Your Purpose Doesn’t Have to Be Huge to Make a Difference
Most people think that to have a calling, to have a real purpose in life, that calling has to be something big and spectacular. They spend years trying to find their “true purpose,” feeling uncertain and confused and like they’re wasting their lives on the mundane. But guess what? Your purpose doesn’t have to be huge to make a difference.
So many of us grew up thinking we’d have some amazing career that was going to change the world and make everything better. And some do. But for the rest of us, it can be disappointing to find out your calling isn’t working out as planned. It doesn’t take big acts of heroism, brains like Einstein, or a heart like Mother Teresa to make a difference.
Purpose comes from living authentically and intentionally and doing what God made you to do.
Raising the Future
The simple act of raising your children is a purpose every parent is called to. The difference your parenting makes is huge because those children grow up to be the next leaders and citizens of the world. The little things you do with them daily — like teaching them to considerate of others and not waste food and to be generous with their gifts — you’re teaching them how to grow up to be incredible adults. The love and kindness you model every day will follow them into adulthood.
Giving Encouragement
Your calling doesn’t have to be the cure for cancer (although that would be awesome,) but it can be as simple as writing a few articles that encourage people when they’re down. I have a lot of friends that are writers, and I’ve noticed quite a few of them are writing for people that have emotional struggles or chronic illnesses. They are making a difference in those people’s lives just by empathizing with their experiences and sharing their words of encouragement.
Helping Out in Your Community
There are so many opportunities around your community to make a difference, and so many of them are small acts that take little time but have a huge impact. Volunteering at your local animal shelter might not seem that big of a calling, but it makes a huge difference to those animals, whether you’re there to walk the dogs, clean the cats’ litter boxes, or drop off extra pet food and supplies.
Maybe you enjoy volunteering at your child’s school in the classroom once or twice a week, or maybe you can tutor a student who is falling a little behind in his studies. Maybe you can help the school librarian organize books and read to young classes. These little things all add up to making a difference.
Maybe you volunteer as a den leader for your local Cub Scout pack or serve as a volunteer referee for kids’ sports. Maybe you can serve meals at the local homeless shelter, or pick up litter around your town. Maybe you stop into the local nursing home to provide a little companionship to residents who don’t often get visitors.
It’s All in How You Spend Your Time
You don’t have to change the world, you just have to work on your little section of it.
It starts by being intentional with how you spend your time. Maybe you could cook up a meal for an overwhelmed family with a new baby instead of spending hours scrolling around Facebook or pinning recipes on Pinterest. Maybe it’s spending an hour culling your book collection and sharing the books you’ve already read with your local library so others can read them too.
There are some huge issues in our world that need advocates, even if you can’t spend your weekends devoted to the cause. I care about living an eco-friendly, sustainable lifestyle, but my calling may not be to go clean up the oceans full of plastic. I can still help in little ways around town by encouraging my city to recycle, by picking up litter, by encouraging people to opt for reusables instead of disposables. I can teach children to be good stewards of the earth, making sure they understand why we need to use our energy and water wisely and protect our resources for the generations that come after us.
These little daily things that you may feel called to can make a huge difference because they add up into a lifetime full of purpose. Your purpose doesn’t have to be huge to make a difference, but you do need to do something. It’s up to you to find out what that something is.
