Have You Discovered the Meaning of Your Life?
Sometimes we find meaning and purpose in life from unusual circumstances. If we are open and seeking them, we will find them.
I once had a student who was doing okay with her studies but never knew where she was going for a career. During her junior year, her grandmother in Virginia had a bad fall and suffered serious injuries. Since she was close to her grandmother and since no one else in the family was able to go to the grandmother’s home to help her, my student decided to take time from her studies and help her grandmother.
She spent 3 months nursing her grandmother back to health. When she returned to school, she came to see me and tell me that she was changing her major. I hardly recognized her because she had changed from a low energy, unmotivated person into a very energetic, highly motivated person. She said that the time with her grandmother had shown her what her true purpose was, and she decided to switch her major from business to nursing. The last time I heard from her, she was happily involved in a career of nursing.
What is your purpose in life?
When people want to determine what their purpose is in life, we often think that their life lacks meaning. They want to find a purpose that will give them a sense of significance. However, we can’t find our sense of purpose until we have determined what our gifts and talents are. Purpose in life is simply using our gifts and talents as they were meant to be used.
My gift is teaching. When I talk in front of a group, such as Toastmasters, I feel completely content and in my element. I feel that this is what I should be doing. I guess you could say that this is when I feel closest to God because I know that I’m doing exactly what He designed me to do.
It may be difficult and it may take some time, but when we find the thing that we were designed to do, our whole life shifts and we’ll have more joy and inner peace. No one has to tell us when that happens. We will know before anyone else does.
I believe that the two greatest days in our lives are the day we were born and the day we discovered why!
Discovering Your Purpose
- What are your gifts and talents in life?
- What special skills were you born with?
- What interests do you have?
- What abilities do you have?
- What are you good at?
It would be interesting if there was a way to measure our potential. We would be truly amazed at what we could do. Since there is no way to measure exactly what our potential is, we must work throughout our lives assuming that we are not reaching the limits of our potential.
Our potential is our gifts and talents. These were inside us when we were born. The problem is that no one ever tells us what they are. We must find them for ourselves and that can be a life long process. Often we think we have discovered our gifts and talents but we are only part way there. I believe that we could always be expanding the use of our gifts and talents our whole lives.
Once we have found our gifts and talents and start to us them and develop them, then our life will take on meaning and a sense of purpose. This is the source of happiness.
This is an excerpt from Bruce’s book “Attitude Determines Destiny”.
As a motivational speaker, he conducts seminars and workshops based upon the ideas in his book. He entertains and inspires audiences wherever he goes.
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