Every so often, we need to stop and LIVE. That is, we need to Let go, Imagine, Venture, and Enjoy.
To "LET GO" does not mean to stop caring, it means I can't do it for someone else. To "let go" is not to cut myself off, it's the realization I can't control another. To "let go" is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences. To "let go" is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands. To "let go" is not to try to change or blame another, it's to make the most of myself.
To "let go" is not to care for, but to care about. To "let go" is not to fix, but to be supportive. To "let go" is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being. To "let go" is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own destinies. To "let go" is not be protective, it's to permit another to face reality.
To "let go" is not to deny, but to accept. To "let go" is not to nag, scold, or argue, but instead to search out my own shortcomings and correct them. To "let go" is not to adjust everything to my desires, but to take each day as it comes, and cherish myself in it. To "let go" is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future. To "let go" is to fear less, and love more. [1]
To IMAGINE means to welcome a world of possibilities. To imagine means to conceptualize a life where limits are nonexistent. To imagine implies creating a reality that supports your noblest aspirations. To imagine is to give permission to self to succeed.
To imagine is to accept that your life matters. To imagine is to make a decision to choose the path of excellence. To imagine means to celebrate others and their narratives. To imagine is to love without boundaries. To imagine means to nurture relationships.
To imagine is to welcome diversity. To imagine is to treat others as you would like to be treated. To imagine is to think of creative ways to express kindness to others. To imagine means to invite civility into our conversations. To imagine means there is a time to remain silent, and there is a time to speak.
To imagine means to accept the gift of the present and plan for the future. To imagine is to be accountable to others. To imagine means to listen with intention. To imagine means to be emotionally available to others.
To imagine means to create a world where goodness is the common currency. To imagine means to be a spark that ignites the flames of freedom and democracy. To imagine is to embrace a life of sacrifice and commitment, and an allegiance to truth.
To VENTURE means to deal with reality with a smile. To venture is to experiment with winning possibilities. To venture is to invest your time, energy, and effort into making the world a better place. To venture means to seek the thrill of adventure and excitement. To venture is to take a risk and believe it will work out.
To venture is not to exploit our natural resources, but to preserve the environment. To venture is not to put your future in jeopardy by making bad decisions, but to evaluate each decision and its consequences, unintended or otherwise. To venture is not to pursue greatness in itself, but to pursue a calling that enriches other people's lives.
To venture is not to remain in debt, but to create wealth and give it away. To venture is not to live aimlessly, but to live with a written plan. To venture is to help others reach their full potential. To venture is to give back to your community. To venture is to provide for your family.
To venture is not to remain comfortable in status quo living, but to create and innovate. To venture is to work in the direction of your passion. To venture is to see failures as an opportunities to begin again more intelligently. To venture is to utilize all of your gifts, skills, and abilities. To venture is to push yourself beyond the limits of your creative endurance.
To venture is to try something you've never tried before. To venture is to focus on solutions. To venture is to create your own opportunities and take responsibility for your success. To venture is to become the prototypical brand. To venture is to align your vision, creative energy, desire to win, and value into a tangible, relevant, and innovative product that changes the way people live.
To ENJOY life is to be free. Let's not allow the powerful currents of busyness to prevent us from enjoying life a life of freedom. While many of us lack sufficient free time to escape to a world of fun and adventure, we should still strive to enjoy every waking moment.
To enjoy is to have fun. To enjoy is to appreciate our loved ones. To enjoy is to delight in friendships. To enjoy is to take delight in others' success. To enjoy is to applaud small victories. To enjoy is to celebrate the life we have been given.
The reason for getting up each day is to find purpose and meaning in life. Right? Well, it's that... and more.
Although there would be no enjoyment in life if there weren't always something after which to pursue, being awakened to your purpose is more than seeking after something.
As divine beings, we were not designed to pursue purpose, but to be purpose. To pursue means to strive, shadow, track, and seek after something. When you say, "I'm pursuing my purpose," you are actually saying, I am chasing after something I have not yet experienced, and desire to experience.
