Have you had something that you know you need to accomplish, but so far have not? Maybe something that you starting thinking about as a child? Maybe this thing is something you have thought about writing, inventing, designing, producing, creating, but it remains unfocused, a challenge not met.
Maybe that's the mission/life purpose you were meant to accomplish. That hidden, niggly little idea that seems so far fetched, so out of reach. Maybe it's a piece of the puzzle not only of your own life, but of the whole.
Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs ends in self-actualization. So maybe it is nothing more than a psychological stage, but what if it's more than that? What if somehow it's connected to a larger "whole" and is needed to fill in a blank spot. Which in turn then triggers someone else to find and accomplish their piece of the puzzle.
Does this resonate with anyone? What do you think?
33 comments:
Hi Nancy! This one is really hits home...I have always felt this..but never thought of it in terms of a "whole"..food for thought. I do think that sometimes we think..there is more we should be doing.that we havenot achieved our destiny..when we compare ourselves to others achievements..and find ourselves lacking..when in reality the destiny or "lessons we are here to learn" are actually being manifested in the simple life path we are on..ex: a farmer dreaming of the big city..and corporate life..thinking his life is not fulfilling his destiny...when in reality the life path he chose is his destiny...life paths do not have to be bigger than what they are to be right...I hope I explained myself right..OH .thanks for stopping and your comments!
I have to agree with Marlene-I never thought about it this way either. However, we're all interconnected, so I better get busy figuring out MY part in things so I can impact whoever I'm supposed to!
I TOTALLY felt that way about starting an online "tolerance pact". It was poking around in the back of my mind for a long, long time until I finally gave in and did it. I don't know if it will ever make a difference, but I do know for sure I was supposed to do it.
http://tolerancepact.blogspot.com/
This is really strange that you wrote this today because I totally had an epiphany while I was driving to work today. Every day I drive past the National College of Natural Medicine... and I was like "I really want to be a naturopath. I want to be a doctor." I have always wanted to be a doctor, but I didn't know what kind. Who knows if I will ever actually BE a doctor because, medical school, that is expensive and time consuming... but who knows. I am ONLY 26! I keep thinking I am middle aged or something. No offense to being middle aged.. : )
Wow, Nancy, I love this, "What if somehow it's connected to a larger "whole" and is needed to fill in a blank spot. Which in turn then triggers someone else to find and accomplish their piece of the puzzle."
Really makes me think...
I believe it to be true, there is a bigger plan than we can see and we are all pieces of the puzzle. It is so amazing how people are placed in our lives that inspire us, cause us to change direction, to reach for our dreams, to be better people.
Thank you for this! Wonderful post!
Love this. Really struck a chord... am going back to your post now because I want to find out more about that hierarchy thing... oh I love Blogging!x
What an interesting point you make. I am reading the "Nicomachean Ethics", a book a friend of mine gave me before leaving Portugal, saying I must read. There is a part where Aristotle argues that it could only be said at the end of a human life whether that human being had fulfilled his destiny, or had accomplished his potential. He adds that "A dull or unsatisfactory life, or years of disappointment, can be redeemed by a burst of glory when that human being finds the reason for being alive".
Interesting proposition Nancy - whether not adding our piece could throw off the whole puzzle. Somehow I think the 'whole' is strong enough to withstand that - yet would be greatly enhanced by whatever we can add.
I sometimes think that humans are just so creative and so talented that it would be impossible to use all our talents to the fullest in one lifetime. Thus, we would always have, as you say, this little niggling voice saying we could have done more . . . because in truth we could have!
Maslow's heirarchy of needs is not a linear step ladder - even though it is drawn that way. All the needs beneath have to be taken care of before we can move on up. If something happens in your life that affects your self-esteem - then your work lies in re-building the esteem and it would be very difficult to proceed up to self-actualization with low self-esteem. If you are about to proceed to self-actualization and your house burns down or a family member is gravely ill, then those needs pop back up into the forefront demanding your attention and self-actualization has to take a momentary back seat. Wherever we are - is usually right where we need to be, if we are attending to our needs.
