Five Steps to Discovering Your Purpose in Life

The moment that any life, however good,
stifles you, you may be sure it isn’t your real life.
Arthur Christopher Benson

Everything on this planet has a purpose, although we may not know what that purpose may be. Some things, such as spiders, may seem to be only a creepy annoyance, but that is only because we haven’t discovered their purpose yet. Actually, spiders do have specific purposes, depending on the spider. This life lesson applies to absolutely everything on this planet.

In the garden, spiders prey on the insects which can damage your garden plants. There are studies being done currently which are studying how to use spider webs for different things. There may also be uses for spider venom. Who knows what science will discover about spiders in the future. This is only one example, there are thousands of others.

The point is, absolutely everything on this planet has a purpose, and that includes YOU. Scientists are working hard to discover the hidden purpose for many plants and creatures on this planet. In the same way, you have to discover what your ultimate purpose in life is.

Is your purpose to merely eat, sleep and live a comfortable life or is there a much higher meaning to your life? You are here for a specific reason, one that only you are meant to fulfill. Discover your purpose and follow your heart. No one can fulfill your purpose exactly like you can. You are unique and special!

This brings up the question of how do you discover your purpose in life. Well, there are five steps that can help you discover your purpose in life.

1. List the things you are interested in or like to do.
   You have preferences for a reason. You don’t want to spend your whole life doing things that you hate just in order to get by or make a living. What do you love to do? Answering this question is the first step in deciphering your purpose in life.
   
2. Think about what special talents you have and develop those talents in your life.
   You were given those talents for a purpose, but it is up to you to put them to use. Everyone has something that he or she is good at and which comes naturally for him or her. What is your special gift in life?
   
3. Reflect on how you can use those talents to serve others.
   How can you use your special talents to serve others or to provide for those you love? You weren’t given your talents to hide away in a closet. Figure out how to use your gift for a constructive purpose.
   
4. Meditate on what you want out of life.
   What is it that you want to accomplish in life? What kind of legacy will you leave when you die? What do you want your children and grandchildren to remember about you? Meditating on this will help you find the answers you are looking for concerning your ultimate purpose in life.
   
5. Be willing to take a chance.
   You have to be willing to try. Take a chance. Everyone who has fulfilled their ultimate purpose in life has had to step out of his or her comfort zone and take a chance to be successful. Doing what you love, and fulfilling your purpose in life, demands that you have the courage to risk failure, but it is worth the risk.

You only live life once, make your life the best that it can be! You may think that it is a big risk trying to do what you love in life instead of merely taking the safest job route, but it is a much bigger risk not trying. When you are old and reflect back on your life, you will regret the things that you didn’t do, or didn’t try to do, much more than you will regret the things which you tried unsuccessfully.

Have the courage to at least try to live the kind of life you dream of in your private thoughts. Once thing is for sure, if you don’t try you are guaranteed not to succeed. Take the chance to fulfill your purpose in life and you will find that the Universe will support you.

Live as you will wish to have lived when you are dying.
Christian Furchtegott Gellert

Bohdi Sanders
The Wisdom Warrior

Is Honesty the Best Policy?

In whatever position you find yourself determine first your objective.
Marshall Ferdinand Foch

We hear the phrase that honesty is the best policy over and over again throughout our lives. But it is completely true? Is honesty always the best policy? Do we destroy our honor, character, and integrity by telling a lie? Does the true warrior, or the man or woman of character, go against his conscience every time he lies? Is being an honest person a black and white issue, or is there much more to it than always telling the truth, no matter what?

From an early age, most of us have been taught that it is not right to lie, that we should tell the truth. Whenever we were caught in a lie and things fell apart for us, we were told, always remember, honesty is the best policy, as if that was going to make us feel better about the mess that we made for ourselves. We were taught this reverently, and by the same people and culture that taught us about Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny.

Once we got older, we realized that the very same people, who drilled honesty into our conscience mind, lied to us on a frequent basis. Sure, most of these were “little, white lies,” but they obviously weren’t following the, “honesty is the best policy” tenet. There were lies to make us feel better, lies to surprise us, lies about life circumstances, this list could go on and on.

If you think back, you can probably remember many lies which you were told. These were not meant in any sort of malicious way, but were just part of life for most people. But still, we were taught that honesty is the best policy. Either honesty is the best policy or it is not. The question is whether or not honesty is in fact, the best policy. And, the answer is, “it depends.”

I can feel my readers cringe even as I write this. I bet many of you are thinking, “How can Bohdi say that when he writes books on honor, character, integrity, and honesty?” To answer your question, I can say that because it is the truth, and we are trying to be honest here, right?

Honesty is not always the best policy; it depends on your objective. There are times when honesty is not only not the best policy, but when it is also just plain stupid and selfish. Yikes! I can feel another universal shutter of disgust, right through my keyboard! But stay with me for a few minutes.

While I have heard many preachers preach over and over that honesty is always the best policy and there is never any reason for lying, this is really nothing more than a generalization. Even the people who preach this message don’t truly believe what they are saying. Would these very same people not lie to a murderer in order to save their wife or kids? If they wouldn’t, I wouldn’t recommend listening to anything that they say anyway.

