Has anyone ever asked you the question, “What do you want to do with your life?” If so, chances are you:  A. Confidently explained your mapped out future plans.  B. Said you had some ideas, but still were figuring out the details. Or,  C. FREAKKEDD OUTT, and ran. Which one sounds the most probable?

 

When it comes to considering what we want to do with our lives, unfortunately at times that thought can seem more scary and overwhelming than exciting. While that is a big decision, perhaps it would be a little more inviting if we had a better idea of how to go about it.

 

My girlfriend Melody and I were out a while back, sipping Starbucks and causally wandering about in the warm evening weather outside. Somehow, through our thread of many different conversations, we got talking about the mysterious topic of “purpose”. That word, purpose, has been a huge growing passion in my heart anyway, so we were just talking about various aspects of it... what it means to different people and how we are to live it out.

 

In our conversation, she said something that really struck a chord with me - that I haven’t been able to shake since. She shared this idea that she heard about “not thinking of what you want to do with your life in terms of asking yourself what you love... but instead, what you hate”. In other words, what is it that appalls, hurts, and breaks you in the world? For her, it's human trafficking and slavery. I thought about it seriously myself, and decided for me, it's the thought of people wasting their lives.

 

After battling bone cancer when I was 11 years old, I came face to face with the reality of how truly precious our lives are. Only able to lie in a hospital bed after numerous chemotherapies and extensive leg surgeries, I began to see life quite differently than I ever had before. What captured my attention the most, was seeing so many kids who were extremely sick and daily fighting for their lives, while some of my other perfectly healthy friends were barely living theirs… just blowing their days because they didn’t know how much their lives were worth.

This is what breaks my heart the most.

 

So in turn, taking these things we hate and see as complete injustices, we find however we can to live our life in a way that will impact and change that injustice or situation. I LOVE this way of looking at things!

 

Our purpose is simple. We're all called to love God and others. Period. But have you found that defining what that looks like specifically in your life is where it gets a bit more complicated? That’s why this perspective is great. It can be so overwhelming when someone asks, “What do you love? What do you want to do?” Uhhhh... welll.... what if I love a LOT of things?? What if there’s a lot of things I COULD do? Now what??

Stop for a second and seriously consider this. What do you HATE?? I mean what truly, utterly, appalls you?

 

Got it?

 

Alright... here’s the cool part. Now flip it around. What can you do to solve it? Change it? Abolish it?

 

Any things coming to mind?

 

See the world has given us this twisted idea that “what we do with our lives” should be practical, comfortable, and mediocre. That way it’s “safe” and no one gets hurt.

Ha… CLEARLY.

This lack of living is creating a walking dead.

 

Ultimately, here it is: I HATE the thought of people wasting their lives. So I’m going for it. I am going to do anything I possibly can with my life to show people why they should live theirs. I feel like my PURPOSE, is to help other people find theirs. Because of everything that I’ve been through, this is what I want to do.

 

Whether you believe it or not... God has an AMAZING, passionate and fulfilling purpose for your life. It’s your choice to take it or leave it.

For now... the questions stands. What do you hate?

It just might be worth giving your life to.

~Paige

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Paige Armstrong’s first album with Whiplash Records, "Wake Up," will be available on Oct. 6.