How to Live a Life of Purpose

What do you want the epitaph on your tombstone to say when you die? Many would be satisfied, if not relieved, if their epitaph proclaimed, “I Survived.”

Others, perhaps you, want more out of life than just going through the motions, day after day, and simply surviving.

To live a life of purpose, and on purpose, empowers you to be whatever you want to be and to do whatever you want to do. When your life’s purpose is powered by passion, you are able to stay on course even when you experience obstacles and setbacks. Purpose is the engine that moves you forward in life; passion is the fuel for the engine.

There are five important fundamentals for living a life of purpose:

1. Purpose is a choice. In Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life , he states many people are often driven by resentment and anger, driven by fear, driven by materialism, and driven by the need for approval. These drivers are not nourishing, nor can they sustain a truly purpose driven life.

Instead, to live with purpose and passion is indeed a choice. You can choose if you want to succumb to the wants, needs and wishes of others, or choose, for yourself, what you want out of your life.

You get the choose what to do, who to do it with, and legacy you will leave when your time on this earth is over. In your quiet moments when you are alone with your thoughts and listen to what your inner wisdom is telling you, you will clearly hear your passion calling you to action. It’s your choice to respond.

2. Show your passion about your purpose. Enthusiasm and positive energy are contagious. Share your purpose and passion with others. Don’t be afraid you will be criticized for letting others know your hopes and dreams.

You never know when your optimism is just want someone else’s need to find hope for their life. Set the example; be the example – this is part of the responsibility of accepting a life of purpose and passion.

3. Be flexible. Keep an open mind as you live a life of passion. Life is not static; it changes every day as people and circumstances change around you. Learn to adapt and to adjust to the ebb and flow of life.

Don’t allow your commitment to purpose to be a set of blinders that keeps you from seeing what’s changing around you. It’s normal and reasonable to expect to make adjustments on your journey. These adjustments are not failures, but rather a tweaking to ensure you continue to grow and mature into your purpose.

4. Help others find their passion, too. The expression “the more we give, the more we get” is the guiding principle here. Put your needs aside and don’t be concerned with what others can do for you. If your focus is to help them discover their life’s purpose, your life will automatically be enriched. This is just how it works.

When you focus on what you can do for someone else, without considering what you will get out of it, you will be rewarded in ways you never expected. Be there for others; find ways to fill others up with encouragement.

5. Choose to live with purpose, powered by passion, each day. Just as resolving to have a specific purpose for your life is a choice, so is choosing to life with purpose each day. By doing so, you are better able to navigate through the potholes life sometimes puts in front of us.

In conclusion, allow your purpose to be your compass to help you navigate around these potholes. Be a person of choice and do not allow others to dictate conditions or limitations for you.

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8 Toxic Personalities To Avoid

Although we like to think that the people in our lives are well-adjusted, happy, healthy minded individuals, we sometimes realize that it just isn't so. Personally, I've had moments where I'll be skipping through my day, happy as can be, thinking life is grand and BAM, I'll be blindsided by someone who manages to knock the happy wind out of my sails. Sometimes it is easy to write it off and other times, not so much.

Maybe you are a positive person, but when you are around a certain individual, you feel negative. Or, maybe you have an idealistic view of the world and when you are with certain people, you are made to feel silly, unrealistic or delusional. Or, maybe you pride yourself in being completely independent and in control of your life, but when you are around a certain family member, you regress into a state of childhood.

Some of these situations, and yes, these people, can have a tremendously negative impact on our lives. And, although we are all human and have our 'issues,' some 'issues' are quite frankly, toxic. They are toxic to our happiness. They are toxic to our mental outlook. They are toxic to our self-esteem. And they are toxic to our lives. They can suck the life out of us and even shorten our lifespan.

Here are the worst of the toxic personalities out there and how to spot them:





1. Manipulative Mary: These individuals are experts at manipulation tactics. Is a matter of fact, you may not even realize you have been manipulated until it is too late. These individuals figure out what your 'buttons' are, and push them to get what they want.

Why they are toxic: These people have a way of eating away at your belief system and self-esteem. They find ways to make you do things that you don't necessarily want to do and before you know it, you lose your sense of identity, your personal priorities and your ability to see the reality of the situation. The world all of a sudden becomes centered around their needs and their priorities.
2. Narcissistic Nancy: These people have an extreme sense of self-importance and believe that the world revolves around them. They are often not as sly as the Manipulative Marys of the world, but instead, tend to be a bit overt about getting their needs met. You often want to say to them "It isn't always about you."

Why they are toxic: They are solely focused on their needs, leaving your needs in the dust. You are left disappointed and unfulfilled. Further, they zap your energy by getting you to focus so much on them, that you have nothing left for yourself.
3. Debbie Downers: These people can't appreciate the positive in life. If you tell them that it is a beautiful day, they will tell you about the impending dreary forecast. If you tell them you aced a mid-term, they'll tell you about how difficult the final is going to be.

Why they are toxic: They take the joy out of everything. Your rosy outlook on life continues to get squashed with negativity. Before you know it, their negativity consumes you and you start looking at things with gray colored glasses yourself.
4. Judgmental Jims: When you see things as cute and quirky, they see things as strange and unattractive. If you find people's unique perspectives refreshing, they find them 'wrong'. If you like someone's eclectic taste, they find it 'disturbing' or 'bad'.

Why they are toxic: Judgmental people are much like Debbie Downers. In a world where freedom rings, judgment is sooo over. If the world was a homogeneous place, life would be pretty boring. Spending a lot of time with these types can inadvertently convert you into a judgmental person as well.

5. Dream Killing Keiths: Every time you have an idea, these people tell you why you can't do it. As you achieve, they try to pull you down. As you dream, they are the first to tell you it is impossible.

Why they are toxic: These people are stuck in what is instead of what could be. Further, these individuals eat away at your self-esteem and your belief in yourself. Progress and change can only occur from doing new things and innovating, dreaming the impossible and reaching for the stars.
6. Insincere Illissas: You never quite feel that these people are being sincere. You tell a funny story, they give you a polite laugh. You feel depressed and sad and they give you a 'there, there' type response. You tell them you are excited about something and you get a very ho-hum response.

Why they are toxic: People who aren't sincere or genuine build relationships on superficial criteria. This breeds shallow, meaningless relationships. When you are really in need of a friend, they won't be there. When you really need constructive criticism, they would rather tell you that you are great the way you are. When you need support, they would rather see you fail or make a fool of yourself.
7. Disrespectful Dannys: These people will say or do things at the most inappropriate times and in the most inappropriate ways. In essence, they are more subtle, grown up bullies. Maybe this person is a friend who you confided in and uses your secret against you. Maybe it is a family member who puts their busy-body nose into your affairs when it is none of their business. Or maybe, it is a colleague who says demeaning things to you.

Why they are toxic: These people have no sense of boundaries and don't respect your feelings or, for that matter, your privacy. These people will cause you to feel frustrated and disrespected.
8. Never Enough Nellies: You can never give enough to these people to make them happy. They take you for granted and have unrealistic expectations of you. They find ways to continually fault you and never take responsibility for anything themselves.

Why they are toxic: You will spend so much time trying to please them, that you will end up losing yourself in the process. They will require all of your time and energy, leaving you worn out and your own needs sacrificed.
All of these personalities have several things in common. 1) the more these people get away with their behavior, the more they will continue. 2) Unfortunately, most of these people don't see that what they do is wrong and as a result, talking to them about it will fall on deaf ears, leaving you wondering if you are the crazy one. 3) Most of these people get worse with age, making their impact on you stronger with time.

Frankly, life is too short to spend your time dealing with toxicity. If you can, avoid spending mucho time with people who are indicative of these behaviors and you'll feel a lot happier. Have you encountered these personalities? What have you done? Any personalities you would add?

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I Will Survive

Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.


When I was a teenager, the height of my day was to come home from school and watch one of my favorite shows which was Gilligan's Island. Each day I would hope that there would be some resolution for my favorite castaways. To bring you up to speed , Gilligan's Island shows us seven men and women are stranded on an uncharted island following a torrential storm. What was supposed to be a three-hour tour was the beginning of mishaps and circumstances. Here we can picture A group of castaways who once lived in a paradise of consumer abundance known as America are now faced with day-to-day survival. Each came from their own background and lifestyle. No amount of prior fame, fortune, education, etc. mattered at that point. Each needed what the other had to contribute to help them survive the crisis they faced.


There will come a time in the life of each of us when we will face our own personal crisis. That's the moment when we choose whether to fold under pressure or reach within ourselves and tap into our determination to survive the most devastating storms in our own lives. Though many times we may also feel like a castaway, God has placed specific people in our lives to help us through our toughest storms. As we have the courage to hang in there, we allow God to be an ever-present Saviour amidst our survival crisis. The greatness that lies within us becomes manifested during our most oppositional circumstances. At this moment God shows himself strong in us. Let us embrace this week's challenges with an assurance of knowing that we are more than conquerors and that God will bring us through all adversity if we don't quit.

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The Stretch of Faith

When God gets ready to stretch you to the next level, Often he allows people to come into our lives and challenge us to do things we feel incapable of doing.
We are to have an " I can do" attitude regarding new tasks even when they are outside of our comfort zone.

How Do You Feel Today? Send A Voice Blog To Others About It

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Welcome & Thanks For Stopping By

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