WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE?
By Sergio Salotto

Each day we rush around filling our day with duties, tasks, chores, meeting targets, setting goals, fulfilling parental duties, going to school, being lovers, stressing over financial affairs, fighting through traffic, planning meals, doing maintenance to our homes, fixing our cars and so on. At the end of the day, we collapse exhausted into bed, catch a few hours sleep ready for the alarm to wake us to start the same process all over again. Why do we do this? To survive? Not likely. We do it to create and give our lives some meaning.

Undoubtedly most of us have, at some point, wondered or questioned whether the way we are living is really what our life is all about. Is this really all that life has to offer? What purpose can all this rushing around possibly serve? Think about it. Does it not all seem futile?

We are born into this world with nothing other than our mind and bodies. We then live out an existence for an average of about 65-75 years striving to accumulate as much material wealth as we can in order to feel and say that we lived a full life—despite that most of us have to wait for at least 60-65 years (retirement) before we can “sit back” to enjoy the “fruits” of the labor we have put in for those many years. Then we die.

At death we leave this life with exactly what we brought into it at birth. Nothing.

Ever stopped to consider what you would have achieved? How meaningful your life and existence has really been?

If that is what life is all about, why give any thought to having a purpose for your life? Why bother worshipping any God or Deity, or worry about karma and reincarnation, or strive for spiritual development or any other such journey? Perhaps we should even ask the question, “why are we born at all?” I mean, what purpose does this process serve and for whom or whose benefit? What real value have human beings actually added to this life given how from the beginning of our existence we have done nothing other than war with one another and destroy everything around us just to fulfill our emotional needs of greed? Why would any Creator in “his” right mind give life to such a destructive specie as mankind when “He” has not done the same for any other form of life? None of this makes any real sense; there seems to be no logic or rational. Especially if we believe and accept that our Creator is all knowing.

But what if behind it all there is instead a very real purpose for our creation? What if our human destructive behavior is the result of us not really listening to and following our true calling or purpose for our life? What if we are behaving the way we are because we are not listening to something greater within ourselves about what we should be doing? What if that something greater is a purpose far greater than any man-made lifestyle, belief or ideology you may have been indoctrinated to follow.

What could your greater purpose be?

People struggle to find their answer because they do not want to acknowledge their own truth. It far easier to say things like, “But I don’t know what my life dream or vision is,” or, “I don’t have one,” or “All I want to do is be the best at my job, make lots of money and live a comfortable life.” It is much easier to deal with these materialistic practicalities than take responsibility for a true life purpose.

Questions about our life purpose have been addressed by many and the answers given are as numerous as there are religions, philosophies, cultures, and individual beliefs. For example, answers given by our mainstream religions are: (note: this is not intended as authoritative view nor is it any comparative analysis of each one. These are merely very basic and simplistic principles of these religions to show how they differ.)

Buddhism - To enlighten ourselves (about Life) and, through our own enlightenment, to enlighten others by serving as examples or role models and never through forcing others.

Christianity - To worship God and unify the people of the world in the name of Jesus Christ through baptism.

Hinduism - Some believe that the attainment of love is the purpose of life; others say they need to reincarnate numerous times into this life in order to attain a state of Godliness from which they will no longer need to come back to earth again; some believe that the spirit can manifest itself in any life form and that they are here to manifest the life form (human) they are doing at present.

Islam - Worship to the One True Almighty God on Terms and under His Conditions (“ibadah”); Worshipping Allah by accepting Allah’s Will over his own.

Judaism - Every soul has a specific purpose besides the general purpose of making an abode for God in this world. ... a soul may descend to this world just to do a favor for another in the material or the spiritual realms whenever presented with an opportunity that is certainly sent from Above.

There are still others who believe that one should forego any ideas about being here to save the world as this may be nothing more than an ego-driven notion. Still others believe that we are simply born, live this life, die and our body becomes food for the worms (yuk!). As these people say, “There is nothing more than that, so make the best of every moment you are alive.”

If there is one thing that stands out to me about each of these beliefs is how they have little or nothing in common even though the objective of each appears to be the same—the worshipping of the same God. So, which of these purported purposes represents reality? Is there one? If you identify with any one of these as being the real one, what are you identifying with? Is it reality or simply a belief? Is there even such a thing as a life purpose that might stand as being THE TRUTH regardless of one’s cultural, social or religious beliefs?

If there was no such thing as a life purpose, consider for a moment what difference or effect, if any, the following people would have made on this planet if they were to have dedicated their lives solely to fulfill their material lifestyle:

• Jesus - a good carpenter?
• Gandhi - another attorney?
• Mother Theresa - another nun?
• Martin Luther King - another Baptist minister?
• The Green­peace Movement - may never have been created
• Nelson Mandela - a boxer, lawyer or another shack dweller in an African township?

