The Myth of Purpose
SoulPsyche: Every moment carries meaning
Like treasure hunters convinced of buried gold, we're obsessed with finding our purpose. We search, we analyse and often agonize over discovering that one special reason we're here. Surely, as a conscious human being, having evolved to the top level of all life, there must be a reason why I am here and, therefore, I must have a Purpose!
But what if we're approaching it all wrong?
Life is interconnected. We exist because of all that has gone before and I am in some or other way connected to everyone and everything else. Consider a wave in the ocean. It is a wave, but it is always part of the ocean. It displays its individual characteristics, but it is always water. If it were able to define itself, surely it would make a point about its individual attributes and how distinct it is from other waves. But we know that it is a wave, its existence it temporary and it is part of the ocean from which it arose and surely will return to.
Like waves responding to the power of the wind, the gravity of the moon, and the formations on the ocean floor, our lives move in an intricate dance of response and creation. Each action creates ripples, each choice opens new paths.
Purpose isn't a destination we reach; it's the dance we're already in.
Does the wave question its purpose? Does it wait for perfect conditions? Does it seek permission to rise and fall?
The wave doesn't say:
"When I reach the shore, I'll matter"
"When I'm bigger, I'll begin"
"When conditions are perfect, I'll act"
The wave simply waves, Complete in each moment, Perfect in its response.
What if purpose isn't something we find? What if Purpose is something we express? What if, like waves in the ocean, we're already living our purpose through our natural response to life?
Consider:
- Every wave affects the entire ocean
- Every action shapes the whole
- Every response creates new possibilities
- Every moment carries meaning
Your life, like a wave, emerges from countless conditions:
- External circumstances (the wind)
- Invisible influences (the moon)
- Hidden foundations (the ocean floor)
- Interconnections (other waves)
You're constantly responding, creating, affecting, and being affected. This isn't random; it's the intelligence of life expressing itself through you.
Liberate yourself!
Stop asking what your Purpose is.
Start noticing how you are already expressing the intelligence of life.
- Release yourself of the need to find the one right path
- Release yourself of the need to wait for perfect clarity
- Release yourself of the need to discover some hidden mission
- Release yourself of the need to become something other than what you are
Your purpose isn't lost. It was never missing. Your Purpose isn't hidden. Like a wave, you're already in perfect response to life's dance. Each moment, each choice, each action is Purpose expressing itself through you.
This doesn't mean you stop growing or evolving. Change what needs changing, but trust the natural intelligence that moves through you.
Respond authentically to life's call in each moment. Respond to Life in the moment.
Perhaps the greatest gift we can give ourselves is liberation from purpose-anxiety, trusting instead in the profound wisdom that life / consciousness is naturally unfolding through us.
What's your experience? A burden or a blessing?
Love to All
Be Gentle With Yourself
Max Madeson