by Rosemary Redfern

Created on: February 12, 2009

Discovering you mission in life can be a period of discovery about yourself. This can be as serious or as fun as you like. Sometimes the fun' raises ideas you hadn't thought of before. Your time of life can also be a contributing factor. What appealed to you in youth will have changed from what appeals to you later in life.

To spend time considering this subject means looking at options which are available to you now, delving into long term options and searching way outside your normal parameters.

It is also about deciding what is really of value to you and what you think is most important in life. We grow up with ideas culled from our environment and culture and we absorb the mores of our community. Most of the time we are comfortable with these but it is always worth exploring beyond these boundaries to find different horizons. It could be a scary experience, risking learning more about the outside world. It can challenge us in ways we hadn't expected and some might find it threatening. But at the same time it is a way of growing in knowledge, emotionally and in experience.

Your mission might be to do with work you would like to do, an organization you would like to support, a service you would like to give or an issue you feel demands more attention than it is getting now.

It is also important to find the right level for you. Many subjects need people at different levels. You might enjoy taking on a leadership role or you might prefer to be a worker. Both are equally valuable and help to make your mission take off.

On the practical how to do it' level, there is nothing like a sheet of paper and pencil and making lists. These can include areas of interest, skills you have now, skills you would like to have, values you think important and issues you feel could do with airing more publicly. These can be refined as you consider the first ideas you jot down for relevance, possibility and interest. You might find your main interest is in sustaining and developing how your family makes the best use of opportunities. This can be as much a mission as the grand design which gathers public interest and support. From your point of view it can be just as valuable to help family members develop their full potential for their lives and they might be able to have missions which would be beyond you. The point is you have enable them to grow.

Discovering your mission is a voyage of exploration and learning. We always grow from these experiences.

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