What is my Purpose?
“He
who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” This quote by Friedrich
Nietzsche explains the importance I feel my purpose has in my life.
Answering the question “What is my purpose?” can also answer a lot of
other questions. My purpose tells me what I’m working toward, why I’m
here, and, most of all, gives me the motivation to move forward.
Without
knowing my purpose I’d be extremely lost. I wouldn’t know what to go to
go to school for, what career to choose, where to go next, or who I am.
Fortunately, through all of my life experiences and a lot of hard
decisions I’ve discovered what my purposes are. These are what drive me
to do what I do each day and strive to reach my ultimate purpose, which
also happens to be my ultimate passion.
I
feel that the first purpose I have is a purpose that all of us in this
world share: to simply be ourselves. Our lives and experiences have
shaped us to be the unique individuals that we are for a reason, a
purpose. Our purpose. If I lived every day trying to be someone I wasn’t
meant to be I’d never fulfill my purpose and, in turn, probably never
be happy. My duty is to wake up proud of who I am and what I have
accomplished so far, so that in the future I can continue to fulfill my
dreams and become a better version of myself.
The
second purpose I believe I’ve been given to is to learn. Learning is
something we all obviously have to do, but for me it has always been
more than that. I’ve been given many opportunities to learn throughout
my lifetime, maybe more than others. Some things can be taught, while
other things must be experienced. I have done a lot of experiencing, and
because of this, a lot of learning. For this I’m extremely grateful.
Even now, I strive to learn more each and every day. I may not know how,
but somehow, this fits into my purpose.
Now,
what is my ultimate purpose? What, above all else, am I meant to
achieve in my lifetime? Why am I on this earth at all? Warning: this is
probably going to sound extremely cliche. My overall purpose, and
ultimate passion, is to help people. I don’t know exactly when I
realized this, or why, but it is most definitely true. Somewhere along
my journey in life I developed a deep empathy for people and ever since I
have known my ultimate purpose.
The
point of having a purpose is to fulfill it, presumably for the common
good. So, how do I plan to fulfill mine? This is an idea I pondered
throughout my high school career. It wasn’t until recently that I
finally had that “aha” moment. I’ve decided to pursue a career in mental
health counseling. Having a mental health degree enables me to do many
things, like drug and alcohol counseling, social work, and many types of
volunteer work to help others get their lives back on track. I plan to
double major in psychology and sociology, which correlates with one of
my other purposes: to learn.
These are some of the purposes I’ve been given in life. In the future I will have more, and I will do my best to fulfill those to the best of my ability as well. It’s comforting to know that no matter what, I will always have a purpose. I will always have something to work toward and something that makes me feel useful. Because I have a why to live, I will bear any how.