If these people had focused solely on fulfilling their existential goals, none of them would have made the impact or the difference they did on this planet. Instead, they did—as many others also do even though not everyone makes front page news headlines or become celebrities. Many are simply living their life fulfilling their vision.
Your life dream (purpose) is something very real, tangible (because you feel it), in your face and heart all the time, every day—even though you may consider it an idealistic and un-accomplishable egotistical illusion. There is nothing mystical, religious, metaphysical or philosophical about your purpose and your reason for being here. Identifying your purpose also does not require any structured environment or induced state of altered consciousness. Why? Because it is something you live with, experience and are in touch with all the time. All you need is to take a moment to acknowledge it for what it is—something people do not do because of all their fears.

So what might your life’s real purpose be?

As I have already stated, it is something you have known all your life. It is something you keep very much to yourself because (1) you see it as an enormous, unachievable task which you cannot see yourself ever fulfilling, (2) you believe you don’t know where to start or how to do it—even though within you know exactly what and how you would want to action it, and (3) you believe you cannot fulfill or achieve it; you fear being a failure. You may eve fear being ridiculed if you were to talk about it to anyone else. It is also something you experience frequently through what you see or hear in the media, in the office, at home, on the playground and just about every other facet of our life on this planet. Despite what you might be doing or how you might be living your life right now, chances are that, if you allowed yourself to acknowledge your purpose, it would touch the very core of your Being. In fact, it would loom so large in your life as to be beyond your belief and comprehension.

So what is it?

Read through the pointers I list below and get a clear understanding of what I am asking you to do. Once you are clear, taking into consideration all the pointers simultaneously as one all-encompassing question, carry these out in a manner that allows you to feel and experience your “answer.” What you are looking for here is to consciously acknowledge what you know about yourself already. I guarantee you that it is something very real for you and about who you are. This has nothing to do with any religious or philosophical belief, nor does it pose any threat or challenge to your religious beliefs. At least, it should not. If you have that fear, look at your reason for the fear and work through it.

It is extremely important that you acknowledge your experience without judgment. By this, I mean that you should not judge it as being right or wrong, something you cannot do anything about, or that things are the way they are because that is the way they are meant to be—such thoughts are nothing other than your way of escaping your reality. Like for example, people have told me how they see and experience a lot of global pain and suffering. To this they quickly add something like, “Oh, but there is also a lot of good as well, and one needs to be positive and also see the good things in life.” Or, “It would be nice if there wasn’t so much pain in the world, but maybe that is how it is meant to be. Besides, I can’t change that.” Or, “I see the world and everything in it as a beautiful place”—further probing however ultimately gets them to acknowledge their real feelings and experiences… which could be total discrimination, cruelty, abuse or whatever it is for you. So, be careful not to fall into such a trap for these are self-imposed judgments. Judging or being judgmental will not allow you to interact with your reality because what you are actually doing is using judgement to escape your reality—also your way to escape having to take responsibility for what and who you really are.

Your aim in working through this exercise is to simply acknowledge what you see in your “mind’s eye” as your “picture” of life on this planet—be it amongst humans, impact or affect on the animal world and/or the environment, or whatever and however else you see and perceive life on our planet. Also, don’t allow your thinking and beliefs to interfere with your feelings and emotions of your “picture.” Focus on being completely and truthfully honest to yourself. You are not out to prove anything to anybody in this exercise. You are merely setting out to acknowledge to yourself, “what is.” During the process, be aware of how much your picture means to you; feel your passion; acknowledge your feelings and emotions stirring in you.

It is simple to say, “I don’t know what my purpose is, I do not have one. Nor do I have any mental picture of how I see life on this planet.” Once again, this is would be your way of escaping your reality. All I can say to you is that you can be guaranteed that you do have a picture of how you “see and/or perceive” life on this planet. I have yet to come across anyone who does not have such a “mental picture” (vision).

The picture I am guiding you to identify with will grab you in your gut (solar plexus), increase your heart beat (pulse races) and, you are likely to become emotional—angry and frustrated over what you “see” in your mind’s eye. Why so? Because you feel passionate about it. This will be your real picture of life on this planet.

You are also likely to realize how you have seen life this way for your whole life and feel passionate about wanting to bring about the changes YOU feel are necessary—irrespective of whether or not you have done anything about it. Also, regardless of your present lifestyle, the thought of one day being able to realize and fulfill your dream and vision for this planet flickers on in you as an ever-present inner passion and desire.

Even though, over the years, you might have consciously put your vision picture out of your mind as a simple ideological thought or something you believe YOU cannot ever fulfill, every time you see or experience something of it taking place around you, it hits the core of who you are and, undoubtedly, you feel very emotional about it. Like for example, should you have a passion for the welfare of animals, when you see, hear or read about any form of abuse toward an animal anywhere in the world, you are likely to experience an immediate reaction of compassion towards the animal, anger and frustration of the situation, an overwhelming desire to want to help the animal, and an immediate rush of “blind anger” towards the perpetrator(s). Conversely, you might not experience the same degree of passion and reaction in situations of abuse amongst humans. This does not mean that you care any less for human suffering. All it means is that your passion—your vision—is for the caring of animals. The same would be the case if your vision is, for example, to alleviate or eliminate all forms of child abuse in the world. You are likely to experience the same intense passionate emotions and feelings when you see, hear or read about any form of child abuse taking place, yet may not feel as strongly about abuse toward animals. This is not a case of judging which of these situations is more important. It is simply a case of YOU identifying with the one that resonates with who and what you are.