Self-actualization is actually the final spiritual rung on the heirarchy even to the extent that it could be compared to attaining "enlightenment". It is not goal-actualization. It is about the actualization of the highest potentialities in a human. I'm not so sure that it is that easy to attain.
Great discussion that you have initiated here!
intriguing post nancy..you always get my brain turning...i imagine there are missing pieces that have been left int eh dusty corners of peoples minds for fear they could never accomplish it. sure someone will come along but how much time wasted? yes, there are things i still need to do...great stuff today..
I am not sure about the hierarchy of Maslow - I have had more progress in my life from the setbacks than from the accomplishments. As far as that nagging idea...I wonder when it will be time for me to take the pulpit. Somewhere, somehow. Rev. Expat. No, I like Right Reverend...actually Damned Right Reverend Expat!
I love this post; but then again I love them all, Nancy.
EFH
Hi Nancy, as you know we are often on similar wavelengths. My idea of "retirement" was very different from the reality I am experiencing here. My life is full and filled with intriguing possibilities.
I find that when I am on the right path, believing that we do indeed have guardian angels mixing and sorting according to the highest needs we are capable of attaining, I feel it. Whether or not I am actually creating something new, I feel good about life and about myself. If there is a larger Plan, and we do have guardian angels, what would they, after all, be doing?
I think they open themselves to those of us who are willing to be changed and enlarged. Look what blogging has gone and done for me already!
When I think about this senselessness of my life, the way I fell into this trap of immigration, what we've been and what we still must go through, I can believe that there must be a purpose in God's plans and accept it somehow. If we are here, God sent us here and he'll certainly look after us.
I feel this over and over. I place my pieces as often as I can. Small pieces large pieces, it doesn't really matter, it is all part of the same puzzle. Wonderful post.
What a fabulous way to start the weekend, thank you....I love to ponder...but mostly I love to believe that all of us...really all of us, are walking this path together, we hit tough spots...we trip up, fall, get up and move ahead, even stagnation must have it's purpose, rest maybe. I believe that a times we feel very connected, and then we move into a growth period, my friend Helen describes it as "Pain, growth, slide". I believe that self actualization might have nothing at all to do with "self". Just thinkin'....
Another thought provoking post. I have had the feelings about what the actual achievement and destiny I am to fulfill, and the feeling that there is more to be done. Was pondering that last night actually. We are all pieces of the puzzle but somehow I have the feeling we are in the role, irregardless of whether we realise it or not. Hopefully time will reveal what we are pondering on now.
What a moving entry of yours. Found me my 'mission' nearly a year ago, on Sept. 15th at a quarter past three (honestly true).
In order to keep this comment in an adequate size, allow me to thank you for reminding - shall write about it in a couple of days.
Please have a nice weekend.
A friend of mine showed me a technique for defining lifetime purpose. First you think of twenty stories about your life in which you felt proud and fulfilled. They can be small or big events, whatever. After you write them down (briefly) you choose twenty words from the descriptions that capture your eye.
From those words you whittle out a sentence that describes your lifetime purpose.
In the end I didn't use any of the 20 words, but the thought process helped me. The idea is that when you're on the "right" path, life is fulfilling and satisfying. Kind of interesting, I think.
My life purpose? "My life purpose is to remember and embrace my legacy as a healer." Works for me.
nancy, this post with it's very interesting questions really hit me over the head, as I pondered my life, my everything and what exactly am I doing...which then led to what if's by the dozen ... I have no answer right now but definitely am pondering...you write the most interesting posts, I don't know how you come up with all of them!! thank you for this...you really got me to sit up and think about many many many [etc] things I may or may NOT be doing with my one and only life.
blessings
x
Thanks for the thoughts and questions Nancy. There are times in my life that I've had fleeting thoughts about missing out on something...like I should have done something and then years later it resurfaces ready to be accomplished. It always resurfaces at just the right time!!! Interesting.
Hi Nancy
I popped over to check your url to add to a post that I wrote after my discussion on blog relationships and your subsequent one on creativity in blogging. This new post I'll put up later today focuses on the interconnectedness of bloggers and fits well with your theme today.
