Over the past few weeks we’ve talked a lot about finding your purpose or your “why”. One thing I haven’t really mentioned is the fact that your “why” doesn’t have to be something huge and important.
You don’t have to be the next Gandhi or Mother Teresa. You don’t need to find some huge, all-encompassing purpose that fills your life and changes the world.
Your purpose also doesn’t have to be something you do for a living. It certainly can be, but it doesn’t have to be.
Your reason “why” can be something simple, something you can do part-time or just as you move about your day.
Your purpose could be to help the homeless by helping out at the local soup kitchen each Sunday. Or, you could make it your goal in life to bring a smile to someone’s face each day… something that can be accomplished by taking the time to talk to someone or just give them a smile of your own.
Small things can have a big impact over time. Don’t discount them. Maybe your purpose in life is to help shelter animals. You adopt your pets from there, spend some time volunteering and helping socialize cats and dogs to make it easier for the shelter to find families to adopt them.
And, maybe you’re also spending some time each week making blankets for the animals in the shelter. Just think about how something as simple as that impacts animals in need. A few hours spent purposefully on helping out will touch the lives of hundreds of animals over the course of a few years.
My point is this… if finding your purpose or your “why” seems overwhelming, don’t try to imagine anything too big. Find something small and easy you can do that will make a difference in your life and those around you. Start there and do what you can.
Who knows – it may grow into something bigger, but it doesn’t have to. Small things can have a big impact as well and they will give you the satisfaction of a job well done.
With that in mind, what can you do today to help you move toward finding or fulfilling your purpose in life? What one small thing can you do? Figure it out, go do it and then move on from there. Before you know it, you’ll have your why all figured out and are making progress helping those around you.
