Wednesday, October 3, 2012



WHAT IS MY PURPOSE?
Well isn’t that a loaded question? At Rhapsody Camp one of our choreographers asked the group what our personal purpose was, and what we wanted to accomplish with our time here on earth. Honestly my first thought was, “Please don’t call on me!” How can anyone really know their purpose in life… especially in high school? Some brave members sheepishly raised their hands and the answers were as followed, “to help others,” “to live for God,” “to overcome life struggles,” and “to be a good person.” All of those answers are wonderful and empowering to do great things, but is that their real purpose. Don’t get me wrong I am not questioning their integrity or life mission, but is that one main idea always resonating in the back of their mind day to day? After pondering the original question, I finally came to a conclusion. I don’t have “a purpose”, I have many.
I want to achieve and excel in all the different areas of my life, and somehow they all tie together. Academically, I want to pass with flying colors, and go beyond the teacher’s expectations with accomplishments in which I take pride. Success in my mind would mean being accepted into college and later into Medical School; which ties into my desire to be an anesthesiologist. When I tell my peers about my future profession they either look at me like “Did you just speak English?” or they say that I am doing it for the big bucks. I can only laugh and smile at their response. Doing a job simply for the money is ridiculous. I want a career that I am passionate about and arise each morning happy to go to work.
One of my goals after attaining this degree is to be a part of Doctors without Borders and similar local or national projects. All my life, I wanted to play doctor, to mend a wound that someone had. This passion has grown as I have matured, and is one of my life goals: to be the helping hand to anyone and everyone.
Another goal is to see my sister’s dream come true. She wants to start an orphanage in Africa. I don’t know how well I would be at running the program, but I want to help fund it so she doesn’t have to worry about anything, but loving those children. Maybe it could be an orphanage/hospital. We are still in the planning phase, but believe you me, it will happen.
My prayer is that I am called to marriage. I desire my husband’s and my relationship to be such that others could model their lives. I also want to be a foster parent and adopt as many children as possible. I once told a friend that I want a rainbow of ethnicities in my home. Children who have been through rough circumstances in their lives have a special spot in my heart. If I am able to provide a loving and protective environment for them, why wouldn’t I?
By this time you think my passion is people, it is not. I wasn’t born naturally wanting to help those in need. I seek out others, because I was sought out first. What I mean by that is my faith. When I finally quit running and was embraced by my Savior, I was transformed. 
I owe everything to my God, and am willing to go wherever He commands. He calls all His children to do the Great Commission: Be fishers of men by sharing the good news of His Son, disciple new believers, and baptize them. He also calls me to have personal growth to become more like Him and His perfect character. Now am I saying that someday I will achieve that goal…? No way!  I will never be perfect or remotely close to it, but I do strive for that perfection. My desire is at the end of this life I could be called a woman after God’s own heart.
I guess the best way to describe my purpose is to use an analogy of a Jell-O mold salad with a variety of cut up fruit in it. The fruit represents my academics, future schooling, profession, relationships, and personal success. They make life interesting and are big components, but not the main focus. My faith is the gelatin and my reactions and actions are the flavor. My faith although unseen holds all pieces of my life together; without it the individual ingredients would be doing their own thing with no purpose. I guess I have many purposes, but my faith is the motivation behind all of them. The flavor is my choice. But choosing which directions and turns I take determines the taste I bring to life. Will I be consumed with life’s trials and hard times becoming bitter and sour, or will I mask my feelings to put on a fake facade that is sickly sweet?  My goal is to have balance built one layer at a time and while the pieces of fruit may shift before they solidify in the process, the end result is a beautiful treat that is pleasing to the eye, nutritious, and tasty that will serve many. So what am I saying? One is labeled by their words and actions. My wish is people will know me as the person who goes the extra mile to simply make life easier; who cares about the little details about an individual rather than the general facts; and that it is my faith that sustains and motivates me.
Essentially, I want a simple life, that once is done will bring a smile to a person’s face as they reflect back on my days. It is not how many know you when you are alive, but how many will want to remember you when you are gone. So there is my purpose, or purposes held together by “spiritual glue.” I hope that answers the question or else I have completely missed the concept. Maybe the goal is not to have the ability to state the correct answer, rather to ponder about the priorities in your life and see if they are the ones that will make you the person you hope to become. A simple question can lead to a profound train of thoughts; they may become the most impactful wonder this world has yet to see. My closing thought: don’t live for a purpose, but rather live a life with purpose.