Life’s Purpose

Now that you are here in this world, what are you supposed to do? What exactly is your life’s purpose on this earth? Well actually, the cool part is, no one besides you can say what your life purpose should be. This is a question every person needs to ask themselves in one form or another. We all have to figure out how to spend our lifetime.

The next question which arises logically is, how do I find my life purpose?

The truth is, you never “find” or even chase your life purpose. Life will hand down your life purpose to you, to the extent of your readiness to tackle it.

Let me explain what I mean by “readiness.”

When you are a kid, your life’s purpose is to learn, play, and have fun. As you grow, you gain knowledge and experience. You would acquire skills that help you survive. As you acquire more and more skills, you prepare yourself to tackle life more efficiently. This is the never-ending loop, until your last day. At every stage of your life, depending upon your capabilities, life will hand down your life purpose. Your only job is to make yourself capable enough to handle it. The more capable and skillful you are, the higher is your life purpose. There is a saying in Urdu:

The best translation of this phrase in application to the matter at hand is, “Make yourself so capable that God, while writing your destiny, asks you, ‘Oh! Son, what life purpose should I grant you?’” (I think of “God” as “life” in this adage.)

The next logically following question is, How do I know which skills or capabilities I should acquire?

The answer is very simple: Just keep following your heart, your passion, your truth and your dreams and keep doing and learning the stuff which you are most passionate about.

I want to insert an important note here. The way this world works is almost never aligned with your desires. That is, you will constantly find yourself in situations where your heart says something, but something else is demanded of you. Don't fall for the trap. Do whatever it takes to follow your heart, and listen only to yourself and yourself alone and never for a single moment doubt or regret your own decisions.

But how can I know that my decisions and not others’ decisions are correct for me?

Don't get me wrong, the people close to you probably have the best intentions to help you make choices. But remember that their advice is based upon their life’s purpose, not yours. You can accept the support of as many people, mentors, or teachers as you wish, but always make your own decisions. Make use of your own rational & logical mind along with your heart. It matters less whether you make the right or wrong decision than whether you make it by your own free will and take total ownership and responsibility for it. And never, ever regret.

One important way of knowing you are making the right move is a feeling of fear. Before any important decision of your life, you will be fearful and hesitant to make a move. The moment you feel doubtful or hesitant, as if you are going into unknown territory, you will know you are on the right path. Growth in the direction that serves you best is not easy, and it’s often scary to your nervous system, which prefers comfort and ease, but that is, undoubtedly, the correct way to move forward in life.

Fear

This world has completely misunderstood and twisted the emotion of fear. Fear is your enemy, yet it can help you—if you keep it in check and listen to it. Generally, people allow fear to rule their lives. The person who understands fear plays with it and uses it as a tool to cross the boundaries of human capabilities.

There are two categories of human beings when it comes to how to approach fear.

Make sure you fall into category 2. Never cower to your fearfulness. Life will keep throwing problem after problem at you but always smile and face them. Look for the opportunity in the problem. You will always find one. That is what will contribute to your rising.

Regret

To understand what life is all about, direct your life decisions towards your life’s purpose, your passion, your truth and your dreams. Consider Bronnie Ware’s book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying—A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing. Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years caring for terminally ill patients during the last twelve weeks of their lives. She routinely asked her patients about any regrets they had or anything in their pasts they would have done differently. Ware spoke of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives and the common themes that repeatedly surfaced during those conversations. Eventually, in her book about the experience, she identified five distinct regrets of dying people.

Let me point out the main reasons for these regrets (my thoughts, not Ware’s).

1. Fear
2. Fear and greed
3. Fear
4. Ego and greed
5. Ignorance

Son, just keep following your heart, your passion, your truth, your dreams, fearlessly, and you will look back to see a life lived with zero regrets.