I’ve heard a lot of people talk about “Mission” and about “Purpose”. Many go into loads of detail about what the difference is between the two. As if though they actually know. As if these aren’t just using words that point to a truth. As if these words are truths in themselves.
What I know, in my own life, is that there are certain activities, projects and tasks that inspire me to get off the couch and get things done.Does this mean that these activities are part of what I was “meant” to do. And anyway, what could “meant to” even mean?
What I can tell you is that I am very sad about the fact that so much of my life has been spent doing things that I have for some reason or the other just felt that I “had to” do.
- I “had to” go to school.
- I “had to” go to the army.
- I “had to” finish varsity.
Even in my married life I have done the things the I “had to” do. The business that I have built, for the most part has absorbed my time and energy (my life in fact) to do the things that I “had to” do in order to ensure that the business does not fail. For so much of my life I have done what I have done because I have feared the consequences of not doing them. This may be true of your life too. You may be reading this and saying “Well that’s just the way things are, how cant hey be any different?”
Perhaps though, the way for me to find my way out of this trap is for me to reflect back on my life. Because I know that there have been times where I have felt that I have been energised and driven not by fear by by something else. There have been times where I have been overcome by a strange passion. A energy perhaps that would motivate me to wake early in the morning or push until late at night. Where creativity would continue to sprout forth. Where I just felt that there was no stopping until I had achieved the immediate task or the project that had come to occupy my mind.
- I feel this sometimes when I write.
- I feel this sometimes when I build
- I felt this when Pebblespring farm came to me
- I felt this when I have fallen in love.
I know what I feel. I cant lie to myself at a deep level inside. I know that I want to make a difference. I know that I want to change the way things are. I want to change the reality of how things are for me and for so many people, who are caught in desperate and frustrating lives where they are living in fear. Where they are doing things every day, every week, every month only because they fear the consequences of not doing them. I feel energised when I imagine myself playing some small role in building freedom for myself and for these people who are trapped like me. No, I am not trapped in poverty nor in ignorance. I am not trapped by disease or physical ailment. I am not a slave to a cruel religious sect. In fact I am relatively free.
Perhaps this relative freedom helps me see how paths and routes to freedom can be built for those who are ready to free themselves. I don’t know. But I do know that I am drawn to do this work, I am tempted to say that Building Freedom is my purpose. I am tempted to say that my immediate mission is to do what ever I can to share tricks and tips that will help you and others reading this to build freedom in your own lives. But I have decided not to use the words “Mission” or “Purpose”. Rather I will say that I am following my heart. I am doing what I love to do and if you reading these pages are able to grow or become more free from what I have to say and to share, then that’s also great.
THC 12 November 2016
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