Our modern daily routines are often very busy. Our lives are filled with duties and responsibilities, not just to ourselves but to our families and friends.
Our life often becomes one in which we live on a moving escalator. We might take time to stand still, but everything else keeps moving around us. Modern lifestyles are more intense than they once were because we have evolved a need to do more things, get more into our daily routines and fill every moment with chores of all types.
Nowadays, even men can and need to multitask! We’re constantly juggling everything. Where to buy the shopping, who to fit in a visit to, where to allocate the money, what needs cleaning, what meals should we prepare, who to answer the phone to and what to write on social media, should we feel the need? Every day is a busy day!
If you had to keep a diary of every single thing you did each day, from getting up, what you chose to wear, what meals you ate, where you went, what you watched on TV, what radio you listened to, what music you chose, what chores you did, what the weather was and how it affected you, how you felt medically, blah, blah, blah. How much paper would you fill for a single week? Well, if you did it properly and listed every single action, even the smallest and most natural of daily tasks, you’d have enough words to fill at least one book! Granted, it would make a boring read, though!
It would only serve to present you with the evidence that your life is full. But I bet something very important would be missing from your one-week summary. The something being referred to is far more important to you than anything you could have written yet remains missing from your journal. It’s simply known as your ‘raison d’être’.
The phrase is French and literally translates as ‘reason for living’. It should be considered as your driving force, what your purpose is with your life, and what your long-term goals are. Politicians often consider what their legacy will be after their career ends, though that is rather a shallow notion of the real meaning.
Your raison d’etre could be considered as the big WHY. Why do you do what you do, why are you living, and why do you want to achieve whatever you want from your lifetime on earth?
You are invited to copy the graphic at the top of this article and print it out, make it wallpaper on one of your devices, or write it out for yourself and stick it somewhere you’re going to regularly see it. Then, spend a few minutes with a pen and paper and draft notes of your raison d’etre in life. It doesn’t have to be nice and flowery with fancy words or phrases. In fact, that’s why it’s referred to as draft notes.
But many people will become stuck here. They won’t know what to write or how to write it. They’ll start to think they have no big purpose other than to keep breathing! Others will write down such lines as ‘I want to become a better medium’ or ‘I want to send healing to more people’. While these are worthy reasons, they are hardly big enough to live a full life by. So, think bigger. Ask yourself deep and probing questions about what you want from your remaining life on earth. Think of it as your lifetime goal.
Work on the draft over time. Define your purpose and your reason for living, your raison d’etre. This is for your private reading, acting as a reminder you can turn to whenever you are feeling down, lost, or wondering what to do. Write your final version out and be prepared to revise it every so often. Carry it with you in your purse or wallet, or pin it somewhere you’ll read it frequently.
You’ll be reminded of your reason for living when you look at the graphic you’ve copied from this article or written yourself. For the purpose of this article, I’ve written an example.
I am the best I can be, constantly seeking to improve my identity. Every day and in every way, I work on being the best ambassador I can be for myself. My raison d’etre is fixed, and my actions are fluid along this journey of this lifetime.
