What is your purpose?

It’s been almost seven years since I wrote my first blog post. I’m not going to link to it or re-read it, but I can only imagine it holds a bit of scatter-brain text, with the purpose of those posts being vastly different from my posts five years ago, three years ago, and even, this year.

Seven years ago Zack and I were living in Detroit and had been married for just a couple of months. Seven years ago we didn’t have a strong vision for our family or our financial goals. We didn’t have our dog or our two babies, and we certainly had gone on a lot less adventures & moves. Seven years ago I was getting ready to walk into the handmade scene and begin my five year journey as a shop owner.

Seven years ago I barely had a purpose statement for my blog or my day-to-day life. I wasn’t bothered by that, but I also had much less going on compared to today. And to think seven years ago I was “always so bored” ;) Side note: I hardly remember what bored feels like. The things (and people) that kept me busy seven years ago are vastly different from today.

Take the broken terra cotta pot on our counter. I’m honestly not sure when I’ll re-pot it, but the grace-filled truth is that’s fine with me. I am not losing sleep over that broken pot. I kinda like it’s broken self and seeing it’s roots throughout the day. It’s bearing it’s authentic soul to all who pause to look.

Today we are living in Los Angeles. Today we have two healthy, gorgeous, happy babies. And don’t forget about our energetic, spunky dog! We are living in a cozy apartment with very limited space and items, but just like you I suffer from owning too much stuff (and at times, struggle with not owning “more”). We are deeply invested and aware of one other, that’s for sure.

Today we have a very concrete vision for our family and our financial goals. I am so happy with our goals in these areas, oh my goodness. I feel challenged daily and in wonderful ways, and I feel so overjoyed to be creating a home alongside my husband. He’s the best mate for me, the best friend, the best anything-I-need-him-to-be.

Our purposes with our careers and our roles at home have shifted a little bit in the last seven years. Because my heart is set on specific goals it’s been a bit impossible for me to commit to the same amount of time to this blog as I have in years past. But at the same time, I very much take delight in who is taking up my time :) They sure are cute teammates.

My purpose has changed compared to seven years ago, but it has changed for the better. The reward of having such specific goals is better than any “impossibility”.

Year after year I continue to write here because I enjoy this community. Despite what an average day looks like, how much time I have to write or how little time I have, I enjoy the process of blogging. It blesses me that we can share our struggles and our highlight reels and general lists of “things I learned today”.

Just like running helps me to clear my mind, writing is restorative as it helps me to see life from a different angle.

It has been incredibly valuable to spend time at least once per year asking myself, what is my purpose? I apply this question to my personal life and my career life, and I remind myself there is no wrong answer.

Here are six additional questions that have helped me find my purpose:

How do I want to remember most this year?

What personal/career obstacles am I trying to overcome?

What brings me great joy?

What activities do I avoid?

What strengths do I assign myself? What strengths would my family assign to me?

Do I realize saying “no” can later become “yes” (and vice versa)?

I believe we grow insurmountably as women when we recognize it’s OK for our purpose to change from year to year.

If what I was doing today was the same thing I was doing seven years ago then I’d be missing an immeasurable amount of life.

It’s easy to wonder with doubt: What if I have failed to notice that my purpose has changed?

But even better than that: Thank God I recognize I have a purpose (and it can change every year).