Purpose of our lives.

[Le Chat]

I was watching 'The Secret Millionaire' last week and one of its focus points was a lovely lady who had 7 (!!!) children. As well as looking after her family, she had organised various activities and clubs for the deprived children of the area....all for no personal financial benefit.
In one point of the filming, she was heard to say "My purpose in life is to help people and to look after people." Of this she was convinced.
My point is that I don't know 'my purpose' in life. I want to have a purpose and have been long determined to seek it before I watched this programme...all to no avail.
I wonder why I am here and am I supposed to be doing something else instead of 'existing' in my life.
Don't get me wrong, I have a lovely husband and two fab children, a comfortable existence, good family and friends etc,
Do you think we are here 'for a purpose?'

[Octavius]

I don�t think this person has any privileged information or has felt any particular calling, its just the old clich�, our purpose in life is whatever we make it. This woman has decided that this is hers and made it hers; yours and mine will be different and personal to us.

I believe that everyone has a purpose of some sort.

[naomi24]

Hello Le Chat, I don't believe we have a specific purpose in life. However, I do believe that each of us has abilities which may not be immediately obvious. If your whole life revolves around your own life and that of those closest to you, you may never discover what those abilities are, and therefore you will never really know yourself, and you will never feel completely fulfilled. You appear to have a need to be useful, and a good way to find your forte is to think seriously about the issues, outside your personal life, that are closest to your heart, and, initially, offer your services, as a volunteer, to the organisations connected to them. I say 'initially' because you never know where it will lead. A whole new world could open for you - and giving something of yourself can be incredibly personally rewarding. You seem to be a very nice, and a very kind lady, and I'm sure you have much to offer, but if you never get out there and find - and learn how to use - your strengths, you'll never know.

[Tups]

Be careful though not to be misguided by your yearning to do something good. I have a lovely friend who decided to live in Israel on a Kibbutz for a year to 'find' herself. She got so wrapped up in the ethos of helping others, she came back and gave up her lucrative job and started living off her savings, positive that she would received some 'divine purpose'. She felt called to sell her house so immediately put it on the market! Luckily, someone managed to persuade her to take it off again, a week later. She is still living off her savings, waiting for her purpose to reveal itself! I'm not suggesting for one moment that you'll do the same (indeed, she is single, which obviously makes a difference) but what I'm trying to say is it's best to carry on doing what you are doing whilst trying to help others in some small way alongside your normal routine. You may well find you have a particular gift which draws you further in a certain direction or you may simply find your 'niche' is to do little things which help either a small number or a lot of people. Don't make any dramatic changes to your lifestyle if it is going to affect the rest of your family adversely. Start small and go with the flow.

[Theland1]

I couldn't add to the wisdom of the above posts, but just felt compelled to say that I agree with the general ethos.

[naomi24]

Tups has made a very relevant point.. When the word 'divine' is introduced, rationality often departs. If you want to discover your own abilities and fulfil your own potential, your feet need to be kept firmly on the ground.

[Octavius]

The assumption seems to be that your purpose should be towards others. This may not necessarily be so. You might one day come to believe that your purpose is to exist in your own life and that is sufficient, as you may never be able to predict what needs that existence might raise in order for you to �serve your purpose�.

Tups gives very sound advice, �start small and go with the flow�. Whatever your purpose in life - it is only really effective (and rewarding) when it is not detrimental to your own well-being.

[Le Chat]

Thank you for your answers and kind words. My purpose doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be connected with helping others, as Octavius pointed out.
I gave this much thought last night and if we take any religious beliefs away, then our core purpose is to reproduce to keep the human race going! Perhaps any other calling is a bonus!
I feel like, if I'm honest, there is an empty space in the core of my being and I am exploring the notion of 'purpose' as an attempt to try and fill it.
I have been down the religious route (I once did a sizable post about this- a time ago) but the whole thing just didn't sit well with me and I never 'found' God even though I tried!
Anyway, I'm going to end up being repetative.
I will have a good think thanks Naomi and see what I can come up with!

[keyplus90]

I believe that the purpose of the life should be to do and do not according to the laws of the real creator. I have no doubt that when you do that then every thing else you may think of would fall into that category.