To generalize is to be an idiot.
William Blake

Let’s look at an example that will clarify my point. Pretend you were a German living in Nazi Germany during World War II, and that you were hiding a young Jewish girl from the Nazi’s. If a group of Nazi soldiers came to your door and asked you if you had seen or knew of the whereabouts of a young Jewish girl, would it be the best policy to be honest with them? Not if your objective is to save the life of this young girl, it wouldn’t be.

You see, honesty is not always the best policy. That is living by a rigid, black and white rule which leaves no room to make needed adjustments when they are needed to achieve your objectives. No, I am not saying that you should say whatever you please in order to get your way.

I am saying that, as a true warrior, you have to base your actions on what is right and wrong, not on some rigid set of rules. While this may sound like the same thing at first, it isn’t. There is a big difference between basing all of your actions according to what you feel is right and wrong, and basing your decisions on some rigid set of rules that you never break, no matter what.

The true warrior or person of character does not lower his standards simply because he tells a lie. It depends on the circumstances and the intention behind that lie. In the example above, it would obviously be dishonorable for you to tell the truth and hand over the girl to those butchers. You definitely would not have lowered your standards because you were dishonest with those soldiers.

You did what the circumstances required of you to do in order to achieve your noble objective – saving this girl’s life. In this situation, lying is completely honorable, and honesty would definitely not have been the best policy. I can give you many examples that back up this truth, but you get the point.

Honor and integrity do not exist in a nice, neat box. They aren’t composed of specific rules that are carved in stone. They are much more involved and complex than that.  They originate from the heart, the mind, and the intentions behind your actions.

Hard and fast rules are made for people who cannot be depended on to think for themselves and do the right thing. This is why we have laws. If everyone lived their life according to what is right, and with good intentions, there would be no need for laws, but we all know that is not the case.

The true warrior, on the other hand, should live according to what is right. He should continually search his intentions to ensure that his heart, mind, and spirit are right. Honor comes from the inside. If things are not right on the inside, they cannot be right on the outside, no matter how they may appear to those around you. Others may not be able to tell the difference, but you know whether or not you are honorable.

Honesty is only the best policy when it is the best choice to achieve your honorable objectives. The catch is, your objectives must be honorable. Dishonesty is never an acceptable option for achieving selfish, personal goals like closing a business deal or just plain trying to get your own way.

The key is basing all of your actions and your speech on what is right, not what is right for you, but what is right, as in what is just. There is a big difference between what may be best for you personally and what is just. Focus on what is right (just) in every situation, and you will not have to worry about whether or not to lie. Let righteousness be your guide.

Honesty is not always the best policy; right intention combined with right action is always the best policy.

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself.
Henry Ward Beecher

Bohdi Sanders

Author of:
Modern Bushido: Living a Life of Excellence
and
The Secrets of Worldly Wisdom: Your Key to Success

CLICK HERE TO SEE BOOKS BY BOHDI SANDERS

Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee Chief told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, ‘My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.

The old Cherokee Chief simply replied, ‘The one you feed.

The soul like the body accepts by practice
whatever habit one wishes it to contract.
Socrates

Bohdi Sanders
The Wisdom Warrior

Do You Miss What You Never Knew?

Do you miss what you never knew? This may sound like a strange question. After all, how can anyone miss something that they have never known or never experienced? At first this seems impossible because if you have no firsthand knowledge or experience with something, you can’t miss that thing, right? This does make sense. It is only rational that a person cannot miss something which he or she has never experienced, but sometimes people are not rational.

Many people in fact do miss what they never knew, and they do this on a daily basis. Not only is this irrational, but living life in this way, carries with it many unpleasant consequences. How does someone miss what he or she never knew? The answer is simple. When someone is not satisfied with what is, and is constantly dreaming or wishing for other things, things which he may have no experience of, but which are constantly preying on his mind, then he finds himself missing what he has never known.

Allowing your thoughts to dwell on all the nice things which you don’t have, but wish you did have, brings you to this point. For example, you may have an average car which runs fine, but is not flashy or modern. If, instead of being thankful for the car you have, you allow your mind to constantly dwell on the fact that you wish you had a Porsche, you will find that you are unhappy with your car and that you feel unsatisfied with your average run-of-the-mill car. In effect, you find that you are missing that Porsche, even though you may have never before even sat behind the steering wheel of a Porsche.

This kind of thinking leads to discontentment. You will find that you are constantly unsatisfied with your present state, and wishing that your life was different. This is not productive thinking. To be content, you must accept things as they are. Accepting things as they are does not mean that you don’t want to improve your life. It does not mean that you have no goals or that you are not motivated to strive for the things that you want out of life. It simply means that your happiness is not dependent on external things. The content man is happy whether he is driving an old truck or an expensive sports car.

