Purpose

I am a true jonathan livingston seagull at heart, a character from one of my favourite books.

The book tells the story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a seagull who is bored with daily squabbles over food. Seized by a passion for flight, he pushes himself and learns everything he can about flying. His increasing unwillingness to conform finally results in his expulsion from the flock.

“Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there’s a reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!”

Often a question pops up in my head…

What is the purpose of my life?

What I have been sent for?

What is it I want to do with my life?

What is the thing that wakes me up every morning?

I go blank…

then it makes me nervous, O gosh, I don’t have a purpose in my life..i am a wandering soul and do not know what I want from my life?

Then I say…

happiness…in everything I do…a happy life

Can this be a purpose…

Every year, at the start with resolutions and affirmations. The list ends up becoming either a shopping list for home makeover or self-makeover or a wish list of places I want to visit.

And then I heard Kashiana Singh talking about her concept of ‘work is worship’.

“Work is worship & work is ultimate pursuit of happiness”

The statement is profound, I thought.

I have witnessed ‘work is worship’ when I was a little one and I saw my father being an avid follower of ‘work is worship’. His dedication towards his work, punctuality and accountability has been commendable. This is his way of life. every time, every single day on a repeat and recurring mode. Mapping his everyday purpose of life to his family needs and purpose of his organization. 

Somehow in the daily grind, work for us or me has become a, to & fro to office & back home, meetings, to do list, action tracker, emails, deadlines, convincing, negotiating….communicating.

I have always searched my purpose of life outside work, but life and its purpose lies in the mundane.

from archives

Kashiana Singh is TEDx speaker ‘Worship as a Work Practitioner’, author of book ‘Shelling Peanuts & Stringing Words‘ and a management professional.