Living life with a purpose is something not all people aspire to. Nowadays, people want more to have money, to have a career, a house, and a car. But, most of them fail to think about their happiness, about their purpose. A life lived without a purpose comes with regrets, sadness, and guilt. It comes with unhappiness.
Why is it so important to live a life with a purpose? Because it gives meaning to your life and it comes with contentment and optimism. People that live a life with a purpose pursue their dreams and strive to maintain a balance between professional and personal lives. They understand that it is important to have a job but to build social relationships as well. To do this you need to set yourself some priorities and live by your core values.
Everyone can live a life with a purpose. Everyone can live a happy and fulfilled life. But the most important thing to consider is to follow your passion and accept that you might make mistakes or you might fail. Because they do not prevent you from acquiring your dream, but they help you.
1. “To begin to think with purpose is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment.” ―James Allen
Maybe the most important thing when pursuing your dreams is to accept that all people make mistakes. We are not perfect, nor should we try to be. Mistakes and failures are normal and they should be considered an invaluable source of knowledge.
They teach you what changes you need to make and they make you stronger than before. Failure is not something you should run away from, but something to aspire to. Because we learn more from mistakes and failures than from success.
2. “The person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder.” ―Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle has an interesting way of encouraging people to live a life with a purpose. He compares people without a purpose with ships without rudders. He sends a simple but important message: people without a purpose, just like ships without rudders, are doomed to wander the world without a purpose, without a final destination. And this is damaging for people who reach a moment where they realize they lived a life without a purpose, realization that comes with a void inside you.
3. “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” ―John F. Kennedy
This is how experts from uni assignment and EssayUniverse encourage their students. You can put all your resources, time, effort and skills into solving or acquiring something greater than you.
But if you do not have a clear purpose, a direction toward you should go, they are in vain. You need to know what you are striving for, what you work for. Which is your final destination?
4. “I believe purpose is something for which one is responsible; it’s not just divinely assigned.” ―Michael J. Fox
Lots of people come to think that they do not have to think or discover their purpose in life because God did that for them. Even though this might be possible, you need to work and fight to discover your own purpose in life. You do not need to wait for an epiphany or a miracle to happen, but you have to try and work to discover what you are meant to do. You need to discover your purpose in life.
5. “If you organize your life around your passion, you can turn your passion into your story and then turn your story into something bigger –something that matters.” ―Blake Mycoskie
We have lots of examples of people that are unhappy with their job. People that hate their lives every morning when they go to their job and do not do something meaningful for them. Maybe one of the best things you could do is to organize your life around your passion. And if you can continue to pursue your passion, you will write your own happy story. You will find your purpose.
6. “What am I living for and what am I dying for are the same question.” ―Margaret Atwood
A simple, yet powerful message from Margaret Atwood. Margaret does not refer to those cases when you will accept to die to save your loved one or family members. Margaret is talking about purpose and passion. It talks about the devotion and loyalty you should have to your purpose.
7. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ―Maya Angelou
Maybe one of the most painful experiences one can have is to do something you do not like. This means that you might be on the wrong path, and changes need to be made.
Even though some people have easily discovered their purpose in life, most of them are still searching for it. It is a journey of trial and error, and self-discovery. But not finding your purpose and just wandering around will be more painful than all the mistakes and failures you could go through.
8. “Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.” ―Washington Irving
It is not enough to think about, to blow the candles, put a wish and wait for it to happen. You need to work to acquire your goals and purpose. You need to invest time and personal resources into this process, but it is nevertheless about the journey. It is about doing something about it. Be proactive.
9. “No man or woman is an island. To exist just for yourself is meaningless. You can achieve the most satisfaction when you feel related to some greater purpose in life, something greater than yourself.” ―Denis Waitley
Denis perfectly describes the emotional state of people without a purpose come to have when they realize they have wandered through this life without a purpose. People are made to help others, to motivate and inspire them. People are sociable beings that need something greater than them to work for. People should not be islands in the ocean, but they need to find something greater to strive for and connect to.
10. “When you stay on purpose and refuse to be discouraged by fear, you align with the infinite self, in which all possibilities exist.” ―Wayne Dyer
One of the biggest impediments that people feel when they want to go out of their comfort zone is the intense feeling of fear. It is normal and all people should accept that the road to success is not made only by happy moments, but by discouraging and sad ones too.
Fear can be one of the biggest obstacles, but one that can be installed by you. There are good and bad moments, but by keeping your purpose in mind and overcoming anxiety and fear, you open new doors.
11. “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” – Viktor Frankl
Imagine how it is to work and live for nothing, besides for survival. Imagine how it is to not be able to attach a meaning or a purpose to your life, to not know what you are striving for. Even though the process of finding a purpose takes time, ultimately not finding it comes with negative experiences. It comes with dissatisfaction, sadness, guilt, and regrets.
12. “The two most important days in life are the day you are born and the day you discover the reason why.” – Mark Twain
It is said that each of us has its purpose. It does not mean that it has to be different, because some people can work together for greater goals. But it is important to discover something higher than you to work for. It is important to find your meaning in life and to direct all your resources toward your own mission. Mark Twain suggests that it is essential to discover why you were born and which is your purpose on the Earth.
13. “True happiness… is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” – Helen Keller
A life lived with purpose and meaning is a constant source of positive emotions. If you are content with what you are doing and living, you will be happier than people that wander without a meaning. And maybe the most important thing that Helen Keller is underlying is that happiness doesn’t come from the satisfaction of your desires.
The kind of happiness you live when you satisfy your needs, like buying new clothes, for example, is transient and superficial. Instead, the one that comes when you find and follow your purpose cannot be compared with any other. It is so fulfilling and joyful that you will feel that you do not need something more than that.
14. “Never work just for money or for power. They won’t save your soul or help you sleep at night.” — Marian Wright Edelman
Nowadays people are encouraged by society to work to have money and power. They say that you do not need something more than this to be happy. But doing things with the only purpose of making money might not bring you happiness, even though at one point you might feel it. But it does not last long.
Your soul will not be happy, even if you have all the money and power in the world. You need to find your purpose in life, that thing that makes you go to sleep with a smile on your face. That thing that makes you wake up in the morning full of courage and optimism, not full of negative emotions. Finding your purpose in life might be hard, but following it will be a process full of learning experiences.
Conclusion
Finding your purpose in life might be harder than expected, but living a life without a purpose is unbearable. See failures as experiences that can make you better and find that thing higher than you worth fighting for.
Author Bio: Michael Gorman is a highly skilled freelance writer and proofreader who currently works at the best essay writing service, offering resume writing services. He is interested in everyday development and he is a huge fan of Viktor Frankl, the father of logotherapy. Michael helps people find their core values and purpose in life and he motivates and inspires them to find the meaning of their life.