The happiness of your life depends
on the quality of your thoughts;
therefore, guard accordingly.
Marcus Aurelius

Happiness doesn’t depend upon
who you are or what you have;
it depends solely upon what you think.
Dale Carnegie

Being content does not mean that you don’t strive to be better. It merely means that you are content with what is, right now in this present moment. Contentment does not mean that you settle for less than the best that you can be or for less than you want out of life. You should always seek to improve yourself. Being content does not mean that you rest on your laurels, feeling that your life is perfect as is. It means that you accept things as they are now, in this moment, but at the same time, you are working to make the next moment, day, month, or year, even better. Being content does not mean that you don’t strive to be better; you should always be working to perfect your character. Always move forward, but at the same time do not let what you don’t have spoil your enjoyment of what you do have.

Every person on this planet is in danger of missing what they never knew if they do not learn to control their mind and learn to be content with what is, in the present moment. This irrational thinking does not plague only the poor man who has very little as far as material things go; it also plagues the rich. This is because happiness is not dependent on material things. Happiness comes from the inside. While it is perfectly normal for people to desire nice things, it is counterproductive to allow these desires to constantly plague your mind; doing so will lead to nothing but unhappiness and inability to enjoy life.

The essence of philosophy is that a man
should so live that his happiness shall depend
as little as possible on external things.
Epictetus

Life is much too short to not enjoy each and every day. You can’t afford to waste days, months, or years of your life wishing for things to be different. Enjoy what is, right now, this very moment. Live every day. Find joy in the simple things, while at the same time working to improve your life in the future. This is a concept that all of the sages throughout the ages have taught. You must find contentment within yourself. Don’t allow your happiness to be dependent on anything outside of yourself – not material things, and not other people.

To live happily is an inward power of the soul.
Marcus Aurelius

A happy life consists in tranquility of mind.
Cicero

Happiness depends on ourselves.
Aristotle

There is only one thing that you have total control over, and that is your mind and your actions. You do not control what other people do or say, but you do have control over how you respond to other peoples’ actions or words. You do not have total control over your circumstances, but you do have total control over your responses to your circumstances. Contentment resides in the mind, therefore it is something that you have control over. It is up to you to decide whether or not you will live a life of contentment or whether you will live a life of discontent where you continually miss the things that you never knew.

Don’t postpone living until sometime later, when everything is perfect – LIVE NOW. Things may never be perfect, but that will only affect your contentment if you allow it to. You have to learn to live above the petty annoyances that everyone has to live with in this life. Learn to accept life as it is and enjoy it no matter what comes. It is perfectly fine to want more out of life as long as you are enjoying each step of your journey. Where people go wrong is when their desire for a better life prevents them from enjoying their present life. Don’t miss what you never knew; enjoy what you presently have and work towards what you ultimately want.

The short bloom of our brief and narrow life flies fast away.
While we are calling for flowers and wine and women,
old age is upon us.
Juvenal

Bohdi
Warrior Wisdom

The Walking Dead

Idle men are dead all their life long.
Thomas Fuller

Living is my life. I’m not talking about the staying alive, but rather living life to the fullest. I hear many people say things such as “martial arts are my life,” “my dog is my life,” skiing is my life,” “writing is my life,” etc. but it is not that way with me. I have certain things in my life which are my passions, such as martial arts, writing, photography, etc. but those things aren’t my life. Living life to the fullest is my life. Living every day and enjoying all that life has to offer is my life.

May you live all the days of your life.
Jonathan Swift

While we live, let us live.
D. H. Lawrence

My passions are simply parts of my life that I enjoy. You can take any passion too far and by doing so you miss out on other things. There are only so many minutes in a day and everyone has the same amount. For the most part, minutes are like cash. If you use them for one thing, they aren’t available to use for something else. Once you “spend” your minutes, they are spent; unlike cash, there are never any refunds if you spend them on something and later decide you made a bad decision. Once your minutes are spent, they are gone forever.

The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will cal life which is required
to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.
Thoreau

Seize the day, put no trust in tomorrow.
Horace

For time lost may never be recovered.
Geoffrey Chaucer

For this reason it is important that you spend you minutes wisely, just as you should spend your cash wisely. You can go out to the store and waste your money on junk food and the next day you will have nothing to show for it other than maybe a couple of extra pounds. In the same way, you can spend your time watching mindless television shows or lying around on the couch, and you will have nothing to show for your time. Remember, once you spend a minute, you will never get that minute back.

Like the waves of a river that flow slowly on
and return never back,
the days of human life pass and come not back again.
Buddha

On the other hand, if you take you money and invest it or spend it wisely, you will have something of value that will last you long into the future. The same thing applies to your time. If you spend your time reading, learning, working out, etc. instead of wasting your time, you will have something of use to show for the way that you spent your time. Either way, your time will have to be spent. Unlike money, time cannot simply be saved and used at another time.

Opportunities lost can never be regained.
Pliny the Elder

We never live; we are always anticipating living.
Voltaire

Every minute of every day has to be spent in some form or fashion. You have no choice in the matter. The only choice that you have is how you will spend your time. Will you spend your time wisely and make use of the time that you have or will you waste you time as if you have an endless supply of this precious commodity?  I prefer to live life to the fullest, using every minute to experience what this life has to offer. What will you do with your minutes? Hours? Days? Months? Years?

Begin at once to live,
and count each separate day as a separate life.
Seneca

Take a deep breath of life and consider how it should be lived.
Don Quixote’s Creed

Bohdi
Warrior Wisdom