This week’s Inspiration is another throwback to Inspirations from years past. I originally composed this on March 23, 2012.
This past week I had lunch with a friend who I consider to be one of my life mentors. As we dined, in response to my prompting, he shared with me a bit of his life story. Without divulging too many details, he explained that, like most of us, from young adulthood into middle age he was caught up in playing the success game. He learned to play that game masterfully. At a relatively young age he had amassed all of the trappings that accompany those that win the game; money, toys and power. Still, with all that and more in his grasp, he sensed deep within himself that something vital was missing. After much searching, probing and reflection, he came to the realization that the true purpose of life is a life of purpose. He abandoned the business world and became involved in building a faith-based outreach to the poor and disenfranchised within our community. Surprisingly, he discovered that his abandoned quest for success didn’t leave any vital holes in his life. To the contrary, not only were the holes that he had given up filled, so was the hole that initially drove him to begin his search for significance.
After hearing his story, I responded that, while I admired the obvious courage it took for him to take such a leap of faith, I was certainly not as courageous. He smiled and replied, “All of us are called to something. The importance lies not in what we are called to do. The importance lies in our ultimate willingness to answer the call.”
After lunch he handed me a book and encouraged me to read it. The book is titled Half Time authored by Bob Buford. I actually didn’t start reading it until last night. Perhaps I was afraid that it might influence me to take up a monastic life in some remote corner of the world. However, once I began reading it, I couldn’t put it down. In it I found direction and the answer to a question that’s been on my mind more and more lately.
I’m not sure exactly when the seed of the question began to take root, but last year it sprouted in earnest. Perhaps it was a result of my son’s bladder cancer diagnosis. Perhaps it is because I turned sixty. Regardless, the question that has been pervasive in my thoughts is that when my life journey ends, will I know what my true purpose in life was and will I have accomplished it?
I know I’m not alone in pondering this. All of us do to some degree. It just seemed such a personal question that I invariably found myself in a solitary place when contemplating it. My friend and this book revealed that, while the question lies at the core of each of us, it is the answer that is personal and customized to each of us. It boils down to this: Once we can answer why we live, then how we should live is revealed in clarity.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery once wrote, “Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself.” The self-survival instinct is powerful in all species, but what separates humans for all other inhabitants of our planet is our ability to equate living with more than just breathing. That being said, most of us devote either all or the better part of our lives in a 24/7 quest for success and its attendant benefits. That certainly aptly describes me. I’m not knocking success, effort, dedication, profit, or responsibility. That’s not my point. My point is that “success” as we typically define it will not provide us with the ultimate fulfillment that we need to make our lives complete. Significance does.
So, what is our purpose in life? While the specifics are not the same for all of us, we all share a common foundation. Our purpose in life is to lead a life of purpose. It is there that we will find significance and it is there that we will find peace and comfort when inevitably we find ourselves at the end of our journey.
Find some cause outside of yourself. Make some effort to touch other’s lives in a positive way. Give of yourself with no expectation of repayment. Minister and serve. You don’t have to abandon your worldly responsibilities or your quest for success. Not all are called to the same method of finding purpose and significance, but we are all called to some purpose other than ourselves. Finding that purpose and embracing it with the same fervor that we devote to attaining our success is the pathway to our finding our significance. The importance lies not in what we are called to do. The importance lies in our willingness to answer the call.
“A person of character seeks true happiness in living a life of purpose and meaning, placing a higher value on significance than success.” – Michael Josephson
Have an AWE-full weekend!
William J. “Bill” Bacqué