Sustaining our Sense of Purpose

by Raymund Tamayo

No task is difficult when it is our passion.

I forget about time whenever I write.

I even forget about food, and if not for my wife and daughter who would constantly remind me that the table is ready, I could go on writing and writing without lunch or dinner.

But there are times when writing can be very difficult.

Questioning my purpose

It’s not about the typing, or the complexity of the topic, or the absence of inspiration that makes writing difficult.

Difficulty comes when I start to question the purpose of what I’m doing.

Like for example, this blog. I could go on and on about finding focus, living with simplicity, and discovering purpose in life, but to what end and why?

Would people care about what I’m writing? Would people benefit?

Sometimes those thoughts come to my mind and suddenly I’ve lost strength, or desire, or hope in what I’m doing.

Lightness of step

James Michener, in his novel The Covenant, tells of a remarkable Bantu custom. When lack of rain and green pastures forced Bantus to move great distances to find new watering spots and hunting terrain, the women joyfully carried large eggs containing their essential water supply. While the eggs were full and heavy the women walked with light step. But as the days dragged on and their physical burden became lighter, their hearts became heavier and their gait slower. For with lightness of their physical burden, their hope of survival slowly ebbed away.

Sense of purpose

Likewise, we can have light hearts although we’re doing something difficult. And we can also have heavy hearts even when our burden is light.

It has everything to do with our sense of purpose.

Whenever we begin to doubt the wisdom and eternal implications of what we are doing, our strength begins to falter.

That’s when I start to ask myself some hard questions:

·         Why did I start this blog in the first place?

·         What motivated me?

·         Am I doing this because it is right or I just want to be famous?

There are many more questions, some more painful, but necessary to bring me back to the reality of my purpose.

How do I get back my fervor for writing and sustain my sense of purpose?

I remind myself that what I’m doing is for something greater than me. A small, simple contribution for that something greater than the measly words I put on paper.

I remind myself that I’m not an accident, and that God created me this way because He wants me to do something for Him.

And that somewhere, somehow, somewhen, someone is going to read something I’ve written here… and it could save his life…

It is then that I go back to writing, more motivated and inspired and purposeful than ever before.