Purpose

"Purpose, it's that little flame that lights a fire under your as*. Purpose, it keeps you going strong, like a car with a full tank of gas. Everyone has a purpose so what's mine?'- Avenue Q

Back in highschool, I used to believe that we have a grand purpose in life; something that you are supposed to be doing for your whole life. I thought that grand purpose thing would come when I 'grow up' - maybe when I would reach 25 or 30. However, as I started going through that phase in life, I began to wonder where that purpose is supposed to be found. And I worried that there was not even a little sight or clue of it. Later, I grew pessimistic and started to not buy it anymore. 'If I had a purpose,' I said to myself, 'I will get my act together but now that I don't have it just yet, I'm getting wasted.'

It went on like that for a couple of years or so until my daughter Sandy came. Holding her in my arms is one of the most glorious moments in my life. And that was when I took seriously that search for the holy grail of purpose... only too seriously. The quest included mapped out plans, books about purpose (plenty of it), conspiracy theories - and just about all of it. The imp in me, however, would not stop; a little nagging pessimist inside keeps telling me 'it's not there.' I knew (or so I thought) that I was not finding anything. Those times, I coursed through life always looking forward to what the future would bring because they say tomorrow brings a new promise. Over the year, I kept that kind of attitude, and I would usually end up frustrated because the future seems too far just yet.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I joined a seminar called Ike Pono in August 2013 and it made me remember who I really am. After that seminar, the readings that followed seemed to resonate more deeply than it used to be. And then I bumped into the books of Deepak Chopra and some collaborations he had with Oprah. In one of the meditation series that talks about Desire and Destiny, I came to understand that an opportunity to live by purpose comes in every present moment. If you are walking in the street and you gaze upon the eye of a stranger and feel the need to smile, your purpose may be to give that uplifting smile to that person. If you are taking care of your baby, right at this very moment, then that is your purpose for the time being. As Chopra said, 'The most important work is the work you're doing now. The most important person is the person in front of you now; and the most important time is now.'

Our purpose presents an opportunity to be fulfilled every now.

While I have regained my belief that there is a grand plan for everyone of us because we are all destined for greatness, the time to live out the purpose is wrapped present moment. In order to be able to live out the grand purpose, we must learn to appreciate every single minute that we have and give all of ourselves wholeheartedly. Only through this can the promise of future and the Divine Purpose be carried out by the Divine in us.

"I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.”
― Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret