Do you even know why you are here?

A young woman who was 24 years of age and was a superb dancer in her small town recently tried to take her own life in Biloxi, Mississippi.  She attempted to take her life by jumping from a wharf.  As she later put it, she was “tired of living.” 

A young man saw her jump from the wharf and splash into the water. Forgetting that he himself didn’t know how to swim, he stripped off his coat and leaped in the wharf after her in a blind attempt to save a fellow human being.  He began to splash around and was gasping for air and was in serious danger of drowning in an attempt to save the girl.  The girl momentarily forgot about her own despair and began to paddle her way towards him.  As he was gulping water and gasping for breath, she grabbed a hold of him and pulled him safely ashore. Instead of ending her own life she had saved the life of another. 

So what happened?  In that moment of despair when she felt like she had no reason to live and jumped off the wharf.  She found her purpose to live by saving the young mans life instead. So on that day what actually drowned in the water, was the young girls despair and not her spirit.  She learned the lesson of not having something to live for and having a reason, a purpose, for living.  (Excerpt from: Og Mandino’s University of Success; August 1982)

Now my hope is that you and me don’t have to find our purpose for living in such a dramatic way as the young girl did.  But the story illustrates the point.

Purpose trumps everything.  We all have a purpose for being here.  Sometimes we don’t know what it is until it is too late. Sometimes we may never know.  Someone once said that there are two great days in our lives, the day we were born and the day we figured out why.

T.D. Jake’s says this: “If you cant figure out your purpose figure out your passion. Your passion will lead you towards your purpose.”

So as you start 2016 have you found your purpose?  Do you know why you are here?  If not.  What are you passionate about?

I recently followed my passions.  My heart told me a few years ago where my passion was.  But it wasn’t the right time for me to do it.  Things take time.  However, I kept pursuing my passions in my spare time.  My mentor told me years ago: “Do what you have to do as quickly as possible so you can do what you want to do.” After several years of doing what I had to do, I am now going to do what I want to do.

If you are at a point in your life where you are not passionate about the things around you.  Work, school, friends, etc. make a decision to change it.  You can.  Find your passion and you will find your purpose.

To your success and your future.