I am going to start today with a pretty deep question. What is your purpose in life?
Life can be a scary place at times when you don’t know what your purpose is. But, you know what’s scarier? Trying to live your life to please others around you! It is draining, unsatisfying, and it is really HARD!! But life isn’t supposed to be this man made concept of what life should look like. You are supposed to build your life in a way that resonates with you. Being true to who you are is one of the most important and fulfilling things you can ever do.
For me, I am still trying to figure out my purpose as a twenty something millennial trying to make sense of this world I am in. But I can tell you one thing I have always wanted to do is just make the world a better place. In the community I was raised in, I was considered peculiar for many reasons. I didn’t finish university in The States right after high school. I ran off to London for what should have been six months to clear my head and stayed for eight years. I don’t have a partner or a family and I can’t tell you the amount of times I have had people ask me “Well what’s wrong with you? There has to be some reason you aren’t married yet.” Feeling like I didn’t fit in stung. I didn’t follow the plan that was expected of me by my peers. I am considered a failure because I don’t fit into the box that everyone needs to follow to find happiness. At times I believed those lies that I had failed, and had completely ruined my life by not following cultural guidelines. But I am going to tell you one realization that didn’t come until years after I took the road less traveled. My life didn’t go according to plan and it turned out better than I ever thought it could be!
The choices I made to create my life were scary and unusual, but it has brought me so much knowledge, happiness, success, and life experience that I would not have gained otherwise. There were times I would get on that plane back to London after I had visited the states for Christmas and wondered for 12 hours straight if I was making the right choice. It was like my body was being pulled in two ways: what I knew was the best decision for me and what I knew everyone else and society expected of me. Eventually I let go of the life people expected and I was true to who I was. Looking back on my life, I know the best choices I made were when I took the road less traveled and when I was true to who I really was.
Rejecting this idea of fitting into this perfect little box is so important because it is then that you learn who you truly are and what your purposes are. Refusing to follow that “perfect” little road map that was created for you is going to help you discover what makes you happiest and what will bring you fulfillment in this world. Why do we seem to have this “one size fits all” mindset of success in our society when we are immeasurably and uniquely diverse? The human race is made up of individuals from different cultures, backgrounds, and life experiences. Pay attention to the word “individual”! That word is going to help you better understand the worth of souls and the potential we all have inside. No one’s story is exactly the same. We are different and that is beautiful. So why do we still try to fit into the box society has created?
Ashton Kutcher once said “When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way that it is. Your life is to live your life inside the world and try not to get in too much trouble. Maybe get an education, get a job, make some money, and have a family. But life can be a lot broader than that when you realize one simple thing. EVERYTHING AROUND US THAT WE CALL LIFE WAS MADE UP BY PEOPLE WHO ARE NO SMARTER THAN YOU!”
Think about that! The cars you drive, the insurance you have on your house, the food you eat, the job you go to every day, the economy we live in, the way you interact with people, it was all created by individuals around us. One very popular example would be Steve Jobs who created one of the most profitable companies of all time… out of his garage! All it took was implementation of an idea that quite literally changed the world. Do you think you would have your fancy iPhone or Mac laptop if he decided to stay inside the box that the world created? Absolutely not! While you may not be the owner of the next largest tech company in the world, you could be the person who makes the best cookies on your street, you could be the person who changes someone’s life just by being a good listener or being kind, or you could be the person who cures cancer, but how will you ever find out if you don’t try to push the boundaries? If we always fit the mold, where we will gain innovation? Innovation happens when we think outside the box and refuse to conform to or live inside of it.
It’s time to get out of this mindset that there is this box that we need to fit into if we are going to be successful and accepted in society. It’s not true! You all have unique and rare talents that are individual to you and you just need to tap into if you want to make a difference in your life and in the lives around you. Once you discover those talents I am going to let you in on a little secret, they will grow when you courageously use them to serve others around you. Share your uniqueness and your talents with others. Don’t listen to the outside world on what your life needs to look like. It’s time to ignore everything you have ever learned on how to fit in and discover what you need to do to build and create a life that will bring you joy, happiness, and fulfillment by standing out.
One way to build your life on your own terms is figure out what is most important to you. One example specific to me is that I love people. It fascinates me that we can all be so completely different and still coexist. How beautiful is that? I believe in coexistence, love, uniqueness, and inner power, and those traits are something that I want to constantly create and invite into my world. This blog is how I thought outside of the box in hopes that I can reach someone out there who needs it or that I may never meet otherwise. I never want to interact with a single person and have them feeling like they are less than, or not enough than other people expect. My goal is to help you all feel and know how incredible you are! That is a small part in my purpose.
I don’t fit inside the man made idea of what or who I should be, and neither should you. We can all create the life we are meant to live. It may be scary at times but I promise you that as long as you are being true to yourself, you will have so much joy looking back on the choices you made. We have the potential to change our life and the way we see life around us. Be true to that beautiful soul that you are and I promise that you are going to be filled with inner peace and purpose.
Hold your head high this week as you stand out in the crowd by being true to who you really are. You do not belong in a box that the world has led you to believe you belong in. The world needs your light and your shining soul. Create your life the way you want to. You were born to stand out as an individual. You are powerful. You are unique. You have a calling specific to you. It’s time to reinvent the parameters of a fulfilling life. Together, we can change the world by following our hearts and finding our purpose.