During Christmastime 2017 I had breakfast with my friend Adam Carroll. He walked in, sat down and looked straight into my eyes and said "Have you heard about Paterson Center? They're all about helping people find their purpose. This is right up your alley and you need to check it out."I was immediately intrigued and excited, as Adam is one of those people in my life who I listen to and trust and when he says to do something I do it. And if you don't have a person like Adam in your life - find that person.
I watched the LifePlan video on the Paterson website and eventually (several weeks after my conversation with Adam...did I mention I'm a procrastinator?) submitted a request for someone to contact me to learn more. Shortly after, a kind woman named Kim called me and I told her I wanted to facilitate LifePlans and asked how I can do that. She said they had just changed their certification program and it just so happens the first class was starting soon. BUT in order to become a LifePlan Guide I had to have my own LifePlan done. So I connected with a gentleman named Jim in Kansas City to facilitate my LifePlan.
Before we began he told me I'll have never talked more about myself than when he facilitates my LifePlan. He was right. I thought I was very self-aware and knew my own story but I couldn't have been more wrong. After nearly a day and a half of diving deep into my life identifying passions, understanding how my mind works, pinpointing what gives me life & energy we eventually got to my purpose statement. The Life Dashboard as it's called was an intense, life-giving tool where at the end arises a statement of 'why I exist.' Mine? I exist to help others live out the joyful life God created them to live.
I was overwhelmed with excitement. Forever changed. Understanding why I was put here on earth gave me hope, life, and well....purpose! You might be thinking "how is that a job?". 1) Facilitating LifePlans is a job, but 2) your purpose is much more than a job or career. Your purpose is something you live out across all domains of your life - personal, family, vocational, community, and when applicable - spiritual. And in my LifePlan we put together a plan (sorry/not sorry for the repetitiveness) to live out my purpose in many different ways across each domain.
What's your purpose? Have you found it? How are you living it out? If you haven't discovered your purpose, or you know what it is but need a plan to live it out then the same life-changing experience I encountered may be what you need to jump-start your life. We all have a purpose - we just need to identify it and live it out every day.
Jeremiah 29:11 "I know the plans I've made for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, but plans to give you hope and a future."