I'm sure this year, maybe even this month, you've been in a position where you have questioned your purpose. It might have been who am I? Or what am I doing here?
Then maybe followed up with: 'I'd like to be over there'.
Speaking to myself probably more than anyone, I have realised again and again that just because you know what your passion is, and even if it aligns with your purpose, it doesn't make it any easier to get to where you're fixed on going.
I love the book 'The Dream Giver' by Bruce Wilkinson. It was read to me as a teenager by a youth leader and it's one of the books that I've read over and over. I am often reminded of it when I'm in one of 'those' moments, where the opportunity to quick fix or short change or settle for less arises.
Wilkinson talks about almost getting 'there' when we can be easily distracted and settle where we are or quickly change for something that makes us more comfortable and less afraid. We justify it by thinking it looks like the dream, smells like the dream, tastes like the dream, but it's not quite the dream.
It's so easy to short change ourselves so close to the goal post when those opportunities arise. But we don't actually see that in a rugby game. The team doesn't stop pushing through just before the try line. A runner doesn't slow down and walk along the finish line chute, in fact, a runner will runner harder (even if only perceived) than they have for the whole race just to cross the finish line.
Seeing the end usually spurs a runner on and gives a new lease of energy.
The key is to know what the passion is deep within you. What gets you excited to talk about even when others think you're weird. What stirs you? When you know that thing, write it down. Everywhere. Keep your goals in sight. Don't be distracted by what looks easier for now, because it will likely make the road more difficult later on. The more we are reminded of what we are fighting for, the more it fuels us to keep going.