Purpose Chasers, Pausing, Paying Attention, and the Art of Being Present
We all chase purpose. The question then is not will we find it, because we will whether we recognize it or not. Rather, the question is where we choose to look; the place of purpose. Less of “who am I?” and more of “where am I?”
This quest for our true purpose often draws us far from home and leads us from place to place and can easily turn into an unending hunt for treasure. Like treasure hunters, we need a proper set of tools, an insatiable desire to keep digging, and a keen sense of awareness to pay close attention. However, I am afraid that us “purpose-chasers” have spent too much time looking up to the sky or out to the horizon and missed looking down at our feet and around our homes. We all crave and need adventure, but we forget that purpose is as much a journey as it is a destination. That looking down and around are just as revealing and romantic as looking up and out.
I feel like I have been chasing purpose my entire life and coming up empty. Like a desperate treasure hunter who follows every lead and potential path hoping “this will be the hit” only to find dirt, bones, and trash. After years of this, looking up to see fields of empty holes can be soul-crushing. But, it can also be life-giving.
This COVID-19 has impacted me personally more than it has professionally. I have asked BIG questions about life, faith, work, and calling and often come up empty. Being socially distanced and forced to shelter-in-home has only increased my pursuit of purpose and deepened my disappointment. It wasn’t until conversations with my wife, reading truths from the Bible, and being forced to pause, pay attention, and be present that I experienced a breakthrough.
Like most breakthroughs, they are inherently powerful and surprisingly simple: maybe my purpose is right here, not out there.
Like most breakthroughs, they are inherently powerful and surprisingly simple: maybe my purpose is right here, not out there.
Purpose-chasers rarely slow down enough to catch their breath. They go, go, go, and rarely pause. They are thinking of what’s next and how to get there instead of experiencing the beautiful tension of learning to be fully present. They are so focused on looking ahead they have lost their ability to pay attention and look down. It’s more about where their feet may take them versus where they stand now. They live in the clouds and forget the dirt we call home. We lose our sense of place when we’re always looking for where to go instead of where we are. Our sense of place is home; and home is wherever we are.
When we stop to pause, pay close attention, and truly be present where we are, we begin to recognize what’s in front of us. We become familiar again with what we have. We regain our focus as things up close go from blurry to clear again. And we begin to discover that the purpose we have searched for and chased all these years was right here. Here. The place we are. The present.
We chase purpose like a lightning bug in the Summer: on again off again never able to keep up, follow the path, or catch it.
We chase purpose like a lightning bug in the Summer: on again off again never able to keep up, follow the path, or catch it.
What if we stopped looking and started seeing? Sometimes I wonder if our obsession with having a vision has blinded us from simple eyesight. Make no mistake friend, this ability to see, to pay attention, to press pause and be present takes patience, persistence, and practice (and probably other p-words too). It may be painful and won’t give you all the answers. But, the learning journey is worth it.
Make no mistake friend, this ability to see, to pay attention, to press pause and be present takes patience, persistence, and practice.
Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, was the greatest example of knowing and living your purpose: he knew his purpose and displayed that the place of purpose is wherever we are, whoever we’re with, whatever we’re doing. This is purpose: learning to live fully in the present place with the people who are with us.
This is the treasure that is under our feet and buried in our own backyards. It’s home. Home is here. Here is the place where we are. And that is the place of our purpose.
Faith Works is a fluid publication of ongoing discoveries on the journey of faith, work, home, and adventure. Because when we believe in every area of life, faith works.
