Do I always live a life of purpose?

Honestly, no—not all the time—but I’m working on it.

I fail at it, a lot. I lose my way, I lose my focus, I lose my temper. Sometimes, I even lose my will to carry on.

I’m only human—flawed, scared, and sometimes battered and broken—but as long as I have my faith and the love of my family and my friends, I know that I will always be able to pick myself up, dust myself off, and try again.

Here’s how to pick ourselves up again and live a life of purpose:

Stop trying to make sense of the world. Instead, try and make sense of your own life. Stop trying to fit in in a world you don’t feel comfortable in. Make your own path—life is short, so live it. Do what makes you happy and be with the people who bring joy, peace, love, and comfort into your life.

Remember, if someone is only bringing anger or pain into our lives, it is our choice to either keep them around or move on.

Don’t let past hurt, past betrayals, or past disappointments dictate how you see the future. Take them as lessons—they taught us how to heal, how to survive, what we deserve and what we don’t, what we need, and what we should avoid. Forgive people, not for their sake, but for our own peace.

Remember, we can forgive someone but not allow them back into our lives (that is entirely optional). This is something that I have struggled with the most this year.

If you’re not happy where you are, move. If you’re not happy where you work, find something else that will bring you joy. Somewhere you feel excited to get up for work and exhilarated about what you do.

It’s unbelievable what being excited about what we do does for our mood, health, and overall well-being.

Be courageous. Sometimes, we find ourselves in a rut, but what we forget is that it’s a self-imposed rut. We have the power to change that by making good choices, being brave, being different, and being who we are meant to be and not what we’re told to be.

Be fearless and adventurous but sprinkle in a little bit of caution because that little bit of caution is the difference between courage and ignorance.

Have faith. Faith in yourself and in love (real and honest love)—it exists, and it will find you. Trust in your beliefs and stand up for them, but be open to listen to other points of view.

Be kind, always. You never know how much of an impact you can have on someone by simply being kind. It could make a huge difference to someone who has lost their faith, their trust, and their way.

~