{Thriving in Winter} Day 28: Draft

Do you remember being in college and staying up all night to write a paper that you really should have started 2 weeks ago? You had a goal, and the desperation to try something crazy. 

Well, actually you had to fulfill someone else's goal, which may have been why you avoided doing it for so long. 

You had desperation.... which I think is just a real world name for "purpose". You know, that thing that is supposed to drive you and fill you up. That thing that gives your whole life meaning and makes you want to get up in life. You had a goal that you really really wanted to accomplish.

Which leads me to a terrifying question. What is your purpose in life?

Whenever I hear this question it strikes fear in my heart. I have no idea what my purpose is!  Aren’t I supposed to be naturally good at my purpose? Won’t that mean I will be more successful if I just worked within my purpose? I would have a fulfilled and rich life? 

Well, today there is good news. 

It is OK not to know your purpose or have a written mission statement!

I have read books, articles, blogs, written purpose statements and analyzed myself until I couldn’t think anymore. And I have a few hazy ideas, but nothing that I would tie myself to. In the last year alone I have made major changes in my life, going from someone who was always trying to go as "real food" as possible, and thinking that I would bake my own bread, to someone who is way more conscious of what things cost, and now simply does things because they are cheaper. We also went from people who were really really involved in our old church, to people who can barely even attend on Sunday because of a work schedule. We have changed. We have realized that things we might have included in our purpose statement in the past, really aren't pointing us towards the MOST important things we care about right now. 

There is also a second piece of good news. Just because you don’t know your purpose doesn’t mean life is a hopeless endeavor. It just means that our focus is on the wrong thing. What if, instead of focussing on figuring ourselves out and then getting frustrated because we are really complex, which makes this task extremely difficult, we focused on just getting as far as we can. Instead of focusing on having the perfect life purpose statement or plan, we just work on what seems good now. It might change, it might just get tweaked, but its not done. 


So far here is what we actually agree on, and actually have been focussing on. It is actually only the first line of our previous purpose statement, but it also the only part I actually remember. So there; it probably is the only important part. 

To work to empower the vulnerable. 

Not very specific is it. Not complete. It could use some additional lines. But it's all I've tied myself to so far. It's a good working draft.

Yours might need to be changed, you might realize you once made one and can't remember any part of it. You might not have one at all. And that is ok. No need to rush things. Your whole life might be a working draft. And wouldn't that be kind of exciting and maybe a little less pressure?

Do you have a written life purpose? Could it be your working draft?