Finding Purpose
Lately I have been thinking a lot about purpose. I’ve had several conversations with the people in my life about the importance of having a purpose- a direction, a reason, an intention, a goal. One thing I’m realizing is that for me, anyway, having a purpose is more than just a goal. A goal implies that there is an end, and for me, I need a purpose that is continuous. Certainly, I can have goals, and can feel accomplished by reaching them, but I need to be constantly moving forward. And right now, I’ve been feeling stuck.
I’ve had some significant life changes in the past several years that really affected my sense of purpose. Some of them were naturally occurring: my children grew up and my role in their daily lives has changed. Some of them were choices I made: in 2020 I retired from 30 years in education, I moved to a different state, I started a new business! I think because much of this change coincided with Covid and all that came with it, that I didn’t realize the expanse of these changes until the world began to feel “normal” again. Yet my normal was not the same, and to be honest, this has been a difficult and delayed shift for me. I was recently sorting through some old materials that I used as an elementary school counselor, and I felt pangs of sadness as I remembered my time at that school, and how much I really loved my role in the school community. Many times, as I spent time with kids and worked with them in my office, I would reflect on how fortunate I was that I was able to do something that I loved - and that they actually paid me to do it every day! I miss that feeling, that sense of purpose, that feeling of making a difference. Especially when it comes to little ones.
In my search for purpose, I googled “how to find your purpose”. There were all kinds of videos, websites, articles, and more with steps to take, projects to do, questions to think about. I did some looking (a vision board is definitely something in my future!), but it finally occurred to me- I know my purpose. I know what I am passionate about. I am certain that my passion is helping people, and nothing fills my heart like helping kids understand their feelings and how best to manage them. I know that I can’t go back… the right move for me is not to work in a school again, I could never replicate what I had before. I decided to think about what exactly I miss the most. It’s a long list, but mostly, I miss interacting with kids. I miss creating things that kids can use to explore and grow their emotional selves. I miss helping the grown-ups that are charged with raising these little ones.
My next task is to figure out how I can fulfill that purpose at this place and stage in my life. I have ideas – some that I have already created, I have ideas yet to be created, I have ideas I haven’t’ even thought about yet. So right now, I’m not sure how this will play out. I’m still thinking, searching, pondering. What I do know is that this purpose thing is a process. And for now, I have a direction. I am moving forward.
Energetically yours,
