Living a Life of Purpose: Making a Difference with a Fulfilling Life

By Amanda Mirza of For The Whole Woman


How does this statement make you feel: at the end of the day, we are all going to make an impact on the world, whether we want to or not.

Do we have any influence over what that impact will be? Of course! We have control over every decision, action and thought every moment we are alive. How we make our decisions, carry out our actions, and the quality of our thoughts are what accumulate to create a life of purpose. Those decisions are the legacy that we will leave behind us when we die. In some cases the legacy of a person is still living on today, some positive and some negative. In some cases, one person's legacy leaves both a positive and negative impact.

Years ago I was questioning my purpose in life and was very unhappy in my job. I came across a story that inspired me about Alfred Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Peace Prize. Did you know that Nobel held 355 patents at his death, was instrumental in the development of nitroglycerin, and invented dynamite? Nobel's father worked in construction and Alfred worked on the explosives to make blasting rock easier. (Others used the explosives as weapons.)

The story I read described what happened after an accident occurred at the nitroglycerin factory. Alfred Nobel's brother, Emil, and a few others were killed in a blast. The newspaper got the obituary wrong. They reported that Alfred had died, instead of Emil. The obituary detailed Alfred's inventions of deadly nitroglycerin and dynamite. Appalled by seeing that he would be remembered only for developing substances that were genuinely useful but were also being used as weapons, Nobel established the Peace Prize so he would be remembered for something of peace.

[There are a few inaccuracies in the story I read. Here are some necessary amendments: The Nobel Peace Prize was only established after Nobel's death, not before; his wishes for the foundation of the Prize were explained in his will. Nobel had a friend named Bertha von Suttner who was a prominent figure in the peace movement at the turn of the century and critical of the arms race; she wrote a famous book called Lay down your arms. It is more likely that the work of his friend inspired Nobel to establish a prize to promote work dedicated to peace and improving the world.]

The story of Alfred Nobel carries an important message.

If you go to see his grave today, what does the front of the tombstone say? The same thing most tombstones say: name, date of birth, and date of death. With a little dash in between.

If you came across Nobel's tombstone, would you be able to tell that he was an inventor or the founder of one of the most prestigious global prizes?

Nope. All you would get is a little dash to sum it all up.

It is the dash that is the most important, though.

Around the time I heard the story of Nobel I was managing a retail store selling women's accessories. The work was not overly demanding, but I came to hate my job and I didn't know why. Nobel's story made me reflect. While I could help people look better through the accessories I sold, I didn't feel like I was making any difference in the world. I felt that the biggest impact I made was contributing to landfills by selling trinkets that would quickly wear out and be thrown away.

Ouch!

I was inspired by the story of Nobel and wanted to do my part to increase peace in the world. Leaving retail I moved into marketing for a magazine. However, I came to realize the content of the magazine, while interesting to many, felt like landfill to me. It didn't help anyone develop themselves to be a better person or fulfil goal of increasing peace.

Establishing, and running, the Nobel Peace Prize was and is a gargantuan task that takes teams of people. While I didn't expect to establish my own version of the Nobel Peace Prize, I knew I could use my time at work to bring more peace to the world and make the dash on my tombstone count for more.

The answer for me lay in teaching English as a second language. Observation of people who speak the same or different languages led me to the conclusion that peace only occurs where there is understanding. If we speak the same language, but I am not able to express my ideas in a way you understand them, then we might end up in an argument. The same is true if we speak different languages; except here we might just give up trying to communicate.

How can learning to communicate lead to world peace, though? Here is my thinking: Knowledge of a language is necessary to understand someone. Understanding means communication can occur. When we understand one another we can learn about each other. Learning about each other means we can accept each other (even if we may not agree on everything). Accepting each other means we can live in peace together, because we understand and accept each other's way of life which all started by learning a common language to communicate with.

For me a career change was necessary to feel like I was living a life where my dash counted. Changing your job is not always possible, or even necessary, though.

Here are a few of the myriad of ways you can make a difference in the world (that don't require changing your job):

- Volunteer at a local organization eg. read to the blind

- Shop at your local farmer's market

- Join a Big Brother or Big Sister's program

- Read the packaging of products in your local supermarket and buy the ones made as close to your home as possible (go from city to province/state to country to neighbouring country etc.)

[When I lived in Montreal, I was shocked to discover how many products I could buy that were produced and packaged in the province of Quebec. Once I had read the labels it was easy to know which brands to buy.]

- Take shorter showers - aim for three minutes

- Clean your home with natural cleaners instead of store bought chemical solutions

- Spend an hour on a Saturday morning picking up trash on the street

- Buy organic and 'less packaged' foods

- Smile at everyone you pass on the street or interact with

- Go for a walk after dinner


While these are only a few small ways to make your dash count more, they are great places to start. Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone just smiled more? Small changes, big results.

If you want more suggestions of ways to live a life of purpose and make a difference with your life, request the free weekly newsletter at http://www.forthewholewoman.com. (There is also get a complimentary e-book to help you sharpen your mind and get you started right away.)

Amanda Mirza publishes the weekly self-improvement newsletter For The Whole Woman available at http://www.forthewholewoman.com