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Follow Your Light: Reconnect With Your Inner Gifts and Explore Your Life Purpose by Samantha Aker (Book Excerpt)


CHAPTER 1 

A Sketch of Who You Were

Here’s a sketch of who you were from your earliest days in this world.

It is not a definitive picture—only you can draw that.

But it was sketched by a person who loves you very much.

Perhaps these notes will help you do sooner something your grandfather did only later:

remember who you were when you first arrived and reclaim the gift of true self.

Parker J. Palmer

You were born with light inside you, a calling to use your special talents and passions to serve the world in a way only you can. Someone important has taken the time to “catch your light,” to sketch out a picture of who you were from your earliest days in the world, to help you begin to understand what your calling might be. The journal in this book holds the glimmers of purpose you revealed as you were growing up.

Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world.

Roald Dahl

You may already know some of the information about yourself in this journal, especially the observations from the last few years. However, you probably don’t remember much about what you were good at and what you loved to do as a small child. This is because you’ve changed since then. You’ve grown up, learned to follow the rules, and tried to please others. You’ve conformed to fit in. You’ve left behind many of your early passions, gave up on some natural talents, and lost touch with your childlike belief you could be an astronaut, a superhero, a president, a movie star, a scientist, or anything at all.

Your purpose has been inside you from your earliest days, leaving a trail of clues by way of your talents and passions and the opportunities in the world of significance to you. Those clues, shining brilliantly during your childhood, are now faintly glowing embers. Remembering and reconnecting with your inborn gifts is the only way to reclaim your true self and explore how you can live a fulfilling and meaningful life. To find your life’s purpose you just have to follow your own light.

CHAPTER 2

What Is Purpose and Why Do You Need One?  

A purpose can organize an entire life, imparting not only meaning but also inspiration and motivation for ongoing learning and achievement.

William Damon 

What is Purpose?

A purpose is an intention to use your gifts to work toward something both fulfilling to you and significant to others. It’s not a goal exactly, such as becoming an engineer, earning a certain salary, or having five children. It is more of a philosophy you want to live by; a way you hope to make a positive difference. You may have more than one purpose at a time, and your sense of purpose will probably evolve or change throughout your life. Purpose lies where your personal talents and passions intersect with an opportunity in the world that matters to you.

Talents

Your talents are what you are naturally and exceptionally good at, or outstanding aspects of your character. Some examples of talents include drawing, ballet, pitching, singing, persuasiveness, public speaking, or making people laugh. 

Passions

Your passions are activities or topics you are extremely interested in and enthusiastic about. They are what you love to do or think about when you have free time. Some examples include memorizing basketball statistics, photography, horseback riding, movies, fashion, song writing, or gardening. Passions are not things you are sort of interested in. They are things you are, well, passionate about. Your talents and passions might overlap, but they might not. 

Opportunities

Problems, challenges, or needs in the world that catch your attention and inspire you to help in some way are opportunities for change of significance to you. Examples include online bullying, gender inequality, shortage of special education teachers, access to fresh foods in inner cities, better care for the elderly, literacy, or lack of diversity in a certain profession. Opportunities of significance to you can also be much smaller or closer to home, such as a student in your class who never has a coat, the lack of a marching band at your school, or the fact that the playgrounds in your town are in disrepair.

Why Do You Need a Purpose?

The reason you need to identify a sense of purpose, or at least a preliminary idea of one, is so you can make decisions and plans now to begin moving toward it. People who live without a sense of purpose can suffer from boredom, unhappiness, anxiety, substance abuse, and even physical sickness. On the other hand, those who believe they are living with purpose are productive, fulfilled, motivated, optimistic, and inspired. The world becomes a better place when people are using their gifts to make a difference for others.

You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.

Sir Winston Churchill

What about Money?

It’s normal at your age, or any age for that matter, to want to focus on making money and supporting yourself. You might think you shouldn’t “follow your heart” until you’ve made a living. However, most career opportunities are associated with filling a need or solving a problem in the world. Some of the most successful new businesses, products, and specialized career paths come from providing something others are missing or improving something people are having difficulty with. Prosperity often comes naturally for those who are pursuing their purpose because they are motivated, productive, enthusiastic, and engaged in their work. On the other hand, fulfillment does not come naturally with the pursuit of financial success. Be careful about making decisions based on profit instead of purpose.

 

At the intersection of where your gifts, talents, and abilities meet a human need; therein you will discover your purpose.

Aristotle

 

SAMANTHA AKER is a former high school English teacher, editor, communications manager, and speech writer. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English with a minor in Business and Technical Writing from the University of Delaware, and is a certified career counselor. Some of her passions include reading, kickboxing, writing, skiing, golfing, and the Philadelphia Phillies. Samantha and her three sons live in Haddonfield, New Jersey, where the snowboard was invented (by a 7th grader following his passions) and where the world’s first complete and intact dinosaur skeleton was found. Visit https://www.amazon.com/Follow-Your-Light-Reconnect-Explore/dp/B095MXTTR4/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=B095MXTTR4&psc=1

 

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