Sense of Purpose

Sense of Purpose  05-10-2019

“Sense of purpose is the motivation that drives you toward a satisfying future. Hence, your sense of purpose helps you get the most of life and it helps you achieve what matters most to you. Most importantly, it feeds intrinsic motivation and it creates meaning from life. Purpose is our driver.”

Its very easy to lose sight of this in the daily grind we call life. For me this has been more dramatic since stopping with formal work last year. As much as people say they would love NOT to have to go to work each day I must disagree.

I really loved the daily commute, challenges, interactions and deadlines…it’s night and day compared to my current role.

As much as I enjoy having time to try and heal myself the hours do drag by and in reality all you have is endless time to reflect. Although it is not necessarily a bad thing you don’t want to end up living in your own head !

One of the benefits of not being in a workspace is however my music, I find this to be the most beneficial of ALL the medications I have been exposed to over the past years. I am also thankful to have been exposed to some genre’s outside my usual comfort zones and strangely enjoy some of the “tunes” my daughters have shared…not all mind you…I’m an 80’s alternate child at heart😊

Listening to the first track by …the Wild Swans …The worst year of my Life …Hopefully not !

(The realist would say it’s too soon to tell, the pessimist would nod agreeingly!)

It also feels strange to see our temperatures reaching below 10 degrees already (at least until midday) when barely two weeks ago we had a scorching 28 degrees! Northern hemisphere weather !

Although I’m looking forward to the coolness my feet disagree and for the past week they have been on fire making walking around excruciating. Fortunately, Jake bounces on them making the dull background throb a lot more manageable…I get him back by fetching his lead and threatening to hook him up. He gets all coy and cute for the next half hour 😊. He is truly the best companion one could ever have …until he spots the resident squirrel …then he is a beast.

My greatest fear is that he brings in a gummed baby hedgehog from outside, so far not thankfully.

In between creature spotting, feeding animals and grooming Jake, I have been working on my “Life Story”. My girls have been urging me to do this for years now and I just ran out of excuses.

It is strangely therapeutic…(I may have said that before) but remembering all the events and people is hypnotically enticing, I can strongly recommend it. Of course, the down-side is realising (and accepting) you can never relive those moments to create a different outcome, it is so to say cast in stone already.

I seem to have digressed somewhat from my original intention – a thought about Sense of Purpose. I was reading an article on Paul “Gazza” Gasgoine. It is a tragic tale of a fantastic footballer that at the end of his career simply seemed to “lose his way”, he succumbed to alcoholism and fell on really bad times.

In a discussion once it was raised that he simply had to find new goals. Gazza had never found a new purpose in his life, to replace his football career. ‘Hopefully he can find some sort of goal,’ said (Gary) Lineker. ‘He needs a reason to want to get better.’

This is a good example what can happen when we don’t have a sense of purpose in our lives. It makes us more vulnerable to boredom, anxiety and depression. And particularly if we have an addictive personality (like Gazza) it can make us vulnerable to substance abuse. Alcohol or drugs are, of course, a way of alleviating psychological discord, but at the same time they can be seen as a way of gaining a very basic sense of purpose: to satisfy your addiction.

The flipside of this little anecdote is that with a sense of purpose everything (or at least, most things) is manageable and getting up in the morning is not the biggest challenge of the day. Purpose provides motivation. Motivation supports engagement. Engagement is Good.

I found these little excerpts when delving a bit further into Gazza’s decline.

“Deeper beliefs that endow us with a true sense of purpose have their foundations in love, compassion, and sharing. As opposed to the selfishness that governs most people’s lives, selflessness is truly at the heart of the deepest motivators – those that fill us with a sense of purpose. Basically, you have to want to do what you’re doing because it helps other people (or animals, don’t forget animals)”

Purpose is a fundamental component of a fulfilling life.”

I realised this is somewhat of a slippery slope, the deeper one delves the darker it can get. I read an editorial that researched prisoners in war camps during WW2, those who deemed themselves to have a sense of purpose, a future to look forward to, loved ones, goals and ambitions to fulfil…generally survived. I could go on and on but why ruin a perfectly good Saturday !

My purpose now…caring for myself and the animals, writing/typing until my hands get numb then listening to all the awesome music I have amassed over the years 😊

Speaking of music …some nostalgic alternate sounds

Nothing like a bit of nostalgia to get the brain buzzing – love it !

I had a further two surprises, new music posted close to midnight meant it was a later night ! Today the second instalment, an awesome nostalgic mix !

Surprise …a new classic mix that is filling the house with sound!

One song that strikes a chord is Incubus and Drive, I always simply used to listen to music but lately I really LISTEN and the lyrics of some of the songs I always liked just seem to have a stronger meaning.

Sometimes, I feel the fear of
Uncertainty stinging clear
And I can’t help but ask myself how much I’ll let the fear
Take the wheel and steer

It’s driven me before and it seems to have a vague
Haunting mass appeal
But lately I am beginning to find that I
Should be the one behind the wheel

Whatever tomorrow brings I’ll be there
With open arms and open eyes, yeah
Whatever tomorrow brings I’ll be there
I’ll be there

So if I decide to waiver my
Chance to be one of the hive
Will I choose water over wine
And hold my own and drive?

It’s driven me before And it seems to be the way
That everyone else gets around
But lately I am beginning to find that when I drive myself
My light is found

Whatever tomorrow brings I’ll be there
With open arms and open eyes, yeah
Whatever tomorrow brings I’ll be there
I’ll be there

Would you choose water over wine
Hold the wheel and drive?

Whatever tomorrow brings I’ll be there
With open arms and open eyes, yeah
Whatever tomorrow brings I’ll be there
I’ll be there

Last words by Seth …

“…treasure what it means to do a day’s work. It’s our one and only chance to do something productive today, and it’s certainly not available to someone merely because he is the high bidder. A day’s work is your chance to do art, to create a gift, to do something that matters. As your work gets better and your art becomes more important, competition for your gifts will increase and you’ll discover that you can be choosier about whom you give them to.”
― Seth Godin, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? �>��