So here I am! With an intriguing question before all of us…The question that asks Who AM I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? Why am I born?
Most of the times, this question has been answered spiritually. But here I am trying to share my understanding and experience of what it means to discover yourself. Over a decade long experience of working with people as a psychologist, Life has brought me face to face with situations where I came to understand multiple definitions of the same question. I met people who defined themselves with confidence, had a clear definition of what life means to them and were also clear about what their purpose in life is. Contrary to them, were the people who didn’t see any purpose in assigning a meaning to life. For them, life is infinite, it happens everywhere and in every moment. It only changes the forms but it flows through every particle or atom that has contributed in creating this universe. For such people, life can be experienced in each possible living or non-living form. Beyond these two types, I met a third type of people who felt that life perhaps has a meaning or purpose but they are yet to discover it for themselves. These people though were unaware of the meaning but they were also sure to discover it for themselves. They felt that through every thoughtful and meaningful action, they are inching closer to their purpose.
Of all the above-mentioned types of people, I felt it was difficult to put my finger on who was right and who needs to change his beliefs. All of them were right in their explorations and all of them were certainly going to find a purpose that will be unique for them. And, VOILA!…….I found an answer. I realized that for every question, it is not about finding an answer that can be right or wrong. We all are sharing this planet and many resources visible or invisible. And yet we have our own unique set of experiences. We make our own choices and that makes our experience a different one than many others.
This very realization of each one of us being unique brought my answers. Answers which were there and yet I could not see them. It made it easier for me to accept myself as the judgement dropped. Since each one of us in unique, there can’t be any comparison. Isn’t it wonderful? There is no room for any judgment because there is no parameter on which any two people can be compared. Instead there are facts which are to be explored and accepted. No two people will have the same path to their purpose but each one of them will surely find the purpose.
We just need to accept these individual differences strung by an unseen thread of few commons. Just as my heart can sing its own song, others can also tune into their melodies created by their hearts. Isn’t it so beautiful? I started writing this piece with a question of finding oneself and what I landed as an answer with is this: you can find a piece of your unique self by identifying the commons that you share with others. Just be open to this and Life will surely happen for you.
Purnima Gupta
Psychotherapist- Anahata Mental Health Clinic
