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heydude
10-18-11, 9:29pm
What is your life purpose or value(s) in life?

(Be real, skip the "love, peace, harmony" stuff and actually get down to brass tacks. e.g. I love canoeing and spending time with family camping. If so, do you spend as much time as you can doing that and as much money as you can doing that? Or, do you spend as little as you can on other things so you can spend more time (and not really all that much money) on it?

How are you doing aligning yourself right?

iris lily
10-18-11, 11:33pm
Overall, yes. In the big picture--yes.

Right now I've got too many rescue dogs to care for and too many lily bulbs to plant and and too many work problems to solve and am a little stressed over that, but usually I like having a few of each of those things. We've got 5 dogs in the house right now (and I thank god that our rescue coordinator was able to take back the crazy busy dog--he made me nuts) and it's a bit much. But that said, these latest 2 rescue dogs are big calm slow moving bulldogs and they are fun to have around.

I want to have fun in life, and these are the things that entertain me. Don't worry, I'm never the one for peace, love, and harmony!

ljevtich
10-19-11, 2:41pm
Yes my life purpose and what I do for work is aligned perfectly. I work as a Park Ranger for half the year and volunteer at a National Park for the other half of the year. My DH and I cut our expenses dramatically so that we could live this lifestyle. We manage to live on just my salary and interest income. It took a while to come to this place where we are now, but it can be done. You have to focus on what you want, make a plan, and start in small increments to make it happen. Reading "Your Money or Your Life" helps in all aspects.

fidgiegirl
10-19-11, 4:52pm
Thanks for this question, heydude.

I feel that my purpose is always a little nebulous. Overall, I feel it is to help people. For example, I don't know that I could go into a job for only profit and then not supplement with volunteering. I always have this vague feeling of that I should be doing more to make the world a better place, but then when it gets down to it, that's hard work and I kind of chicken out. This has gotten harder since becoming married since DH doesn't share this feeling of duty. He does to an extent, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't think about it to the degree that I do. And while I may be willing to take some action like fostering an animal or working with an organization, he usually isn't. Though he is cool with donating money so that's good, at least, and he doesn't stand in my way for doing volunteering (well, he would if I showed up at the door with a foster doggy . . . :) ).

Anyway! Ever-evolving. We are going to be buying a house soon and I am a little sad because it will mean a bigger mortgage. However, we know we want a different place and figure it's better to just make the move now and get on with it rather than be unhappy in our current house. Mostly it's just what we want, though, and in line with how I want to spend my life energy.

So, no. Not completely in line. But always working toward it.

Gardenarian
10-19-11, 6:13pm
My life's purpose is to leave the earth a better place than I found it. In fact, we even had a family discussion and decided that would be our goal as a family. Yes that is pretty peace love & unicorns, but there you go.

I am a librarian, and I feel my work does contribute to a great many people's enjoyment & education. Libraries also help to conserve resources by sharing - really, they are kind of an oddity in the United States! They're socialized!

My husband is a musician and music teacher, which I think of as kind of a "pure" way to make a living. He makes it, and people pay what they think it's worth.

We both chose to work part-time while raising our daughter, whom wehomeschool. I think raising a kid who is a thinker, creator, do-er, and citizen (rather than a consumer) is an important piece of making a better future.

I have been gardening for years; I am the caretaker of our community orchard; I am a master gardener (which comes with volunteer give-back duties); and I just received my permaculture design certificate. I am on my various committees engaged in trying to create sustainability, both at work and in my community.

I create art that celebrates the beauty of the earth in a combination of calligraphy and drawing, done in pen in ink. (Yes, I'm working on how to make my own ink!)

I am also a pagan and my religion is earth- and nature-based.

So, yea, I feel that everything pretty much all comes together. I sometimes have crises of conscience - I really want a new kayak but can't bring myself to buy a great whopping hunk of plastic from China - but there are very few things I really enjoy that conflict with my basic principles. We don't have TV or cell phones; we each have a car that gets good mileage and walk/carpool when we can; we eat mostly organic; we grow some of our own food; we try to be good neighbors and assets to our community; we re-use, re-cycle, etc. and try not to buy things new.

Still, we have 2 dogs that are not precisely necessary (though I really can not imagine life without dogs) and my dh has way, WAY more computer and recording equipment than he needs or uses. We're trying.

frugal-one
10-19-11, 6:20pm
My purpose in life now is to do the things I never had time to do before. I retired this year after working and traveling for work for many years. Now i just want to learn new homemaking skills, clean out my house, travel the world and do what pleases me. I do not feel the need to do for others. My entire life was made up of doing that. The last leg of this journey is for me. If that is selfish... so be it!

fidgiegirl
10-19-11, 6:39pm
frugal-one, nothing selfish about it! :)

I love this thread, BTW!

Zoebird
10-21-11, 2:18am
yes. i teach yoga and run a holistic health center.

I love yoga, and i love to teach yoga, and it turns out i love running a business as well. It also affords us a lot of time as a family and with the kiddo, even though we are still in a hard-core building phase. We both essentially work "part time."

We live in a beautiful (dream) location, and have a great lifestyle. So yeah.

Spartana
10-22-11, 6:46pm
What is your life purpose or value(s) in life?

(Be real, skip the "love, peace, harmony" stuff and actually get down to brass tacks. e.g. I love canoeing and spending time with family camping. If so, do you spend as much time as you can doing that and as much money as you can doing that? Or, do you spend as little as you can on other things so you can spend more time (and not really all that much money) on it?

How are you doing aligning yourself right?

Well I don't know if it's my "life's Purpose" but I am doing what I want to do - what I love to do. I'm fortunate that the things I love to do are free or low cost (or I do them in a way that is low cost - like travel). When I first took my planned long sabattical from work (expected to be 5 years before having to go back to work - but I retired young instead) it was mainly to play sports and do sports related activities - and travelling to do them - at a higher level then I could do while employed. But I was also able to be there for my elderly parents when they became ill and couldn't live alone. I was able to take in and care for 9 homeless pets (not always by choice ha ha!). I was able to volunteer more at the VA hospital and their homeless Veterans programs. etc... So, while I hadn't planned on doing those things with either my time or money, I was able to BECAUSE my money, time and values allowed me to. So for me living a very simple, frugal life (and loving to do free stuff more than costly stuff) allowed me to have both my hedonistic fun and do a few things to help others as well. So while I might not have a purpose - at least not a higher purpose other then being free to do what I want - I have been able to match my passions in life with my money.

redfox
10-22-11, 8:03pm
One of my calls is to hospitality, so I work in community development & housing. So, yup! Good alignment.

flowerseverywhere
10-23-11, 6:30am
I really want a new kayak but can't bring myself to buy a great whopping hunk of plastic from China - but there are very few things I really enjoy that conflict with my basic principles.


DH makes wooden boats and is making a wooden Kayak now- a true labor of love. http://www.clcboats.com/ is one of the companies that sell kits. It is way more expensive than buying a cheap hunk of plastic but they last for years and I guarantee people will stop and talk to you about it.

One think I am focusing on is not buying things made of cheap plastic or with slave labor. I therefore sew my own clothes and quilts, (except jeans), make toys for my grandchildren, and make my own pottery for dishes.

We also cook everything from scratch and try to eat as local as possible, as well as drive as little as possible.

In other words, try to be the best stewards of the earth while taking care of our minds and bodies. Now that my children are successful adults and independent I feel like my life purpose is to use as little as possible and bring joy to others whenever I can.