Every child is asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
In high school, the question is recast, “What will you major in when you go to college?”
After college, well-meaning folks ask about jobs, then marriage, then children, ad infinitum. Society has a plan for your life. So, where does that leave those like me who diverged from those expectations?
My husband and I are OINKs. One income, no kids. Translation: I am not a parent and I didn’t have a career. Thus, the emergence of the haunting, self-directed question, “What IS my purpose in life?”
Susan Pitman, a fellow Hope*Writer, wrote a beautiful musing about “purpose.” The final statement stuck with me all day:
“You and I have purpose: every minute of the day.
Trust the journey to reveal purpose as it unfolds in and through you.”
(see complete Instagram post here)
Her thoughts offered permission to reframe my “purpose.” And in that space, a response to the old, nagging question emerged.
True: I cannot point to a single, “big” life purpose. AND, the absence of a traditional role of mother or career woman has afforded me the time and energy to fulfill many small purposes. Furthermore, those unpretentious purposes ARE significant and create a beautiful montage.
A mosaic’s beauty is the product of many small, diverse components pieced together. Likewise, my purpose has been a collection of small, intertwined purposes.
Oh, the joy that this revelation brings! I am experiencing a paradigm shift, untethering me from the former haunting accusations and freeing me to step back and recognize my unique, mosaic-like purpose. It has been here, unfolding all along.
#HopeWriterDay
Kristin, this was one of your best posts that I have read in a while. You did an amazing job pinpointing a common occurrence with women— what happens when our life turns out differently?
This was beautiful and such a helpful reminder that true inner joy is a perspective shift away.
On Thu, May 27, 2021 at 11:47 PM Pondering Friend to Friend with Krist
Oh Kristin, you are such a beautiful woman! Your friendship means the world to me!
Thank you so much, Joyce! I so enjoy our friendship and sharing our writing with each other.