Whenever I see an article or video about how to find my life purpose my tummy gets all wound up, my breathing gets shallow, and I have this sense of impending doom. Like somehow, I’m just wasting away my life waiting for the next Netflix murder mystery series to drop and on my death bed I’ll still be writing about how I’m basically a mess but hey, aren’t we all. I’ve taken all the What is Your Purpose quizzes and read all the 5 Ways to Realize Your Purpose articles. Heck, I’ve even tried on other people’s purposes and somehow, they’re never the right fit or color.
Maybe I just don’t understand how this whole life purpose deal works. Do you have just one or does it change over time? How big a dent does it have to make in the world for it to count? And for the love of all that’s confusing, what does it feel like when you finally figure it out? There’s often that one liner in romantic movies when someone asks how you know you’re with the right person and the already confused character gets told, “You just know.” Like how is that helpful?! If they knew then they wouldn’t be asking.
When I was younger it seemed much more clear what my purpose was but it turned out I was wrong. Oh, so very wrong. I was sure I was supposed to be a counsellor. However, my bipolar disorder made it VERY clear that this was not the path for me. When I tried to help others, or even go to school to learn how to help others, my symptoms would get infinitely worse and I’d end up crying and hiding in my closet until eventually I’d have my medication increased. Incidentally, my dear readers, it only took me 25 years to learn that lesson so I’m definitely winning at life.
So, if you’re like me and struggling with this whole purpose of my life question you are not alone. And if you’ve figured out how to definitively know what you’re supposed to bring to the world let me know. I need a better answer than, “You’ll just know”.
