Finding Your Life Purpose Isn’t as Difficult as You Think.

Here’s how I discovered my purpose by thinking of this one thing.

Some nailed it early. Others spend their entire life trying to figure it out. Many die without living it because they couldn’t find what their life purpose was.

It took me over 2 decades to pinpoint my purpose in life.

It has never been an ambition of mine to be filthy rich. I just wanted to be comfortable and live a happy life — owning a nice house was paramount on my list since I’m a homebody who thrives on beautiful surroundings. and spaces.

Owing a car was more of a necessity than a luxury. I never felt pressured to spend large sums of money on expensive brands to impress my neighbors, friends, or anyone. A simple reliable Toyota SUV is my favorite ride even though I’ve owned and driven a few other brands.

To be able to afford the things I need, I had to have a job. So, a career was also important. A few genuine friends were on my shortlist of things I envisioned could bring me my desired comfort and happiness.

But after checking all the boxes, I still felt this lack — something was missing from my life. I couldn't pinpoint definitively what it was. I couldn’t explain it to anyone who could understand.

I remember saying to a friend one night while socializing at a 50th birthday event — “ There's got to be more to life. I feel something is missing from my life but I can’t pinpoint what it is”.

She replied. “You’ve done well for yourself. Stop the complaining and start living”.

Clearly, she didn't understand what I meant or what I was trying to say to her then.

You see, we thrive on being successful in life —The career we pursue. Getting married. Having children. Buying our dream house. Driving a nice car and building friendships and relationships with others is a collective combination of one goal in mind — Happiness.

But for many of us, even after checking all the boxes to the things we thought could bring us the happiness we hope for, we still feel this emptiness inside. — It’s that feeling deep within that life is more than striving to attain material things or people-pleasing.

The human side of us yearns for something more than money can buy.

It is only when we find it, we’ll start living and experience authentic happiness.

Find your purpose through your passions.

I remember as a child I enjoyed doing many things. One of which was, coordinating colors and textures to create beautiful outfits. I use to play dress-up at home even though I had nowhere to go.

Then at about 10 years old, I developed the habit of reading out of an insatiable appetite to understand the world I live in. I learned early in life that knowledge was the key to making informed decisions that could better ones’ life. So, I read to fulfill this desire of mine. I needed answers for the things I didn't understand. I had a yearning to be in the know.

I wrote the things that connected with me. My notes were for reference to refresh my memory when needed. Years later, I had a catalog of writings that could compile into a book.

I also liked creating beautiful spaces. My mom kept a clean house, but she wasn’t into the fanfare of décor like my next-door neighbor was. I felt inspired by my neighbor's sense of style in decorating.

That's how my passion for decorating started.

I remember using cardboard boxes filled with teaching aid materials to decorate my primary school teacher's living room. She lived in a small apartment a few blocks from where I lived. She had recently graduated from teachers' college and was just starting out in life. After seeing what I had done, she shouted at the top of her lungs with much amusement. “You’re an Interior decorator Donnette…. Holy crap…. look what you’ve done!!”

That was my first attempt at decorating. It looked like crap but I really enjoyed creating it.

My passion for interior decorating led me to much practice in friends' and families' homes. I put a lot of effort into decorating my own home too. I even got a few paying jobs from people who liked my sense of style seeing the work I've done on my own home.

My passions became dormant because of societal influence

Strangely, I didn’t pursue my passions as a career. Societal influence would otherwise stifle my thoughts in believing that careers along the line of my passions meant I wasn’t among the brightest. So, I pursued corporate careers and later owned my own business in Brand marketing and distribution.

But years later my journey to find my life purpose took me back to my passions as a child.

Later in life, I got certified in home interior decorating and started my writing journey.

This is a confirmation that true passion never really leaves us.

Here’s what I’ve discovered on my journey to find my life purpose.

The deeper meaning in all the things I have liked since a child — all boils down to this one thing — Transformation. My passions were at the forefront of a deeper meaning to my existence — making the old new and changing things for the better. The art of dressing up, creating beautiful spaces, and writing to personally developed myself was preparing me for a bigger purpose to serve mankind.

Now I use my passions in a meaningful way to change lives through my writing with the hope of transforming others' lives.

Chances are you're just like I was — searching to put the pieces of a puzzle together to find your authentic happiness.

Here is the one thing that helped me discovered my purpose in life. Maybe it could help you find your life purpose too.

Think about having a date with death and how you would like to be remembered

Mark Manson said,” Ultimately, death is the only thing that gives us perspective on the value of our lives. Because it is only by imagining your non- existences that you can get a sense of what is most important about your existence”.

No one likes to think about death. It's scary. But thinking about our own death helps us zero in on what's important in life. It helps us to separate the treasure from the trash that has consumed our thoughts daily.

It makes us realize our existence is bigger than material things or being selfish thinking about ourselves.

When we start to differentiate the two, we begin to ask ourselves some real questions — How do I want to be remembered? How did I contribute to society? Did I make a difference in others' life? What is my legacy? What will my obituary say? Will my loved ones struggle to put words together because you hadn't contributed to society in any meaningful way or will there be nothing to say?

If the answers you'd prefer aren’t forthcoming; Now is the time to start working on the things that matters to you the most.

Start by asking yourself — What is most important to me?. What values will guide my actions starting today?

Discovering your purpose is about finding that one or two bigger things than yourself and allowing them to guide you in making decisions to impact and make a difference in the world around you. It's about cultivating values that will guide you in determining your priorities and actions. It's not about accumulating wealth or being selfish to others and being consumed by money thinking. These are all material things that you’ll leave behind.

It is about utilizing the limited time we have on earth wisely.

It is about having a life purpose.

True happiness will only come when you find your life purpose and start living exponentially.

The only way to achieve that happiness is to imagine a world without you in it.

Do you know what your life purpose is? Let's start a conversation. Tell me about your experience in the comments.