Our Purpose

"I wonder what life has in store for me, I think a painter is what I'll be. Mix the black with the white on the canvas of life. Create the artistry. The picture is HUMANITY..."
(Movie: The Prince of Egypt. Song: "Humanity" by Dream Works, LLC)

"What allows us, as human beings, to psychologically survive life on earth, with all of its pain, drama, and challenges, is a sense of purpose and meaning."

~ Barbara De Angelis

I've heard and read many times, especially now a days, that we all have "a purpose" in our life; that life must be "purposeful" if you want to be happy... . I've come to believe that too - I never thought about this when I was growing up - but now that I'm older, and hopefully wiser, this makes a lot of sense to me. Of course the trick is to find that purpose, that special mission we came here to accomplish. When we believe that there's is truly a purpose in what we do and purpose in our lives in general, we definitely feel better, we feel valuable, and more inspired to accomplish our goals and dreams; we feel happier overall - no matter what. We all face hard times and challenges, there are part of life; but if we feel there's a purpose, a reason why we are here and why we have to live certain experiences and trials - to learn important lessons - we start slowly finding "meaning" and learning to live life more fully. At the same time we must always keep in mind how important our attitude is to change our life for the better; the more positive we are, the better we can deal with our lessons and setbacks. I read somewhere once: "the journey can be difficult at times and we are constantly challenged to learn the lessons of the soul: courage, patience, faith, love... ." Yes, life is a challenge, but we can make it worthwhile.

The great Indian mystic and physician Patanjali said: "When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world... Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be."

There's a great article in the magazine "Art Calendar" titled "Living with an Abundance of Purpose" written by Renée Phillips (November 2010 issue) that stresses the importance of living life with purpose. She wrote: "People with an 'Abundance of Purpose' have a mission, a dream and a passion with which they can profoundly affect people around them, add significant quality to their own experiences and make the planet a better place." You can check: http://www.artcalendar.com/ - I love this magazine (great for the artist in all of us)! There are positive messages and good advice here, as well as in many other places, about this and other important issues and subjects; and I think we can all learn a lot from some of them. Search and you shall find; we can find inspiration everyday... somehow. We can find time to fuel our spirit. This is how I want to live my life, with passion, with purpose, with joy. When we feel we have a purpose, that we matter, we are somehow guided to find the right education, the right job, the right people, the right opportunities... exciting things happen and we feel more confident. Try it! We have to stop looking for excuses as to why we are in a rut and stop blaming others for our misfortunes. We must take responsibility for our own life!

You may say: "It's not easy to find or decide which is our purpose or what to do with our lives." I know, of course it's not easy. But with faith, optimism, passion, patience and a lot of perseverance; little by little we find a cause greater than ourselves, a special mission, and meaning in everything we do. There are many lessons to learn here on earth. I always say "life is like a school." Let's learn from our mistakes, embrace our inner strength, make the right choices for our life, put things in perspective and see the big picture, and let's get to know ourselves better - our talents, weaknesses, strengths, etc. Find your special gift or talent and put it into practice; especially, be of service to others (in some way) and you'll reap whatever you sow; you will be rewarded. Use your talents and skills for the good of humanity.

Some of the main things that at times limit us in our pursuit of happiness and purpose are our "busyness" and extreme "multitasking." These are epidemics in our world today. We tend to disconnect from others and even from ourselves; we become too distracted and lose ourselves in the process (and neglect the "important things"). We try to do too much and don't find enough time to reflect, write, read, pray, meditate and connect with others. Sometimes we feel we don't have a choice; but no matter how busy and distracted we are or get, we have to try to set priorities, manage our time properly, and not lose sight of our goals and dreams, and most importantly of the special people in our life (and our own specialness). Let's unclutter our lives and our minds. Let's simplify things a bit. Timing is everything!

Let's remember that: "Everyone has a purpose in life... a unique gift or special talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals." This is the Law of Dharma. I read many things and don't limit my reading to a specific religion, philosophy or belief system, as long as the message is positive and resonates with my heart. I like to learn positive things from others. There are many beautiful lessons out there that help us find our special path or journey in this life. I hope you get inspired to find your own unique path and to find peace and happiness wherever you go. It's up to you!