We talk a lot about purpose at HorseBack. We believe everyone needs a mission. That is a huge part of what we do with our veterans: we give them a mission, and we give them a team to go with it.
Purpose doesn’t have to be huge. Not every human can change the world. But every human can devote themselves to making the world a slightly brighter place, in a hundred different ways. You can do it by being a good listener, or by helping someone with their shopping, or by dropping in to see an older person who might be suffering from loneliness and isolation. You might be the brilliant friend who is a rock in a stormy sea, or you might smile at strangers in the street, or you might simply have very good manners. (Courtesy is an underrated human trait. Simple thoughtfulness and saying please and thank you get you a long way. That is what our mothers taught us, and we don’t forget that lesson.)
Small acts of kindness have almost become a cliché, since every person on Instagram seems to be talking about them, but they do make a huge difference to the lives of others. That’s a lovely purpose to have: not to signal kindness, but to go out and damn well do it.
Everyone will have a different purpose, something that gives their life meaning. You will find your own. Dig deep for it, and cherish it once you know what it is. It will get you out of bed in the morning, and send you to sleep at night with the sense that your day was not wasted.