When you identify your picture, do not cloud what you “see,” feel, perceive or experience about it with whether or not you have what it takes to fulfill it. You are only interested in getting in touch with WHAT IT IS.

These pointers are in no way, shape or form intended to influence your personal views. I offer them simply as prods to “kick-start” your own process. As each of us have our own unique views, these will not necessarily match your own unique and specific individual experience. They must, therefore, not be considered as either exhaustive or limiting. Also, you may find that you get to your answer without even considering any of these pointers. That, in fact, is the objective of this exercise—you may even already have worked out and know what I am referring to without even attempting this exercise…well, good  on you, that is great.

My pointers for your consideration:

When you look into or through your mind’s eye at how all aspects of life is being lived on Earth, how do you see and/or perceive it? What strikes YOU the most about how we are living this life? What “picture” do YOU have of this? Do you perhaps see life as: 

• human pain and suffering
• disempowerment of women
• sexual abuse
• no togetherness (amongst mankind or with nature)
• abandonment and abuse of children
• global injustice, discrimination and uncaring
• destruction of nature
• animal cruelty
• no peace, joy, happiness or fun
• a life with no color—a drab global environment
• unnecessary warring
• wanton greed
• (mine is) abuse of power by the “strong” over the “weak,” human injustice and destruction.

What is yours? (note here: ……………………………………………………………….)

As you look at your picture (vision), how do you feel about it and what do you wish you could do?

For example:

• do you envisage yourself playing a role to make things better—perhaps even taking the lead without any thoughts for recognition?
• do you feel so passionate about your picture that you feel you could dedicate and give your life to achieve your desired results?
• do you feel that your picture is too big for you to even begin to contemplate or consider doing anything about it?
• do you feel overwhelmed by any thought of actually dedicating your life to it?
• do you, perhaps, consider your vision so far-fetched that it would be ridiculous to even begin to give it a second thought?
• would living your life to fulfill this vision represent and be the manifestation of  who and what you really are, what you really stand for and represent in life?

Below are examples of the visions acknowledged by the people I have counseled on this:

(my own) -  to bring Peace and Contentment to Mankind (this book being one of my tools)

(others'):

• stop child abuse by en­lightening and helping parents and abusers
• bring laughter to children through the the­atre (plays, acting)
• bring people together
• color the world—through art and teaching
• give abandoned/orphaned/single children a sense of individuality, empowerment and non-dependence
• stop man from destroying our natural forests and environment
• create a village of creativity for children
• heal the sick and suffering
• bring music to the world; uplift everyone through music

What is yours?

Do all of us have a purpose? From the results of the people I have worked with, that certainly seems to be the case. Does it mean that, if you find your purpose/vision, your life will suddenly all work out okay? That depends on your definition of “okay,” or what you expect from being “okay.” Identifying (with) your purpose is not the end of the story or journey; it is only the beginning. Uncovering your purpose means that your life now has a true meaning. Having a purpose means that, instead of running around stressing and worrying about achieving success, you already are successful, you are the success for your life; your life has all the meaning it needs, it is complete, therefore, whole and perfect. If your life is whole and perfect, it means that you are already self-actualized. Being self-actualized means that you are defined, you know who or what you are—YOU are your life’s purpose.
 
Being defined means that instead of living your life striving to identify who or what you are, your life now becomes a manifestation of WHO YOU REALLY ARE. By living your life to fulfill your purpose, you automatically become a GIVER to life instead of a TAKER. That means that you live life to ensure that everyone is a WINNER because you have no reason or cause to take from anyone or anything in life. This way you will ensure that everyone and everything on this planet shares unconditionally equally in all that Life makes available.

Furthermore, instead of using your God-given talents for the sole purpose of self-enrichment, you will use them for the unconditional benefit of everyone because you will be manifesting who and what you are. This way everyone on this planet will be able to have and enjoy the very best of absolutely everything mankind has to offer towards living the best quality of life we can develop—be it the best medical and health care, technology, housing, clothing, food or whatever. And it need not cost a thing—incredible isn’t it … if you can get your mind around this one.

The only “missing” ingredient to living the fullness of all that your life has to offer would be your taking responsibility to commit yourself to live your life to fulfill your purpose/vision.

Living your life to fulfill your purpose has no beginning or end. It means living each moment to its fullest in the moment of NOW—the present—with no concerns about the past or the future. By taking responsibility, you exercise your God-given freedom of choice to experience and manifest your state of perfection and completeness.
 
That is the power of your purpose.

You can be the difference for yourself, mankind and life on this planet.

You have no reason to continue living your life as a victim of your circumstances. Commit to your purpose and be the CAUSE that will have the EFFECT of changing our human life experience on this planet. Recognize that YOU, as an Individual, are the SOURCE holding the Power and Control to shape our Cultures. Shift from being a Product and Victim of your Culture to being the Source of the quality of your life on this planet.

Your vision is your path to eternal inner peace and contentment.

YOUR LIFE CAN BE DIFFERENT

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