My birthday
is coming up soon, that was just a fleeting thought I had during the week. A
more permanent thought or realisation is that, I am fast approaching 30 years
of age and that’s enough to make me want to pull my hair out or go hide in some
dark closet somewhere and not come out for a very long time. Ok, maybe I am
being a little over dramatic.
The point
is this though, when I was growing up, I had a list of goals I wanted to
achieve, things that I wanted to be. I had my whole life planned out; I would
finish school by 24, be married by 26 and have my first child when I was 28.
This was the course that I was going to take and this was how my life was going
to play out. This was before I learnt that we may make plans but life doesn’t
always follow what we perceive to be a logical sequence of events. Sometimes in
between the plans that we had for ourselves, life really happens. Maybe that is
why they say; “life is what happens when you busy making other plans” Is that
even a quote or a line from some song? Either way that line makes total sense
right about now.
So I am
turning 27 years in a few days and let’s see how my plans worked out. I
completed my degree at 22 and my honours degree at 23. Had a baby at 25, not
married and no where near the fulfilling career I had imagined myself having at
this age. I didn’t do so badly on the planning front but the truth is, as one
ages or grows older, you start to question yourself and where you are in life.
How far you still are from doing all you wanted to do with your life, more
importantly what significant impact have you made in the lives of those around
you.
The older
one gets the less life is just about living from day to day and surviving. Add
children to that equation and you will realise just how imperative it becomes
to live a meaningful life and to live a legacy that they can model and live up
to, one day when you are no longer around. I cannot think of one person who
does not want to live a life that brings them joy and inner peace and one way
of attaining that, for me, is to find one’s purpose in life. The problem though
is that, some of us are not privileged enough to know right from the start what
our purpose is. Take me for example, I know that I have a passion for helping
others and that’s the main reason why I chose to study psychology. I want to be
able to touch others and assist them to make a difference in their lives. I
also know that I have gift of words, writing and putting things in perspective
through words. My aspirations have never really centred on wealth, or making
money. So how does one take all of that and put it into a logic that echoes
what your purpose is?
It has
never been as important as it is now, to find that sole reason why I was created
and why I am placed where I am. Not only to know the reason but to fulfil it as
well. It shouldn’t even be an age factor, the sooner we start to ask ourselves
these hard questions, the sooner we are able to live in the path that we are
meant to travel in. We shouldn’t wait for a specific age to chase our dreams or
to create in us the people that we admire and aspire to become. It should be a
conscious decision that we make everyday, to not only dream of a certain life
but to take active steps towards that life.
Contrary to
the tone set in the beginning of this blog, this is not about regrets or
feeling inadequate or the sense of hopelessness that comes with not achieving
what we want or desire. This is a reminder of how time passes, perhaps even
flies by without us realising it. It is a reminder that we are created to do
more than just survive and that we have a responsibility to find and create
ourselves and use the time that we have been given to the best of our ability.
To pool together our inner resources and push boundaries and break limitations
to become all that we were created to be. For some, the reminder may come from
reading this blog. Or as in my case, by an event such a birthday, that’s
reminds us, how much time has passed and forces us to evaluate what we are
doing against what we should be doing.
I wish I
could end this blog by saying I have had my light bulb moment and found my
purpose but sadly reality doesn’t work with a script. However, I am feeling
positive about the future because I have come face to face with my fears. The
realisation of time gone by without having done all that I wanted to do. It is
no reason to go in depression mode and label myself a failure. It is an
opportunity, to search deeper within myself to find what drives me. It is a
chance to wake up everyday with the decision to actively work on myself and my
dreams. Not because I am fast approaching 30 (sadly) but because that is what I
owe the Universe for the gift of life that I have been given.
If any of
you has not found that drive as yet, irrespective of their age; it is never too
late to start over. Where you are and give yourself a clean slate, a blank page
and start writing your story over. Not influenced by your past or your present
but driven by the desire to be all that dwells within you. To give it that
opportunity to shine on the outside and hopefully in the process, light up
someone else’s life.
