What is your why?  Do you know?

But first, what IS a “why”?  According to Forbes back in 2013, your why is “Deciding how you want to measure your life…making a stand for something and then living your life in alignment with it.”  You can also consider your “why” to be your “purpose”.

Why are you on the planet…in this life…why you get up in the morning…  For most people their why isn’t what they do unless they are lucky enough to either know early on or stumble upon it.

When this blog is originally posted on March 1, it’s my best friend’s birthday and she definitely stumbled upon her why.  As she went through some major adversity in her life, she fell into a job that was worlds apart from her previous day job.  She ended up volunteering for only about four months, but the next year a job opening showed up and whether it continues to be her why or not, for now and at this time in her life her new why is teaching young children music in a way that makes them love it.  She is an excellent and creatively gifted teacher, but she didn’t really know it until she stumbled into a profession she hadn’t tried before except helping at Sunday school.  She may or may not feel like she is doing a lot for these children, but she is definitely shaping them and giving them the gift of her creativity and the love of music.  I truly think she is making a huge difference as each person that touches another can be magic.

Is your why making a difference in the world in some grand way?  Or maybe it’s just the day to day interactions with people and being kind.  And that’s it.  Maybe it’s being there for someone…maybe your why is your children or your grandchildren.  It doesn’t have to stay the same throughout your life.

If you still need to find your why, just know that it is linked to what you love to do, what you are good at and what brings you joy.  It doesn’t have to be your day job; you don’t have to make money at it, but you definitely can.  And it can change at different times in your life.  Put together a list of those things that you love to do and you are good at and then have some fun and try a few ideas out to see if they are your why.  If you get fired up and all excited about the possibilities, you are on the right track.