The older I become, the more head-space I give to this very profound concept of a life well lived. How does one even begin to describe, let alone understand, all the facets of a life well lived? The literature is flooded with advise from life gurus, philosophers and religious thinkers, all professing to know what it takes to achieve, what to many of us seems like just another elusive goal in an increasingly demanding society. We are told that we can never live a truly happy life unless we live it driven by our own unique purpose on earth. What on earth is my own unique purpose on earth? Many profess to live that life, many have been hailed as having lived that life. But to many of us, we haven’t even begun to understand what it entails, never mind living it!
Some describe living a purpose driven life, as one where we use our God-given talents, and hopefully in the process, to the benefit of others. But that would mean that we all know exactly what our talents are! Can we say an undeniable talent like Michael Jackson lived a purpose driven life? Surely, he must have. He was blessed with amazing talent, and he used it to entertain us for decades. But was he happy? He died a lonely man. And so the list is infinite with many equally, awesomely talented individuals who coloured our lives for the better, but many were flawed and unhappy at so many levels. So does finding that one life-time career, that one purpose that screams at you, that one talent you undeniably have to share with others, create that happy life for you?
So many of us question ourselves, compare ourselves to others whom we think have found that elusive, happy, purposeful space! But happy and purposeful according to whose definition. Just because we are fed this narrative that a successful and happy life is brought about by truly knowing your purpose here on earth, by truly exercising your God-given talents, hopefully to the benefit of your fellow mankind, doesn’t necessarily make it the gospel truth!! Heaven forbid that it does, for I fear by this definition, there are many of us living a very unhappy and unfulfilled life!!
But what if we simply took the process of life and its very purpose, and broke it down to accompany different stages of our lives. Let’s say for every different stage of life, we had a different purpose, each giving us a different degree of happiness. I often think of my own life and the varied roles I’ve played … daughter, grandchild, student, wife, aunt, cousin, employee, business owner, mother, friend … and many more. In every role, I had a different purpose, a different yardstick for determining happiness … and so have many of you. Then let’s say, one day we look back at all the different stages, and if we find that the happy outweighed the not so happy, and the purposeful moments outweighed the not so purposeful ones, and when the majority of times it did serve others, whether it was just a smile that lightened up another’s day, then indeed we can say that we have lived a happy, even purpose driven life.
Maybe the lesson in all if this is to not take ourselves too seriously, to not sweat the insignificant stuff, but to cherish the simple things, things that we have all been given access to. Things like being thankful, being yourself, sharing with others, smiling, exercising … the list is endless. Most importantly, to not let others define our happiness or dictate the way we live our lives, by comparison. We are all unique, we all have strengths and weakness, we all develop and grow differently, we all peak and dip at different stages, we all walk a different life path. We have been gifted with so many free and accessible options, if only we opened our minds and tapped into them. Then maybe, just maybe, we might find that this wonderful gift called life, is a happy and a purpose driven one!
“If you live for the approval of others, you will die by their rejection”. Rick Warren
Author: Mauricia Jordaan
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