Daring To Find Higher Purpose Beyond Crippling Disappointment

Again? Seriously? It’s that gnawing feeling. Those recurring thoughts you hate.You know the ones:

• It’s too late for you.
• You’ve stayed in that job too long.
• You’ve made too many mistakes.
• You’ve wasted too much time.
• You played it safe for so long
• You let your best years slip away.
• You’ve burned too many bridges.
• You’ve lost hope of your life ever changing.
• If it weren't for all of those mistakes.

When you hear talk of purpose in life, you think that’s just for the under 30 crowd. You know, those who still have plenty of time. Whose prime of life is still in the future.Or it’s the overachievers who have it all together.You know the ones who haven’t made as many mistakes as you have made. They haven’t  squandered the opportunities you have. They are yet to know the disappointments and devastation you’ve known.That purpose stuff is for those “perfect people” with the “perfect families”, the “perfect jobs” and the “perfect life".Oh poppycock! 

It's Not Too Late!

Whoever you are, wherever you may be right now as you read this. Even if you are able to read this and someone is reading it to you, there’s still time for you. Time to find…and fulfill your higher purpose in life.Yes indeed.Your failures, or the failures of others that were forced on you haven’t disqualified you from living a life of higher purpose.Actually, it’s quite the opposite. Take my friend Tiffany. She was abused as a child — certainly that was not anything of her own choosing or doing. She could have checked out in life. Been a victim and lived into that victim identity.Instead, she realized the pain of her past uniquely equipped her with insights, understanding, and compassion that  allow her to connect with children currently living in similar circumstances and situations.Today, she and her family, lead an orphanage in Guatemala and care for 80 girls rescued out of similar situations. Tiffany now realizes that the love that has filled her heart and life is her greatest asset for serving others.[Tweet "You are not defined by your past. Rather, you have been refined by it."]Just because you’ve been knocked down, doesn’t mean it’s over.

My Dark Season

Let me take you back to perhaps the darkest season of my life. I left a great job with a Fortune 50 company just six months after finally landing my dream job. You see, that dream job wasn’t all I had dreamed it would be.I had friends who were in the early phases of a promising high-tech start-up. I jumped ship. I walked away from a secure jog and a promising career. No bed of roses either.Within six months the bubble burst. The economy collapsed. Our start-up folded. Jobs were disappearing. People and companies filed record numbers of bankruptcies.I was hosed.In eight short months, we went from being in the best financial position of our married life to being in the worst. Yes, I said we, for I took my family with me on that ride. I didn’t drag them, they went willingly. And supportively.I was out of work for an extended period of time. Broke. Humiliated. Hopeless. Strapped. Angry. Perhaps worst of all, Isolated.And then it got worse. After a couple of months of rejection and unemployment that depression kicked in. Those were long, dark days and longer, darker nights.I wish I could tell you that everything changed overnight. That wouldn’t be the truth. That’s not how it was for me.What I can tell you that is true is that overnight, everything began to change.

To Risk or Not To Risk

I still remember visiting a church service with a friend. That day, the sermon was on faith. The pastor said, you could spell faith, RISK. Later in the sermon he said,[Tweet "For some of you, the greatest risk you will ever take, is to take no risk at all."]Bullseye! He was talking to me. I may not have been the only one he was talking to. But he was talking to me.You see, my failures had closed me off to risking anything. Ever. Again.I had determined to play it safe. To never ever do anything that involved any degree of risk again.[Tweet "The walls I had erected to protect me, had now become my prison."]The restlessness wouldn’t leave me alone. I wasn’t content playing it safe or small. It’s not how I was wired.It was bad enough that I wasn’t making a difference for anyone. What was worse was I wasn’t even making many dollars either. It was a desolate and desperate place.At that moment I made a decision. A decision that I would be willing to take risks agains. Actually, I think I realized I had to take risks again. As Marianne Williamson put it, “Your playing small does not serve the world.”While I may not be able to relate to your specific journey or circumstances. I have known disappointment, discouragement, and disenchantment. Actually, they still show up on a regular basis. More often than not, I recognize them and send them on their way.There’s more to my story, maybe I’ll share it later. There’s more to your story too.

Start Writing Your Next Chapter...NOW

Your current situation, however difficult or dire it may be, does not have to the final chapter of your life. I invite you. Actually, I implore you, dream again!Be willing to risk. To reach within and discover your unique contribution to the world and the next step to take to bring it to life.Silence those nagging notions that it’s too late for you by taking action right now! Download The 5 Questions You Must Answer to Align Yourself With Your Higher Purpose. Invest the time for introspection to discover your answers to these five questions. Then commit to taking a next step. It doesn’t have to be the perfect next step. You simply need to move. Forward.Find someone to talk to. Someone with whom to discuss your answers to these questions.Buy Profiles of Purpose: Stories of High Achievers Who Chose a Higher Purpose and read the stories of others, like Tiffany, who chose to find and fulfill their higher purpose in life.