Purpose is sanity

This week was one of those weeks. Firstly, I caught the dreaded lurgy. Secondly I passed said lurgy onto my baby daughter. Thirdly my parents were down. They were helping by doing things but the chaos wasn’t helping my state of mind. Finally, my brain melted.

Between all of the above I was rendered impotent. I started questioning everything about my work, what I was trying to achieve, whether it would ever work. I started looking at alternatives, applying for “proper jobs”. I lost my way, lost my mojo and spun around in circles mentally and physically for a few days.

Then I had a bath. And thought of nothing. And it came to me that the money-chasing was not my forté. And more importantly, it simply wasn’t the point. It never had been. Yes, things are tight, but I’m a startup, that’s the deal!

So I took some time to revisit my finances — bad but not disastrous and then revisited my mission and purpose. It was that purpose that had sounded the giant gong in my head originally; the thing that screamed, “Yes, do this, this is what’s been missing”. And here it is: my purpose is to change the lives of individuals through the meaningful experiences I create. I enable people to be at their best through authentic human interaction. I work to inspire and enhance and bring out the best in others. But the key to all this is — individuals! I don’t operate at an organisational or societal level. I am at my best on an individual level. And why, you might say, is this so important? Because that bit comes first. It has to. Beach volleyball comes second. Beach volleyball is the vehicle — is one vehicle — not the outcome. And that simple understanding is the difference between me loving what I do every day and believing it’s possible or falling into my pit of madness.

My purpose keeps me sane. Keeps me going. Keeps me believing. Keeps me happy. Keeps me loving beach volleyball.