Clarence Paller
So many of us follow paths that have been laid out to us by parents, teachers, mentors, etc. We try to fit into this life by going with the status quo and just being little obedient serfs doing as we are told. This is easily seen around society from young people to seniors. Just look around you and you will see people who just look beaten down. The spark and zest for life are long gone and being around these people is depressing. These people just exist day after day repeating the same thing over for years on end.
Young people also face this problem, they are so anxious about what to do for a career, that they listen to an authority figure and go into fields which they were told are good, but deep down they dislike. You see this all the time; graduates get their first jobs, and they end up hating it. This is because they are not educating themselves for the idea of gaining wisdom; instead, they are just learning very narrow fields and then molding their lives around that. This is the system; we are all further or fresh on this conveyer belt of the manufactured way of life. Seldom, you find people that have stepped off of the conveyor belt and pursue meaningful purpose, which leads to a meaningful life full of adventure, interesting people, and endless opportunity.
“If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.” ― Joseph Campbell
The problem is we do not want to offend anyone, we do not want to seem different, and we just blindly follow the herd. We will bend over backward to, “keep up with the Joneses”, live up to parents or other authority figures’ expectations, and flex on social media by curating our lives into this perfect feed. This is a very shallow and sad way of living. Frankly, it is very draining and makes us easy prey to depression, alcohol, binge-watching tv, and other vices. Over time this leads to people who are just broken down.
“Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75” – Benjamin Franklin.
This suppression of oneself creates an internal conflict. We are at odds with ourselves because we are falling well short of what we can be and not self-realizing ourselves to our true potential. The answer is simple and requires action.
The first step is the easiest, we just need to tap into our intuition, and this is the voice within that seems to always be there even if it is a faint whisper at first. This inner voice identifies for you the direction to go. For example, say you have a passion for marketing, but work in a completely unrelated field. You want to do something creative and bring your ideas to life. Nothing is stopping you from identifying brands, individuals, non-profits, or starting your own thing and dedicating time each day toward this passion.
Do not expect an outcome; detach yourself from the outcome. Simply create room in your life to work on things that make you happy and give you purpose. Once you identify the players in the area you want to apply yourself to, just reach out and explain how you can be of service and why you are passionate about the field. Give and do not ask for anything in return. Finding purpose is not something quantifiable with a money sign. Once you start offering your time without asking for things in return you will find that no one will say no.
When you truly want to contribute without selfish reasons, then people and opportunities will resonate with you. Once given an opportunity, apply yourself. Make time every day, weekends, and evenings toward this passion, and add immense value. Over time, you will make connections, open opportunities, and soon find that your path is opening for you. Don’t expect instant results and for your life to change on a dime. Great things take time, but I can promise that the time you dedicate to your passions will pay dividends compared to the endless hours watching Netflix or some other waste of time activity.
Once you are on your path, your intuition becomes louder and louder and the path ahead for your life opens. There can be days where you think, “Am I wasting my time? Where are the results? Why isn’t my life improving the right way?” The answer is through willpower, consistency, and trusting the process, you will eventually go places in life. Otherwise, you will always be dreaming and never doing, and that is the path to a wasted life.
