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Yet a life with a purpose is a life of passion, drive, and much joy. It is a heroic life, where learning escalates, dragons are slain, and a golden grail is secured.
A purpose should not be confused with a goal.
A goal is not a purpose, but a mile post along it. Once you set and achieve a goal, you then move on to the next exciting goal. Goals, then, have a beginning and an end.
A purpose, on the other hand, may have a beginning, a time when you sit down and think about what turns you on, but it never has an end.
Albert Einstein, for example, had the grand purpose of trying to figure out how the universe worked. Along the way, he fulfilled certain goals, which were figuring out various aspects of natural phenomena, and these were later called the special theory of relativity, the general theory of relativity, the photoelectric effect, and so on. The goal he was working on up to the day of his death was creating a unified field theory, in which he tried to reconcile the forces of gravity and electromagnetism into a comprehensive theory that explained all natural phenomena.
What a purpose did for him was give him a steady sense of direction, as well as an identity. He did not branch off to become the President of Israel. He did not get distracted by expanding the scope of his celebrity status. He did not become a social critic, an essayist, or a public speaker. While he dabbled in these things, he did them without getting distracted by them. He stayed focused on his purpose, which was to understand the nature of reality.
Ultimately, what his purpose did for him was create a happier life. Without it, he would have got snagged in all sorts of adventures and misadventures and may not have left a legacy of knowledge and understanding that has entirely changed the way we view the world.
Living your life on purpose is like writing the novel of your life.
You can write a novel where the hero or heroine evolves chapter by chapter, getting quicker, smarter, and more compelling. This will be a novel that a reader will not want to put down until it is finished.
On the other hand, you can also write the novel of your life where you change the plot from chapter to chapter, really fail to learn much about anything, and end up with little personal growth or contribution to humanity.
The main benefit of a purpose-driven life is that it is much more enjoyable. It gives you and others a sense of deep pleasure and satisfaction.
A life where you make the time of your life count for something is one that gives meaning and dignity to the human experience.
A life that is purpose driven begins when take the the time to sit down and design it. You will find that it will transform your life into an adventure worth living.
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