I was once a slug. I had few dreams and little desire to do anything. That all changed back in the 1980s. Now, there’s not enough time in the day for all the stuff I want and need to do. And I’m having a blast doing it.

So many people accept dull and boring lives. Their personal world is in black and white while so much else is in vivid color.  I guess that’s because they think there isn’t anything out there for them. But I really believe that’s a mistake.

I also believe that every last soul on the earth has a special purpose, something they were meant to be doing. And more often than not, on some level, the individual knows what that is. It’s just sitting there in the subconscious waiting for a nudge.

My nudge came in the early 1980s when I learned about self-hypnosis. It made a really big difference in my life. But I don’t want to turn this post into a discussion of self-hypnosis, even if it was my very salvation.

Nope. I want to talk a little about finding your purpose. I’ve heard about all kinds of exercises to discover your purpose. One that stands out goes something like this: If you could do anything you wanted to do and money were no object, what would you be doing?

If you can answer that question and the answer isn’t, “I’d eat pizza and ice cream all day while watching the soaps,” then maybe you’ve discovered your life’s calling. I can honestly say that if I became independently wealthy all of a sudden, I’d keep right on doing what I’m doing.

At one point in my life I was working as an RN. And in that capacity I was around when many of my patients were near the end of their journey on earth. I got to ask some of them what they might have done differently had they the chance to do it over. Most said they’d be a better parent or spouse. But I’ll never forget the answer I got from Kate.

She was in her mid 90s. I asked her what she would do differently. And she told me without hesitation, as though she’d been thinking about it for a long time. She said, I’d live more. I’d try lots of new things. I wouldn’t be so damned afraid of everything. I’d be me. Then she gazed at me through eyes cloudy with cataracts and said: Why not live, we all end up here anyway.

Of course she meant we all die, so why not live while we have the chance. Whenever I feel sorry for myself because things aren’t going just so. I think of Kate. What would you do differently if you could start over? There’s still time, you know.