Is it a matter of enlightened Yuppies who desire to find their “life mission”, to respect their values, to aspire to a better life, full of meaning, and to strive for more happiness for themselves and their family?
So much ink has been spilled with the coronavirus crisis! Philosophers are bickering about whether or not a new society will emerge. Internet users are glossy with texts, images and video clips on the profound meaning of life, on the need to find oneself, on the beneficial contributions of yoga and other oriental or Amerindian philosophies, on healthy eating, on taking care of one’s body, on thinking about the planet, and so on. At the end of the day, the Covid-19 crisis and its funeral procession will have increased the quest for happiness, for carpe diem, and for well-being.
Is this another Yuppie fashion gimmick? Does it come along the new trends for gluten-free and self-made bread, for bike rides and yoga time, for a vegetable garden on one’s terrace, for a more Zen-like life? In short, are those leading to some sort of dictatorship for the better living and only dedicated to the ones who have the time and the money to take good care of them?
Let’s be careful. I cannot pretend the opposite. No smoke without fire, as the saying goes. But imagine if it were the other way around: would you enjoy living without air, with constant junk food, constant stress and, above all, no real desire for life? In other words, do you really think that this quest is so abstruse and futile?
The mind loves to resist
Nevertheless, our rational mind likes to resist against these new paradigms with a whole series of arguments. Here are a few of them:
What’s the point?
My life is rather fair for the moment. I don’t need to be led by anything or anyone. Aren’t we all going to end up in dust anyway? Aren’t the blissful ones happier than those who ask too many questions and torture themselves?
How do I know I am on the right path?
More seriously, how do I know if I’m on the right track? No way that I am going to consult a guru or anyone who would manipulate my thought. I like my freedom of thought and I prefer vagueness to so-called certainties.
It’s a luxury thing.
I work like a madman to ensure my family’s living standard. At work, we hardly have the opportunity to ask ourselves this type of question.
I need concentration to do this.
How do you expect me to find a way to think about my life mission when I’m already overwhelmed with lots of things to manage? I don’t have the time or the energy to think to the foundation of my life right now.
A life mission and what else?
It’s a Buddhist or Hindu belief that we are on earth to fulfill a mission.
I can do it on my own; I have neither the time nor the money for any type of support.
Thank you for your articles: they bring me a methodology and the rest I can easily find on Google.
And yet…
I was a little over forty years old when I discovered my life mission. In fact, it came down to one word, one verb: TRANSMIT. It became obvious to me at the end of an exercise where my coach invited me to draw my life timeline on the floor, starting from the moment I was born, and even before if I believed in it. In retracing the first forty years of my life, I noticed a blue thread, a common denominator in my desires, choices, goals and achievements. My real happiness was to be able to share and increase the energy and joy around me.
I recalled a tennis match where, at 13 years old, I received the “Fair-Play Cup” as, being a poor player compared to my classmates at the time, I preferred to stay on the side of the court to encourage them. I also remember organizing several scout camps, until the age of 23, or donating time as volunteer ambulance conveyor to the Red Cross when I was 17. I also noticed that I so much like my friends to feel good and happy.
If you analyze your life path, you will find evidence, aspirations, motivation, a way of being that characterizes you, which make you a UNIQUE person. This is the first step towards finding your life mission. A second step is to ask yourself if this evidence helps you moving forward and provides a common denominator for all the actions you take or wish to implement.
Either you feel in phase with this way of being, or you still need to confirm it or even to find it.
My experience has shown me that having determined this mission of transmission allowed me to orient my choices in a consistent way. The choice to be a mentor, coach, trainer, author, professor, and lecturer embraces the same purpose and fits perfectly with the mission I have chosen. Look how so many professionals found the meaning, the rationale behind their daily actions. Just watch the way health professionals dedicate their lives, with unfailing generosity, to help others maintain or regain their health. Isn’t this remarkable?
And you, what are your aspirations? What is your trademark, the one that only belongs to you?
Sylviane Cannio
