives and this decision will result in a certain type of residue – life purpose.

If we look at our taxi driver, what he does for a living is one of the vehicles of delivering his life purpose. There might be many ways how he expresses his life purpose. Being a father or grandfather, son, friend, customer... all those labels represent a channel for his life purpose. What kind of a dad does he choose to be, what kind of a friend and so on. His purpose is the influence he has on the world. In what ways he changes the world. How does he touch hearts of others? His purpose might be to be an example of living an exciting and happy life. Somehow in his presence everyone feels happy and more excited about life. We all know these types of people. You meet them once in a while. They just make your day. They might make you feel special just by saying a few words. They might give you hope or inspire you. The best part it is, those people usually do not even know that they have such an influence. They just do their ordinary jobs and move happily through their lives.

So the task for us is not really finding out what our life purpose is. It is to live a happy life doing what we love doing by using our gifts to lift up the spirit of others in an infinite number of possible ways. If you still want to know what your purpose is, find a pen and a piece paper and write at the top of the piece of this question: What is my life purpose? Now as you repeat this question aloud or in your mind, start writing the answers. Write anything that comes up. Keep going. Do not stop. It might take you a few minutes or half an hour before you will feel strong wave of emotions within your being. It might be so strong that tears will start running down your face. Just look at what you have written in that exact moment. That is your true life purpose.

In most cases, what you wrote is not a job description but something less tangible. It might be to love, to help, to inspire...

Many people are the happiest in jobs that provide them with the opportunity to live their life purpose. If your heart’s desire is to inspire; you might naturally find yourself in a position of a teacher or writer. If it is to serve; you might be happiest being a nurse, nun or a volunteer in areas where help is needed the most.

I say it again. It does not matter what your life purpose is. If you are still unclear and want to know, give yourself permission to name whatever purpose you want or choose one of these that I keep in mind very often: to experience, to learn, to evolve, to appreciate others, to give...

I would like to encourage you to keep looking and find out what life purpose means for you. Below you can find a few books that might help you on your journey.

GOOD LUCK 

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Recommeded books: 

Conversations with God : An Uncommon Dialogue by Neale Donald Walsch

The Purpose of Your Life: Finding Your Place In The World Using Synchronicity, Intuition, And Uncommon Sense by Carol Adrienne

The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren

 (Keep in mind that all those books out there written on this topic are full of ideas we do not have to agree with. The best answers come from within...) 

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