Running head: WHEN IN YOUR LIFE 1

When In your Life do you realize what you were meant to do?

Maria Sanchez

UNCC Charlotte
WHEN IN YOUR LIFE 2

Abstract

What is our purpose in life? As we grow we are in search for this answer that we all, yearn for.

Fulfillment is something everyone wants to achieve, and most of us have built this belief that one

sole thing will lead us to this feeling. People have created this false sense of hope that finding

your sole purpose in life will produce an unbound happiness. The truth is that, humans are

ambitious creatures, who are always moving towards a new goal. The reality of our world is that,

we are always craving what we dont have, and for this very reason we are, where we are today.

That happiness, and gratification we pursue is not from one sole role we play, but from every

little task we tackle. Overcoming the problems that we are exposed to is what provides us with

overwhelming joy. Having the strength to fight for what you want, for what you believe, or

anything at all is what truly gives us fulfillment.

Keywords: Life, Purpose, fulfillment, believe

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When In your Life do you realize what you were meant to do?

When in your life do you realize what you were meant to do? How does someone know

they have found what their life purpose is? In other words, when does someone come to a point

in their life where they feel happy with what they are doing. They say when you are born, you

are born with a clean slate. This idea is known as Tabula Rasa- meaning you are brought into this

world without any mental content, and all your knowledge, thoughts, and beliefs are built

through experience. If this was the case then why is it that some do find what they believe to be

their role in the universe, while others might die looking for it. This role people look for in life is

not restricted to just a job or achievement, its broader than that, it can be anything. I know this

question does not have a standard answer, and might never have one, but its a question everyone

in this world at some time asks themselves. Some will struggle with finding their purpose, some

more than others. Humans strive to find the reason for their existence on this planet. We all hope

to one day achieve purpose in the life we are living in. People grow up wondering what they will

do in the future; what kind of impact their lives can have. Therefore, I am interested in studying

this because there is no correct response, its all dependent on the individual and their journey.

Finding a purpose is what drives us, it motivates us to keep moving forward. I find it

interesting, because just like everyone else finding what my future holds for me is an exciting

thought. As a kid, I had never been set on something I wanted to do or be, and still today I

continue to look for that answer. I look with a sense of urgency. Why, you ask? Its all this

pressure I feel coming from my parents, from friends, family, and just seeing other people doing

so well. Everyone feels pressure, but the area it comes from will be different for each one of us.

Viewing people of my age and observing their success, and how well their lives seem to be going
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has created this idea that, Im behind in some way. Competition can be a pressure we all deal

with, its definitely one of mine. We invest so much time watching what others are doing,

repeatedly trying to raise the bar higher than the last person; I find myself doing this a lot. This

journey that we all embark on is supposed to be positive and shed light on to your life, its a

revelation, and often looking for it can bring us anxiety, and apprehension. Its a daunting task,

because we fear the what if. What if we never find it? The most intimidating part about this

question is that there is no right answer. No one really knows. My outcome is not to find a

definite answer, but to listen to what other people say, and in turn this will help me create my

own conclusion. I might leave with more questions, but it will bring me one step closer to

understanding what exactly it is that I want in life, and how to achieve it.

On average humans live, roughly 25,000 days on earth (Warren,1997). Now knowing

that your days are limited, many of us are driven to find out what motivates us, what we can do

to leave our mark. For some it comes easier than others, there is no standard answer, or set way

that leads you to this. There are thousands of self-help books out there, thousands will be

purchased, and read, and only ending up dissatisfied. We have heard it all before Be disciplined,

believe you can achieve your goals, never give up (Warren, 1997). While this might work for

some, many are left where they began. Many individuals put so much faith into this industry.

They want to believe this is what will give them guidance, providing them with a sense of safety.

People allow these books to gain so much credibility, for several reasons. We all have one thing

in common, the unknown is something we fear, and for many of us we become desperate. As a

result of this we grasp on to whatever can provide us with hope. Because of this very reason, the

Self-help industry has become so powerful; they give people hope. The true reality is that no one

can say hey do this and that, and you will find your path. Its just not that easy we all start and
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end at different periods in our lives. Finding what fits each one of is important, many often begin

feeling anxious and scared, feeling stuck in a routine. No one wants to live passively, without

motivation. Research has shown that leading a life with a sense of purpose, and desire leads to a

healthy identity (Bronk, 2011). Theres no doubt that having a drive affects us cognitively and

physically. So, we see that identity is connected to the actions one can take. Identity describes

personally meaningful aims and beliefs as they pertain to a consistent sense of who one is and

who one hopes to become (Bronk, 2011, p.32). Even knowing this several of us still struggle in

finding an answer. Lets say we have a stable mindset in who we are as a person, and do enjoy

what we are doing, but still feel like we want more. Constantly looking for What lies in the

future ahead. Living in the present is not a very common thought for many of us, its more of

whats next that we are so focused on. For me its hard to find myself enjoying the moment

instead my mind is constantly trying to figure out whats next. We can get so caught up with

moving forward, that we can miss all the mistakes, and experiences that lead us to developing

into a stronger person. I realize that there are pros and cons to living in the moment, and always

working towards the next step in improvement.

If I have learned anything so far, Ive experienced that in life we must create a balance.

