Beginnings - CW Response to Anonymous

It’s fun, “Anonymous”, to respond to your comment for both Vicki and I hope that conversations with people develop in blog.

 It is my deep belief that we all come to this life with gifts and a primary task of our lives is to learn about, then find, ways of sharing all the gifts we bring. We all have gifts ~ we all have a purpose! We are called to seek, to discover those gifts then share them with the world. It may be the ability to be a friend, to garden, to be an artist, a doctor, or a janitor ~ but to be one who loves their work no matter what it is. That we all have many gifts and to share them is why we are born needs to be taught to everyone, old and young!!! Instead, too often, we are taught to find ways to make a living.

 If we don’t discover our gifts, how can we know how to follow our bliss?

 As author and practical mystic, Kathleen Norris writes: “I began to see each one of us as a treasure bearer carrying our souls like a great blessing through the world.”

 This belief has been one which has grown from my own struggles from younger adulthood to the present. It really took root when I lived in Alaska. Living in Alaska was a wonderful thing ~ a blessed time. It opened me to new experiences and to new realities, to come to realize that the energy of life, of my life, is sheer potentiality. Now I look for ways to share those beliefs.

Purpose (cw)

I, too, feel we’re off to a good start! Your latest post has me continuing to think about purpose and change ~ the title Maryanne Williamson gave one of her books, The Gift of Change.

 As I wonder about how to deal with an aging body and the idea of living with purpose I received a gift the other day in a phone visit with my sister by marriage. She shared she has an elderly friend who lives in the community where Francie grew up. At ninety-nine she still lives in her own home, using a walker and taking advantage of Meals on Wheels. Her purpose is writing and sending forty cards and letters a month to an extensive list of people, including Francie. Despite physical limitations she has purpose, one which brings her satisfaction and enjoyment in living. I want to be like that, living with all the changes in my life now, and as I grow older, living with joy and purpose.

 I remember my aunts Kay and Angie who both lived into their nineties, Kay, to almost ninety-six. She not only had purpose but had such a zest for life! She not only continued her painting but, after ninety, wrote and illustrated a children’s book. It is a treasure!

 So, as I deal with the challenge of gardening with my arthritic feet I remember the example those three women are for me ~ and I love what you said about why this time is a gift!!

Purpose (vw)

Carol, thanks for your concise and descriptive post; I think we’re off to a good start and I hope it gets easier to post as we move along. I hear two major themes when you speak about your life experiences as they relate to our blog and our journey together: defining our purpose and nurturing community. Both are lifetime challenges but today I’m drawn to the subject of purpose.

  I’ve met individuals that always seemed confident in their direction (purpose) and I envy their self-assurance. On reflection, it seems that purpose throughout my life originated basically from responsibility, i.e., from where I was at, specific to time, place, and company. Now I’ve lost this active stream of responsibility which carried me along through life’s give and take. Here I am at a crossroads of ageing and a general implosion of my life as I knew it.

 I am presented with a whole new scenario.

On one hand, I feel very alone, with a lack of self-confidence to degrees I never even imagined before. I understand now that I didn’t realize how much the support and assurance of family fortified me. Purpose? What could be the purpose for outliving my old life? What gifts do I have to offer? We’ve listed Ilchi Lee’s book, I’ve decided to live 120 Years among our favorites. If I’m planning to fill the rest of my days with purpose, that means I have 40 more years to work on it! Seems like a life time! What a different perspective this lends on those years looming ahead!

On the other hand, though defining my purpose seems a daunting task, I must admit that I am enjoying a sense of freedom that’s a new experience for me. I have more time for reflection on where my life is going, could go, and the significant changes I should be preparing to meet. And how exciting to think of the books I haven’t read, the thoughts I haven’t thought and planning for a new adventure. (You know I love to plan). Ironically, I have more time to invest more quality into fewer years ahead.  This time is a gift.