Finding Your Place

 

How do we find our place in this world?

I think we all struggle with the idea of purpose, goals, and what is expected of us from time to time.

For some people, it can be a career. For others, it can be a calling to something greater than life itself. 

What are we to do when we feel like this? Most people can't change their circumstances. Sometimes we have to accept our place and do our best to move in a direction that is just slightly more tolerable than the last. But is it all worth it if we are just moving to a place of slightly less irritation? Is it worth the trouble? How do we know it will get better? Well, the truth is, most of the time, we don't know.

In school, at least for my generation, we are given certain expectations to hold on to for years. From the time we can say the alphabet, to the time we take our final exam in our last class for the last time in High school, we hold onto those expectations. But the world doesn't care about our place. And we aren't entitled to finding our place. Some say our place in the world is where we make it. That very well could be true. If we are taught a certain mindset to keep our whole lives as children, and then the world shows us a completely different way of life, it turns our heads upside down. How are we to find our purpose, then? It can seem insurmountable to us at first. 

The world can be a scary place. It can take a very good person and turn them into a horrible person. That's powerful. That's corruption. It's life. With that being said, finding one's place in society, in the world, can seem daunting. But it is possible. It can be as easy as breathing for certain individuals, but for others' it can be a matter of life or death. Some may prefer death to the uncertainty of a purposeless life. That can be a scary idea. Imagine someone telling you, “I'd rather not exist than live a life of uncertainty.” That is a very radical statement to hear someone say. How are we to know if not finding our purpose is the end for us? What if it's the beginning of something else?

Life can be hard when you see other people around you all finding what they want to do with themselves. It can make you feel left out, or like you are being dealt a bad hand in life. But not everyone gets to start with the same positives or negatives. And we aren't entitled to our positives, either. While looking at social media, you may see your friends or family living the life you wish you had or doing the activities you desire, but it's mostly a facade. Everyone has issues and demons they are fighting.

It's just a matter of clarity. But I digress. But in finding our purpose, patience is key. Some of us find it immediately, others while walking down the street. And there are those who don't know until they're on their deathbed. But, a big journey in life, is discovering what our purpose is. We weren't made to know what it is immediately. It can take a lifetime to find it.