Do you know how many people in this world are still not sure what they want to do or be in the future? I have met people at the age of 50 and above who still question am I choosing a career or a life purpose?
The opportunities that present to people in this life come in unconventional ways. The question is how ready is a person to risk and trust their life purpose over a career? I and many others can say that there aren’t just one or two ways to get to a dream, a career or most importantly one’s life purpose, i.e., each unique to every person on this earth.
Now you must be thinking… I don’t know my life purpose or what it is that I should be doing, am I choosing a career or a life purpose? Perhaps the question is, “I am confused about what I want to study or the job that I want.” Is this then the answer to the question? “Oh yes, I know what I want to be. It’s going to get me a lot of money!” then think again. You know that old saying? Be careful what you wish for. When one lives life intensely has been in the place where all that glitters isn’t gold they then get to the next level and that’s this, happiness brings success and not success happiness. I will say it again, happiness brings success and not success happiness. Serve through purpose in an authentic way and abundance will find you, this is one way to answer am I choosing a career or a life purpose?
Let me take you back in time, even though it might sound like a pity party now when I re-read this article after 3 years while giving it an update.
I look back to when I was a teenager. South Africa was and still is a hard country to live in. During the apartheid era South African Indians, South African Africans, coloureds and Asian students were limited in their studies by the Bantu Education Act. The Bantu Act was designed to make “black” students’ (Indian, coloureds, Asians and South African Africans) education inferior compared to South African white students’ education. Dr Verwoerd returned to South Africa after studying in Nazi Germany and implemented this Nazi ideology among many others. Some universities only admitted white students while in other universities some classes were segregated. The government tried to create universities for South African Africans, coloureds and Indians but if the universities could not take further admission, then South African Africans, coloureds and Indians could attend “white” universities. I remember that, and apart from the expensive fees to pay for university there was also admission according to race. This was in 1996 when Mandela was the president of South Africa and when I was under pressure to make the most important decision of my life, not entirely by choice though. Affirmative action to me left me no better than how things were during apartheid as the system now favoured race in this order i.e., South African Africans, coloured, Indians, Asians and whites. If you had no money to bribe your way into the university you wanted to study in, then you’d be damned, let alone pay for the fees after getting admission into Uni.
The year 1997 was when I realised, I had a talent for writing poetry. I practised whenever I could and missed the literature lessons at school. I believe that it was my missing the literature lessons so much which got me writing in the first place. I enjoyed the lessons on Shakespeare and his work and particularly enjoyed Lord Byron’s poetry. At the same time, I also had a passion for dancing and everything that I seemed passionate about at this point fell into the creative space. So, this is my 2 cents to you, if only I knew what I know now back then, I believe this example will help with the question am I choosing a career or a life purpose?
These were the main reasons why I ignored my purpose and ended up in a career:
- My outside circle of influence had a problem with everything that I decided on and the community I lived in had similar beliefs to my circle of influence. Their opinions were too strong and the lack of self-belief in my goals made me feel that they were right.
- Lack of self-worth or feeling worthy.
- Lack of knowledge and lack of access to knowledge. I didn’t know anyone in my predicament or have trusted anyone to ask the burning questions about my education or how to get to my goals.
- I let self-doubt take over my self-belief. This is where a person’s external influencers play a huge role in what their gut feeling is telling them.
- Limiting beliefs that being a writer, dancer, artist or following any creative career in arts isn’t a career.
- Fear and negativity, the fear of failing even before starting. Fear that in the end everyone else will be right and I will be wrong. Fear around limitations to funding and if a loan was available to me then I probably wouldn’t have taken it because of ingrained beliefs taken on from my surroundings. A mindset of lack clouded by other negative beliefs and thoughts.
Turns out writing has stuck with me and I, with it for 24 years dating to this current article. See, this question am I choosing a career or a life purpose? comes back again especially if a career is what one chose. It comes around again after some years of questioning a person’s authenticity to themselves, basically, a sort of a lie that one chose to believe, like a mask falling off, finally leading the person if they have become conscious enough and aware enough to take a leap on purpose, to bet on it this time after so many betrayals to self. There are still so many people in this world who continue to remain with the mask and there are the very few who remain on a purposeful path. In my case, you can read the story here https://tdenchpatel.com/, yes I decided to act on it 13 years ago and can now present to you all three of my books The South African: True Colours, The South African: Roamer and Children’s book, Light.
Am I choosing a career or a life purpose? If your calling is to become a doctor, nurse, lawyer, baker, painter, electrician, comedian, writer, baker etc. and over time the same thing keeps coming up then this is a good start. Some people might be inclined to believe they have a certain purpose but when they immerse into studying or physically practising it, they realise it isn’t/was not for them. Take that detour and be brave once you’re certain about this. There are so many people continuing on the path feeling so unfulfilled because they kept and keep ignoring the signs and didn’t and don’t stop to listen, almost like some autopilot or zombie movie. The signs and noise get so loud over time and that’s when people are forced, perhaps through some sort of an interruption in their life to finally take a detour in the right direction but understand that it’s not something for the faint-hearted.
I wish you well and all the best in fulfilling your life purpose or mission and I hope I have helped in answering the question for you to the best of my knowledge for Am I choosing a career or a life purpose? Below I have left a link to one other article that could be of help.
I recommend reading this article Choose your purpose.
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Article was written on 2 November 2018.
Updated on 7 June 2022.
Yours sincerely,
T. Dench Patel
