Have you found your purpose?
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Warwick RI
Posts: 1,276
Have you found your purpose?
Maybe finding a purpose keeps us sober?
There is no purpose in getting alienated..and being shut up in a house or a room.
I'm feeling poetic tonight...my creativity side...lol..
There is not purpose in going to the packy.
There is not purpose in drinking 5 shots of Vodka and having some beers ...other than getting to drunk
No purpose in lying to those that say...your 'OFF" and insisting your NOT.
No purpose in waking up at 3am sweating from alcohol withdrawal.
i found a purpose besides alcohol....it gives me something else to focus on...because if my mind and body are not busy in early sobriety....than my mind will BE otherwise obsessed with alcohol...and what a terrible person, weak person I am. (no alcoholic is weak..its just a lie of the mind).
I would rather think and focus and strive for THE purpose...which is not to be numb...but to feel...give...and focus on a better life to me and all that are involved in my cycle of life.
One Day at a Time...
There is no purpose in getting alienated..and being shut up in a house or a room.
I'm feeling poetic tonight...my creativity side...lol..
There is not purpose in going to the packy.
There is not purpose in drinking 5 shots of Vodka and having some beers ...other than getting to drunk
No purpose in lying to those that say...your 'OFF" and insisting your NOT.
No purpose in waking up at 3am sweating from alcohol withdrawal.
i found a purpose besides alcohol....it gives me something else to focus on...because if my mind and body are not busy in early sobriety....than my mind will BE otherwise obsessed with alcohol...and what a terrible person, weak person I am. (no alcoholic is weak..its just a lie of the mind).
I would rather think and focus and strive for THE purpose...which is not to be numb...but to feel...give...and focus on a better life to me and all that are involved in my cycle of life.
One Day at a Time...
Member
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Right here, right now
Posts: 3,974
Hi Missy,
My purpose is fairly simple and includes a few things. No one knows why we are here. But while I’m here, my purpose is to inspire and help other people every day, even if in a small way, to be the best version of myself as possible, to be the best parent I can be and to be creative. For all of this to happen effectively, I am staying on the sober path
I was thinking about my purpose several months ago and posted here. I received so many good responses. I can’t find that post though. Otherwise I’d send you the link. I’m not very good at navigating this site
My purpose is fairly simple and includes a few things. No one knows why we are here. But while I’m here, my purpose is to inspire and help other people every day, even if in a small way, to be the best version of myself as possible, to be the best parent I can be and to be creative. For all of this to happen effectively, I am staying on the sober path
I was thinking about my purpose several months ago and posted here. I received so many good responses. I can’t find that post though. Otherwise I’d send you the link. I’m not very good at navigating this site
Canine Welfare Advocate
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 10,962
Originally Posted by Fearlessat50 
I was thinking about my purpose several months ago and posted here. I received so many good responses. I can’t find that post though. Otherwise I’d send you the link. I’m not very good at navigating this site
https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...e-purpose.html (Anyone struggle with purpose?)
Member
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 290
The last line of Dante's Paradiso described God as "the Love that moved the sun and the other stars." (you started it with being poetic )
I'm working on a more specific purpose for myself, too, and I notice the common themes of service, love, movement, life, giving, others always come up. There's something deep, deep within us that wants to be useful. Useful for what? To whom? It's hard to say, exactly.
I read an info page for an aikido dojo that described transforming our very selves and our lives into a work of art. The sense of "good" that flowed through me reading that was inspiring. Similarly, St Therese of Lisieux found purpose "doing little things with great love." It's helped me view my job, for example, not as a chunk of time I have to spend somewhere, but a series of activities that allow me to move, think, meditate if it gets boring, convert some of the labor to money for charity, etc.
I never realized until I stopped looking for "a purpose" that much of what we do already has purpose, it's just that we're not aware of it. The more aware we become of it, the more fully we live each moment, and those mindful moments, strung together, weave a tapestry of a purposeful life.
)I'm working on a more specific purpose for myself, too, and I notice the common themes of service, love, movement, life, giving, others always come up. There's something deep, deep within us that wants to be useful. Useful for what? To whom? It's hard to say, exactly.
I read an info page for an aikido dojo that described transforming our very selves and our lives into a work of art. The sense of "good" that flowed through me reading that was inspiring. Similarly, St Therese of Lisieux found purpose "doing little things with great love." It's helped me view my job, for example, not as a chunk of time I have to spend somewhere, but a series of activities that allow me to move, think, meditate if it gets boring, convert some of the labor to money for charity, etc.