When that specific pursuit becomes the basis of your existence, your entire reality becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is to say that in every relationship, every career opportunity, every waking moment will be defined by a sense of restlessness, uncertainty, instability, insecurity, and confusion. When something is in a constant state of flux, without the values of stability, constancy and permanence, it arouses fear and unrest.
Imagine being in a relationship where your partner spent his/her waking moments in the relentless pursuit of something that will give his/her life meaning, rather than investing quality time and presence in the relationship. Consider what it would be like working at your job for years, and never being able to experience the gift of using your imagination, creativity, and skills, because you were too busy searching for your niche.
Yes, there is something significant, beautiful, and divine about embracing your destiny. Indeed, there is something transcendent about living purposefully. Amidst life's greatest challenges, difficulties, and pain, we strive to make sense of our reality. In festive times and times of jubilation we make every effort to embrace the moment. It is at the point where our challenges, difficulties, pain, and moments of delight find meaning that our lives become meaningful.
Thus, to be means to live on purpose. In other words, to know your purpose is to know yourself. The reason why many people find purpose so elusive is because they are chasing after something they believe has not yet being realized.
Your purpose is neither an object, nor a product. It is not something that can be manufactured. Your purpose is not some grand experiment carried out in a science lab. Sitting in a classroom at an institute of higher learning will not produce purpose. Many people imitate what successful people do, and then say that they've found their purpose. Actually, what they have become is a copycat, an imposter, and inauthentic.
As much as your parents love you, they cannot pass on purpose as an inheritance. If you were given the gift of infinity, because of the construct of purpose, it would still elude you.
The nature of purpose is to be lived and experienced. Your purpose is a living and breathing reality. Your purpose is as much a part of you as your heart and brain are part of your body. The immanence of your purpose will settle in your being as you accept its reality.
Think of a person who is a phenomenal motivational speaker and does this for a living, and considers motivational speaking to be his purpose in life. Does motivational speaking in itself have any inherent value? The answers is, no. Motivational speaking is an abstract concept that describes the activity the motivational speaker executes.
Motivational speaking is an extension of the motivator's mindset. Motivational speaking is given context by the motivator himself. While a motivational speech might stir up positive reactions and emotions, it is the presenter's ability to engage the audience that gives life to the presentation. If you separated the concept (I.e., motivational speaking) from the speaker, on one side you'd have an inanimate concept, and on the other side a living and breathing person.
Here's another example. A civil engineer has accepted that designing modern and seismic safe bridges is her life's purpose. Remember, her purpose is designing bridges. When you separate this person from her work, what are left are the bridges and the person. Which of the two is the purpose? It's clearly the woman with the idea.
Let's look at one final example. Imagine a singer performing on stage with a microphone in her hand. The function of the microphone is not to replace the singer's voice, because it simply can't in that it is an inanimate object. The function of the microphone is to amplify the singer's creative expression and captivating melody.
In the examples given, the microphone, the bridges, and motivational speaking were the tools that gave context to the person's purpose. Purpose is not only oneness with self, but also oneness with the cosmos. When the mind, body, and spirit converge into oneness with the universe, and become awakened to its divine privilege, life no longer consists of trying to find purpose. At the point of convergence, your existence becomes your purpose. YOU are your purpose.
Reference:
1. Retrieved from http://www.livinglifefully.com/lettinggo.htm
JOSIAH SAMUEL HARRY currently serves as an adjunct instructor. He teaches subjects ranging from world cultures to psychology.
Josiah's research interests are in spiritual philosophy, religion, and humanistic psychology. His published works include: Awakening Humanity's Collective Spirit, and Winning: Essentials for Achieving Relational Intimacy.
Josiah was born and raised in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. He was educated at Loyola University New Orleans. An original thinker and truth-seeker, Josiah invites each individual inward toward a deeper reality that unveils the fundamental purpose of life, which is to ultimately find truth in our own lives and live in relationship with others.
