Comments on: Are You Pursuing Your Life Purpose? http://www.practical-self-help.com/2009/11/are-you-pursuing-your-life-purpose/ Empower Yourself Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:09:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Steph http://www.practical-self-help.com/2009/11/are-you-pursuing-your-life-purpose/comment-page-1/#comment-32 Steph Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:30:45 +0000 http://www.practical-self-help.com/?p=219#comment-32 Today I had this awesome conversation with a man from Italy, the owner of the hair salon I go to, and we discussed the incredible and significant difference between the North American lifestyle and the European lifestyle. Here, he said, and I agreed, what matters most to us is accumulating stuff and working for money. There, in Europe, the pace of life is different. What takes priority is enjoying oneself, whether it be over a four-or five-hour dinner at a restaurant with family or friends, or closing up shop from 1-4 in the afternoon, taking long walks in the cities or towns, or having a coffee or tea with a friend. There is no rush. Work and a large home or having lots of stuff comes second. He and I both miss that sensibility we experienced and try to get a hint of here. The idea of prioritizing enjoying oneself and properly prioritizing our lives is akin, I believe, to finding our life's purpose. For one thing, we slow the hell down and gain perspective. For another, it would totally seem, by the general happiness of those people who get it right, that everything they want is gained anyway, for lack of such frantic trying the likes of which we exhibit here. Stuff needs to get done, yes, but it won't be the end of the world if it gets done a bit later. Work has to happen as well, granted, but it will be a lot more bearable if we included first in our lives that which we actually need most—making time for what matters most. We may even find, as you suggested, that we end up pursuing as work what we tend to actually enjoy doing. .-= Steph´s last blog ..<a href="http://www.in-other-words-blog.com/2009/11/travelling-via-rail/" rel="nofollow">Travelling Via Rail</a> =-. Today I had this awesome conversation with a man from Italy, the owner of the hair salon I go to, and we discussed the incredible and significant difference between the North American lifestyle and the European lifestyle. Here, he said, and I agreed, what matters most to us is accumulating stuff and working for money. There, in Europe, the pace of life is different. What takes priority is enjoying oneself, whether it be over a four-or five-hour dinner at a restaurant with family or friends, or closing up shop from 1-4 in the afternoon, taking long walks in the cities or towns, or having a coffee or tea with a friend. There is no rush. Work and a large home or having lots of stuff comes second. He and I both miss that sensibility we experienced and try to get a hint of here.

The idea of prioritizing enjoying oneself and properly prioritizing our lives is akin, I believe, to finding our life’s purpose. For one thing, we slow the hell down and gain perspective. For another, it would totally seem, by the general happiness of those people who get it right, that everything they want is gained anyway, for lack of such frantic trying the likes of which we exhibit here.

Stuff needs to get done, yes, but it won’t be the end of the world if it gets done a bit later. Work has to happen as well, granted, but it will be a lot more bearable if we included first in our lives that which we actually need most—making time for what matters most. We may even find, as you suggested, that we end up pursuing as work what we tend to actually enjoy doing.
.-= Steph´s last blog ..Travelling Via Rail =-.

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