There are two questions in life that you must find answers to, or else your life will have little meaning. These two questions are:
“Who am I?” and, “Why am I here?”
“Who am I?” is the question that expresses your inward longing to discover your identity—who you really are, and who you were meant to become.
“Why am I here?” expresses the longing to discover your purpose—finding what gives meaning and fulfillment to your existence.
To the extent that you find the answers to those questions and fulfill your identity and your purpose, you will be successful in life.
By the same token, to the extent that you fail to find the answers to those two questions, your life will be left unfulfilled.
But where do you start? Where do you even begin to look to find answers to who you are and why you are here?
Clues are Inside You
There are clues inside of you that can provide insight into your purpose and destiny. Closely examining what motivates you, what drives you, what you are drawn to; and even what irritates and annoys you, can give you insight into who you really are and what you were born to do in this life. What are you passionate about? What energizes you when you really get involved with it? What are your natural talents and strengths? These can all provide clues to help you discover the purpose you were born to fulfill.
A good place to start your journey is to download and complete Doug Addison’s “Defining Your Life Purpose Activation Sheet.” Doug’s activation sheet contains seven powerful questions that can help you begin to clarify your life purpose.
Know Where Not to Look
You also need to know where not to look for your identity.
You must be careful not to make the common mistake of completely attaching your identity to anything that can be taken away from you. You may devote years of your life to very worthwhile causes, but when that chapter closes and your life goes on without that same involvement in the cause… do you still have an identity apart from the cause? Does your life still have meaning? Who are you then?
You may be very popular in your school. You may be involved in many student activities that give you opportunities to feel acceptance, appreciation and approval,… but what happens after that? The day will come when your days in school will be over. Friends may go their separate ways. The same activities will not be available to you. What then? Who will you be then? Will your life still have purpose?
You may devote yourself to one person who is the love of your life. You may sacrifice for that person, giving up other things that you love for the sake of your relationship with that person. You may change your behavior and your lifestyle significantly for the sake of your relationship with that person, but what if that relationship ends? What if that person that you devoted your life to… leaves you? Or dies? Who are you then? Was your identity so tied up in your relationship that you don’t know who you are apart from the relationship? Does your life still have meaning?
You may devote yourself to your family, sacrificing your own desires and comforts for the sake of your children. Your daily thoughts and activities may revolve almost totally around your children. But one day, your children will leave, not because they do not appreciate all that you have done for them, but because it is time for them to begin living more independently as adults, and possibly raise their own children. What then? When everything that you have focused on and spent your life working for walks out the door, leaving you behind, what is left? Will you still have an identity? Who are you apart from your children? Will your life still have purpose? Will you still find a compelling reason to go on?
You may devote your life to a career, working faithfully for your entire adult life, giving your best years to a job that you may or may not have chosen. One day, that job will end. Your days of getting up, getting yourself ready for work, and taking the same route to the same job will be over. Who will you be when you are no longer the plumber, the teacher, or the technician that you worked so hard to be? Who will you be then? Many people who retire from their jobs die shortly thereafter. Will you be one of those whose life has no meaning apart from your work? Will you be able to find identity and purpose in life after work?
Anything that you can lose, anything that can be taken away from you, cannot be considered a stable source to give you identity—to tell you who you really are. You must find something inside you that is so intrinsically YOU that you could lose everything else in life—every relationship, every position, even your physical attributes and abilities—and your core identity would not be shaken. It is possible! You can come to that depth of complete understanding of who you really are.
Your real identity—who you really are—cannot be taken away from you. You can never lose that. It is possible for you to become so firmly grounded in who you are that nothing in this world can shake you or cause you to seriously question your rock-solid confidence in who you are! Finding that—discovering that identity that is inseparable from you—is the challenge! Once you find it, you will rest in a sense of security, peace, and confidence that you have not known before.
Live for Something Greater Than Yourself!
You can find limited purpose in the roles that you fill in your life—in relationships, in being a parent, in jobs that you hold, in positions in organizations. But roles in life are often temporary. Just as an actor in a film portrays a specific role, and then moves on to fill other roles in other films, you will fill many roles on your journey through life. Relationships come and go. Children may grow up and move out. You may hold positions in companies or organizations that eventually come to an end.
But to truly live the most fulfilling, satisfying life, you must find a cause to live for that is bigger than yourself. You must find a great, grand purpose that transcends your own existence, that is not limited to your own life—or even your own lifetime—but you must find a cause to live for that will have significant positive impact beyond your immediate sphere of influence. You must invest your life in a cause so great that the positive impact of your life does not cease when you die, but the impact of your life goes on forever, reverberating throughout eternity! If you truly find your great life purpose, the universe itself will respond to the positive impact of your life!
You must find a cause to live for that is bigger than you… bigger than your own life. You must find a cause that is worth exchanging your life for—something that is worth dying for.
As Bill Gothard said, “If you have nothing in your life worth dying for, you have nothing worth living for.”
But how can you find the right cause, the right purpose, that is bigger than yourself, that is worth sacrificing your life for, that will give you ultimate satisfaction in life, that will give fulfillment and meaning and purpose to your life? Finding this cause—this reason for living—could answer the question about why you are here, but… how do you connect with it?
How do you find out who you really are, who you were really meant to become, and what you were really meant to accomplish in this life?
These questions are bigger than you are. To find their answers, you must turn to a higher source—to someone Who is bigger than you are. You will only find complete, satisfying answers to these questions by connecting with the One Who created you—the One Who put you here—the One Who put these longings for purpose and meaning in your heart. You must connect with your Creator. He not only created you, but he designed and planned the great purpose that you were created to fulfill! He is the only One Who can fully answer the questions about your identity and purpose.