Living in the present can bring us closer to the truth about us, and learning from that we can pave

a stable path into our future. Since people constantly find themselves working towards the next

big thing, this leads me to question; do we necessarily have one purpose in life, and if so will we

settle with that and never want more. Going back to my question when do you realize what we

were meant to do in life. I believe that we as humans are never content with what we have. Its

in our human nature to never settle, always striving for more. Whats the reason behind this; I

would say natural selection. The three main elements biology contributes to human behavior
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are: 1) self-preservation; 2) the reason for self-preservation, reproduction; and 3) a method to

enhance self-preservation and reproduction, greed (Taflinger, 1996). Natural selection is the

process in which organisms who hold certain characteristics, have the ability to adapt to the

changing environments, which leads them to have a higher opportunity to survive, and

reproduce. (Biology online, 2016). In other words, what I am trying to say is that we desire self-

improvement. Each one of us are ambitious creatures who simply crave self-improvement. Self-

preservation is defined as keeping yourself alive, physically, or mentally, since humans are social

creatures this is also applied to other people we care about, such as our families (Taflinger,

1996). Having this somehow satisfies our hunger, and gives us a sense of fulfillment. Ive

learned that what this all translates to is that our instinct is to always improve, and maybe what

makes us feel fulfilled are all the little daily achievements.

My question has been redefined through what I have gained so far in my writing, and

research. Believing that we have one purpose in life for me seems like an unobtainable goal. We

do not go through life searching for our entire lifes happiness from one sole thing. My view now

is that humans are wired to become dissatisfied by what we do not have, because of this constant

drive we have grown to be the powerful human race we are today. Competition, whether it be

with ourselves or our peers, is something that drives us to self-improvement. We are constantly

learning and redefining our lives through experiences we encounter. Everyone is scared, we are

all on the same boat in search for guidance. Life is all about enjoying the moment and moving

forward and when we can find a balance between those two we can find revelations about

ourselves. Gaining fulfillment is not from that one sole purpose we are all in search for, but from

your ability to view every one of our daily problems and tackle them instead of avoiding them.
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That happiness, and gratification we pursue is not from one sole role we play, but from every

little task we tackle. Overcoming the problems that we are exposed to is what provides us with

overwhelming joy. Having the strength to fight for what you want, for what you believe, or

anything at all is what truly gives us fulfillment. Asking my question again When in your life do

you realize what you were meant to do? I would say that there is no answer for that, and never

will be because we are ever changing and growing.

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References

Bronk, K. C. (2011). The role of purpose in life in healthy identity formation: A grounded

model. New directions for youth development, 2011, 132, 31-44.

Damon, W. (2008). The path to purpose: Helping our children find their calling in life. Place of
publication: Free Press. Retrieved from:
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=QT4KuW2bOzkC&oi=fnd&pg=P
R11&dq

M. Manson. (2014, September,18). 7 Strange questions that help you find your life purpose.

Retrieved from: https://markmanson.net/life-purpose

Natural selection. (2016). In biology online. Retrieved from http://www.biology-

online.org/dictionary/Natural_selection

Taflinger. F. R. (1996). Taking advantage: The biological basis of human behavior. Public

WSU. Retrieved from http://public.wsu.edu/~taflinge/biology.html

Warren, R. (1996). The purpose driven life: What on earth am I here for. Place of Publication:
Zondervan. Retrieved from:
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=m3XJ3x0cFsYC&oi=fnd&pg=PT7&dq=life+A
ND+purpose&ots=J6ET9EVwGE&sig=-
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Reflection

1. After going through the process in creating my own inquiry, I define it as

something more than informational piece of work. Its a mixture of facts, and

opinions that lead readers to see the writers view or form their own. The inquiry

process allows us to open- up our minds, and defamiliarize our ideas, creating

new ones.

2. The most interesting thing I learned from this process was just how powerful a

question can be. A simple question can lead to several more questions, allowing

us to develop a complex argument.

3. Narrowing down what I wanted my argument to be, I had a lot of trouble focusing

on one path that I could towards. I was trying to cover too much in one paper, and

going in all different directions. What I found useful in overcoming this was

listening to my peers advice.

4. My inquiry question stayed the same, but my thoughts on it changed as I got

further in my writing. After completing my research synthesis, I realized a few

things, and learned that my question was so focused on one thing. I was not

looking at the big picture.

5. The topic and context should be given a good bit of attention, because they

control who your audience will be, and how your story should be written.

6. Yes, I do believe that my evaluation skills have been strengthened through this

process, being able to break down the paper into the proposal then creating a

concept map, and a research synthesis has allowed me to break my question down

further. I could dive deeper into what my question really was asking.
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7. At first, I was terrified about how to go about writing a paper. My biggest concern

was how would I write a paper on a question that had no actual answer. I am

extremely proud to see that I could finish writing it, but most importantly just

amazed at how much insight I gained from it.

8. I have a lot left to learn about this subject, I feel like I just briefly brushed the

surface of it. I am left questioning why some can live a complete life asking for so

little, while others remain power hungry, and nothing ever seems to fill their void.

9. Working with my peers was a little scary at first, but it proved to be extremely

helpful. By reading my classmates work I could see different subjects, styles, and

approaches to writing. It sort of helped boost my confidence and learn that writing

is not restricted to the rules, its our form of expressing our thoughts. I believe

that my feedback helped others, because it might allow them to view an idea with

a new perspective.