I never realized until I stopped looking for "a purpose" that much of what we do already has purpose, it's just that we're not aware of it. The more aware we become of it, the more fully we live each moment, and those mindful moments, strung together, weave a tapestry of a purposeful life.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: UK
Posts: 547
Originally Posted by BrianK
The last line of Dante's Paradiso described God as "the Love that moved the sun and the other stars." (you started it with being poetic )
I'm working on a more specific purpose for myself, too, and I notice the common themes of service, love, movement, life, giving, others always come up. There's something deep, deep within us that wants to be useful. Useful for what? To whom? It's hard to say, exactly.
I read an info page for an aikido dojo that described transforming our very selves and our lives into a work of art. The sense of "good" that flowed through me reading that was inspiring. Similarly, St Therese of Lisieux found purpose "doing little things with great love." It's helped me view my job, for example, not as a chunk of time I have to spend somewhere, but a series of activities that allow me to move, think, meditate if it gets boring, convert some of the labor to money for charity, etc.
I never realized until I stopped looking for "a purpose" that much of what we do already has purpose, it's just that we're not aware of it. The more aware we become of it, the more fully we live each moment, and those mindful moments, strung together, weave a tapestry of a purposeful life.
)I'm working on a more specific purpose for myself, too, and I notice the common themes of service, love, movement, life, giving, others always come up. There's something deep, deep within us that wants to be useful. Useful for what? To whom? It's hard to say, exactly.
I read an info page for an aikido dojo that described transforming our very selves and our lives into a work of art. The sense of "good" that flowed through me reading that was inspiring. Similarly, St Therese of Lisieux found purpose "doing little things with great love." It's helped me view my job, for example, not as a chunk of time I have to spend somewhere, but a series of activities that allow me to move, think, meditate if it gets boring, convert some of the labor to money for charity, etc.
I never realized until I stopped looking for "a purpose" that much of what we do already has purpose, it's just that we're not aware of it. The more aware we become of it, the more fully we live each moment, and those mindful moments, strung together, weave a tapestry of a purposeful life.
Lovely post, thank you. Very relevant for me today I've been struggling with this recently.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 5,169
Originally Posted by Misssy2
Maybe finding a purpose keeps us sober?
I can answer the following questions in the affirmative, however.
Am I happy?
Do I enjoy my life?
Am I satisfied?
And for now, I'm willing to settle for that.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 93
I think it was TomSteve who said he could decide to be happy scrubbing a floor. To me, that ties in with finding purpose in doing small things with love. Sometimes that can be enough. My purpose at present seems to be supporting an elderly declining parent. Is it the purpose I would have wished for? No, but I am sure there are many lessons to be learned from this process.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 1,339
I do not have a Grand purpose that I follow, other than to try to be as good as I can at what I do and to try to be more real than I once was when I was wrapped up in my ego and drinking.
I need things to be simple for me early in recovery.
I need things to be simple for me early in recovery.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Right here, right now
Posts: 3,974
Originally Posted by doggonecarl
Member
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 405
"Purpose" is too esoteric for me. However I do have an ultimate goal which I call my Mission along with smaller goals which I've identified to get me there along my life journey.
When I drag my ass out of bed each morning it is with the knowledge of what my Mission is and what I need to do to get closer to fulfilling it. Getting drunk does not help me advance my Mission so it definitely plays a huge role in my sobriety.
When I drag my ass out of bed each morning it is with the knowledge of what my Mission is and what I need to do to get closer to fulfilling it. Getting drunk does not help me advance my Mission so it definitely plays a huge role in my sobriety.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,287
Missy , I think you will enjoy the book "Everything is f*cked" (excuse the title) by Mark Manson.
I started reading it a while ago - because of this very question you asked.
He speaks a lot about hopelessness - how that is the evil emotion that leads us to destruction - if you don't have a purpose/aim/goal you become and feel hopeless.
I started reading it a while ago - because of this very question you asked.
He speaks a lot about hopelessness - how that is the evil emotion that leads us to destruction - if you don't have a purpose/aim/goal you become and feel hopeless.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: US
Posts: 5,095
I think if one finds a purpose that is great.
I know I circled the drain for a long time because I compared my seeming lack of purpose to what I perceived were the great purposes that others had. And that perception could have been completely wrong. Who knows.
My purpose now is simply to be content with whatever 'is'. And having the courage to change if I'm not content. If I'm sober, healthy and functioning....that is my purpose.
I know I circled the drain for a long time because I compared my seeming lack of purpose to what I perceived were the great purposes that others had. And that perception could have been completely wrong. Who knows.
My purpose now is simply to be content with whatever 'is'. And having the courage to change if I'm not content. If I'm sober, healthy and functioning....that is my purpose.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Battle Born
Posts: 24
I think when it comes down to the very basics our purpose is to help others - in whatever shape or function this would be is rather irrelevant. I know of nothing that gives longer lasting satisfaction.
But it is up to you to find something that feels worth the while doing for you as an individual.
But it is up to you to find something that feels worth the while doing for you as an individual.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
