Photo taken by the author in Canmore, AB
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
– Mark Twain
For the above quote I’ll make a blanket assumption here, you know, just step out on a real limb: If you are reading this blog, you have been born, physically speaking. I don’t mean to undermine this event as this quote states it is a very important day, the day you came into this world, and I agree.
So, at this point, we can all say: “Check, done.”
It’s that second most important day, “the day you find out why”, that can prove to be rather difficult for most people in checking off. This is not just true of our culture today but this quest runs deep down through the ages. People, from long ago and today, are constantly asking themselves: “Why am I here?”
Why else do you think there are jobs for counsellors, psychologists, pastors, chaplains, etc? It is this very question that provides employment and income as a global population seeks out answers for this trivial question. It’s a very important question to ask yourself and to keep on asking until you’ve found an answer.
The line after this quote says: “The second day is the day you learn to fly.” Have you ever seen an eagle fly? This is how I imagine it to be like when a person finds out the reason for their existence.
Our family has a ski boat and one of the places we love to go boating is on Lake Windermere, in British Columbia. Towards the south end of the lake there is one particular tall tree on the banks where an eagle or two can be spotted sitting on its branches. The eagle in this area was first spotted by my dad several years ago and we look for them each time we cruise by.
What I’ve noticed about watching these majestic creatures is they often fly high in the sky, higher than most other birds, and their wingspan is ginormous. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an eagle try to fly or work hard at flying. It’s kind of an oxymoron.
They hardly have to flap their wings, yet their motion and movements appear to be effortless, like nothing at all. They can cover great distances expediently. Other times they are just gliding in the sky, barely having to move their wings with great exertion. They look peaceful in that large expanse, at rest, marked by stillness and just being who they naturally are.
This picture is what it looks like to me to have found one’s purpose. It illustrates the reason for why God made me and placed me here on this earth, at this particular place and time in history. When you find out why you were born everything just makes sense and fits together, like pieces in a puzzle.
Do you want to fly?
I know I sure want to.
To be honest, I haven’t found out or discovered why I was born. Pieces of it have come together over time, but I am still on a search for this. This blog for me is about searching and as the one writing this post, I too, am searching for a number of things, including this big one. In a way, this is partly why I’m writing these thoughts, to see if being an author and a writer is one of the reasons for which I was made. I don’t know yet, but the search is underway. I do know that one day this journey of discovery will be revealed to me.
And the same is true for you. You will discover why you were born and you will fly; in fact, you’ll soar. So, in the meantime, keep on doing your thing, keep having hope and keep clinging to the Giver of Life. He will reveal it to you, in due time.
Dwight Van Middlesworth 