I tend to agree with Bonnie and suggest that we are multifaceted beings who may only get to develop and share a part of our actual creative inheritance and potential in this life time. I also agree that our life's progress is not linear.
There are the obvious chronological events and the subsequent personal development that results from them but I imagine that there are many subliminal progressions also taking place and many lateral ones too... I think that given a slightly different set of circumstances we could become someone quite different to who we are.
I don't see the life puzzle with fixed pieces nor the cosmic puzzle as pre-ordained and set.
Our lives and life is very fluid and organic and mainly a complete mystery. We may even have callings coming through us from previous times, lives, or parallel lives...who knows...
Perhaps it is important to investigate those 'niggles' and look deeply into our souls for our current calling, our passion, our bliss as Joseph Campbell says, but not be scared or limited by the idea that this is the one and only divine destiny that life presents us with...
Happy days
Sounds like the holographic universe, nancy!The whole is contained in each separate piece.
Wow! Incredible comments here. There are several things I need to check out - ideas presented - which always makes me happy. There are so many Seekers coming together. Love it!
Thanks everyone for sharing.
Ah... Mazlow. How he tickled my fantasy and intellect many, many years ago as a college student. Thanks for reminding me to revisit that which gave me passion ...
I think we are all born with a talent -- music, art, intellectual curiousity, writing -- something. Often we get caught up in the day-to-day routine of life, working, taking care of our families and ourselves, doing all the things we have to do, and our talent gets lost in the routine. But it calls to us -- daily -- from the back of our minds. Sometimes if we are fortunate, we get the opportunity to realize our purpose in life, but I would guess that most of us never do.
Picasso, Mozart, Donald Trump -- all people who had the opportunity and the good fortune to follow the paths they were meant to follow, and they all contribute to the "whole" in their own ways.
We are all churning over your words. It's the human condition, the search for fulfillment and purpose. I believe we sense time running out and energy waning. Yet. the desire is still there to find an ultimate challenge.
Yes, that is exactly how I got to where I am today. I had that urge to do what I am doing now, weaving full time at my studio. I never imagined that it would turn out this well.
I am truly living my dream.
This might hit home. But I've just had two margaritas, and I'm not sure.
well, since childhood, i'd planned on being a volunteer to colonize mars - do you suppose that's still an option?
but then i realized that my quest for colonization had to do with my own children and helping them find their way through the universe - a role i am privileged to have still - and with their children - and on and on -
Painting and returning to writing fiction are that for me. I had the sort of feeling you are describing toward the end of last year, when my dream of starting creativity workshops emerged out of another, larger dream. The refuge for people who haven't the space to create. I wanted a studio. Some place to LEAVE my work set up. I have it, and instead of workshops, now I have a couple of women who come to play. To draw or write or paint or all of them. They "Rent" the space and sometimes my time. All because I wanted the space for me, very gadually my "room of one's own" is becoming that space for a few others. The very thing you mentioned is happening--this hole or gap for me is helping others. It's organic, this interconnectedness. I don't know what, if anything, my writing will do. Perhaps if the wish is from something deep inside, it cannot help but spread something important to others. Just as your entry has to those who read it. Thank you.
My mom used to tell me when I was a little girl that God has a purpose for me. I was born to do something specifically for God. I'm still trying yo figure out what that is...
I do believe that my puzzle piece is a contribution to the whole puzzle, but what does that mean? What is my puzzle piece? I think I'll spend some time figuring it out, but I know I'll find the answer.
Certainly resonates with me. I don't have to dig back into childhood, either. I have a violin purchased two years ago that sits silently waiting for me to take lessons. Thanks for budging me in that direction...
thank you for this post. I feel a yearning and wanting all the time. I dream about it and I even feel a change coming. I agree that most of us won't even tap into all of our creativity energy in this lifetime. I do know, that over the past few years my mind has been more receptive to messages and I am trying to find my way on my path/journey.
I really feel that the responses to this post are very intriguing. I really have come away with some very resourceful information.
Good wishes to you all out there living the dream or about to.Nancy's post has sparked off a whole lot of useful and productive thoughts for many.Hope she survives the cabin fever again this year,should mean there's plenty of blogs to keep us all thinking!!
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