Your Purpose in Life - Vibrant Nation

dynamomma said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Interesting comment. Have you found your purpose? How did you find it? How did your life change? Just wondering.

Elisa's Custom Creations said to dynamomma 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

I believe I always had a purpose - family (2 children happily married with 2 grandkids)- took care of elder parents until they died - now at retirement, I had to find my own happiness. Let's see: I do not like to eat out, not a resort (vacations) person, most people bore me; but I found happiness via creativity. It's reflected in my garden and crafting. Simply, what makes me happy is simple beauty. Give me a spring day with sunshine, a pretty garden and a cup of coffee and I am happy!

dynamomma

dynamomma said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Good answer. Sounds like you found your JOY and turned it into purpose. I like that.

Elisa's C…

Elisa's Custom Creations said to dynamomma 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Thank you. Keep in touch.

SFTaylor

SFTaylor said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

You sound like my kind of person. I am a loner, like to garden, but just not when it is cold, wet and overcast. Can you tell where I live? Seattle. I read, try to write, and do some art projects. And, take care of a husband and pets. Have 5 grandkids. I am unemployed thanks to the economy.

Elisa's C…

Elisa's Custom Creations said to SFTaylor 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

I live in New Jersey and I have just retired. As I said I have found joy and purpose through my creativity.

LadySunsh…

LadySunshine said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Your purpose and some interests sound like mine. Family first. Then solace in the wonderment of each day. And the people I encounter each day. Love flowers and gardening.

Yet ... what happens if your children turn their back on you and decide they want nothing to do with you ... and your grandkids included. What happens if your spouse wonders silently what you did to cause such 'shunning'? Think it couldn't happen to you? NEVER did I dream it could happen to me ... but it did. My purpose of Family was shattered. It's been several years now and our adult son, upon marriage, shunned us. Our grandson does not know us. So purpose is a difficult journey for me these days. Trying to figure out just WHO I AM -- am a grandmother in name only; am a mother in name only. Trying to figure out just what the purpose of this life is anyway .....

Elisa's C…

Elisa's Custom Creations said to LadySunshine 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Try to sit down with your family and see what went wrong, if possible.

LadySunsh…

LadySunshine said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Dear Elisa .... tried it twice 20 months ago. And even with a family counselor. Been estranged since then. Have had personal counseling ... but there's nothing a counselor can do to help. I need to learn how to help myself and get over the grief and anger that a mother feels upon losing their only child. Yet my child isn't really physically dead ... he has cut himself off from us emotionally and physically upon getting married 3 yrs ago. Took me awhile to figure this out. And to learn I cannot change the situation. I need to work on ME and learn to live without knowing my child or grandchild. And figure out just what is the purpose to my life . . .

God bless you all!

spiritalk

spiritalk said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: We are not a human being having a spiritual experience. We are a spiritual being having a human experience.

Our purpose can be found in our spiritual being.

God bless, J

workingyp…

workingypsy said to spiritalk 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

I like the way you think spiritalk. As far as finding our purpose, I believe we chose our path, whatever it may be, make the journey, and the 'purpose' happens, whether you notice it or not. The harder you focus on everything before you, the less you see around you.

SFTaylor

SFTaylor said to workingypsy 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

That sounds reasonable. I have never felt I had a purpose in life. Now that my daughter is dead, I find I really need to find answers to such questions and find my way in life.

LadySunsh…

LadySunshine said to SFTaylor 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Can totally relate here, SFTaylor. When one's life is in harmony, it's easy to find purpose. When life is in upheaval, real purpose loses any meaning and becomes hidden with grief and pain.

spiritalk

spiritalk said to workingypsy 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

As a choice how would it be such a creative purpose if chosen beforehand? I like the adventure of life as we create at every step.

God bless, J

workingyp…

workingypsy said to spiritalk 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Oh, life's absolutely an adventure, and a big part of that adventure is created by us, through the choices we make. Whether by creativity or necessity; we reacted. Painting our canvases with the colors of involvement, reaction, creation and love:) Then somewhere in thoseresponses; we involved ourselves at one point or another with karmic experiences of purpose, simple or profound.

spiritalk

spiritalk said to workingypsy 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Natural law played a role in everything in our life. The law of cause and effect is similar to Karma as such. What we think, act, do, sets up the cause, for which there is a responding effect. That is just life.

God bless, J

Elisa's C…

Elisa's Custom Creations said to spiritalk 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

What is our "spiritual being"?

spiritalk

spiritalk said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

We are made up of body, mind, spirit. The balance of these energy vibrations keeps us striving and growing as an individual soul.

You know the material/physical body intimately as all things we do in life - job, work, relationships, etc. - is built upon our attention to this physical body.

