I recently reread the Statement of Purpose I had written when I entered the transition between being a graduate student and being a doctor, and it reminded me of the power of writing down, in words, what our goals are, what our purpose is.
I wrote…. My role as a naturopathic doctor is to help patients facilitate their journey in healing, bring awareness to a model of health and shift it away from a model of disease, strengthen respect and relations across all medical professions, and in due course, contribute to the healing of our planet.
I heard the saying one time, many years ago, “live on purpose”. To me it meant there is the potential to live a life with meat (not as in the animal), grit, and fulfillment. But it doesn’t just happen without trying. Everyday we have hundreds of decisions to make that impact the direction of our lives, whether we see the results immediately or not.
And if we make those decisions with ‘purpose’ and not out of habit or complacency, then wow, what a way to live! And the Statement of Purpose continued…. The ability to be flexible, patient, communicative, decisive, intuitive, and earnest are all attributes I work towards, driven by my determination to live my life with purpose and meaning.
Do I live like that every moment of everyday? No, although I’d like to. I strive to. And I’m glad I revisited those words, I’m glad I was reminded to live on purpose. On that note, it feels like a nice way to start this blog and the coming ‘new year’.