Your mind governs all in an organized way. There is a mind in the physical and a mind in the duplicate spirit body. It uses the organ - brain - in the physical and is a part of the spirit as well.

But the spirit - now that is the unseen part of us that just knows about many things without conscious thought. It is a duplicate body of the being and houses our soul.

It is said God is spirit. It is the part of us that is eternal. On death of the physical, we function as spirit to continue our journey.

God bless, J

Elisa's C…

Elisa's Custom Creations said to spiritalk 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Anonymous - Purpose serves as a principle around which to organize our lives.

spiritalk

spiritalk said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

My following (Spiritualism) has no dogma or creed - we have 7 principles of living. Using Purpose as a principle fits my thinking totally. Thank you for that thought.

God bless, J

Lorraine7…

Lorraine76 said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Actually your purpose in life is whatever you are doing at the moment. Since you only live one moment at a time you have many many purposes, don't get stuck on just one.

Elisa's C…

Elisa's Custom Creations said to Lorraine76 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

I agree. It can be focus on family, community service, joining a political campaign for a candidate you support, volunteering in church with a youth group or hospiital. In other words, whatever drives you.

spiritalk

spiritalk said to Lorraine76 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

All the 'things' we get up to in our material lives is important in the scheme of our lessons. But perhaps there is a purpose to the action experience? What are we learning? Does it enhance the spirit within? And is that even important to your life on earth?

God bless, J

terryemer…

terryemery said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

The sense of my purpose had flexed with my aging. I truly felt that then my 4 children were at home, my purpose was to be the active, challenging, supporting force in their lives. Now, at age 55, with all of them married and my husband retired, I'm struggling mightily. I am the breadwinner, I cannot quit my job or really change right now without some negative effects on the retirement picture (as if there weren't enough already!) but my soul is in such a global place right now, I can't figure out how to coordinate all the elements, i.e. still having to work (right now in small midwest town), dealing with the passion to help women of the world. My job is a good one - middle school principal--but it's not enough. Compared with the global picture, my work world is pretty trivial at times. I keep thinking about all the stories of people who found success and purpose at the post 60 age. I am postmodern enough to believe in the power of those stories, but there is discouragement in the daily routine.

1 member loves this!

Lorraine7…

Lorraine76 said to terryemery 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Being a success is NOT being Rich or Famous. It's being happy or at least content at what you are doing, no matter what that may be. Remember "This too will pass." I have no retirement plan, you know? I'll get S.S. and that's it.. My future is ify. I don't have a IRA or a 401K. I'm self employed as a caregiver. When I think about it I sometimes panic, but what good does my fear do? Nothing.. it does nothing. When I'm done with this job I might feel fear when we need food on the table, and i'm job hunting. I just try to think positive. My purpose is to be LORRAINE, no matter what she's doing. I don't have to be a supermom, or a perfect anything.

Elisa's C…

Elisa's Custom Creations said to Lorraine76 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Sorry to be so frank, you right that success does not mean rich or famous, but having a "cushion" at retirement gives you a sense of security and allows you to enjoy new adventures, explore new aspirations, and so on. Life like business needs a plan. It may not work quite the way we planned it, but at least we had a foundation.

RoseDuffy

RoseDuffy said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

I had plans and thought I had a good foundation, then at age 57 everything fell apart. A combination of illness and the economy has made it necessary to re-create myself. I may be naive, but I believe if I achieved financial success once then I can do it again. I am fortunate to have a career I love and I never wanted to completely retire, so now I just have to do it differently. I think our purpose is to live each day with an open mind and heart because life has no guarantee's. This verse from the song "A Piece of Sky" helps me through lifes' big challenges... "The more I live, the more I learn, the more I learn the more I realize the less I know"

Elisa's C…

Elisa's Custom Creations said to RoseDuffy 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Amen. And I applaud you.

RoseDuffy

RoseDuffy said to Elisa's Custom Creations 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

Thanks Elisa's Custom Creations, opportunities to inter-act with other women on-line has made it easier to take on my new challenges. Writing forces me to better understand what I want to communicate and what I am feeling, more so then having a conversation. I hope you continue to initiate conversations like this.

Elisa's C…

Elisa's Custom Creations said to RoseDuffy 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

I also enjoy the communication. I am not naive nor stupid, but I am not as eloquent as these women on Vibrant Nation. What I posses is simple common sense. Wishing you success!

spiritalk

spiritalk said to terryemery 01/29/2010, 04:57PM new!

There is nothing trivial about education. Think of all the young minds you affect daily. While you feel stymied to 'fix' the global picture, do not underestimate the effect you have on future generations to be a part of the global picture.

It is Pay It Forward at its best. Allowing all that you know to become a knowledge in others as well.

God bless, J

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