Tethered by Purpose in a Sea of Sameness
Week 6 of Being 32
Oftentimes, when I sit down to write, everything feels the same, even when the weeks change, the overall status of life seems to remain largely unchanged. In many ways, this is such an incredible blessing, as there is genuinely nothing wrong with my life. I am and have been incredibly blessed, yet I still find it easy to become discontent with my life. This is the human condition: to be ever susceptible to a spirit of discontent and ungratefulness. Yet, it seems to me that, in many ways, it is worse within the modern Western mind simply because of how spoiled we are. We often take for granted how truly blessed we are.
This past week was a quiet one; all things considered, I was finally able to sit down with my book editor, who will begin working on the final edit of my book. After she has finished it, I will conduct a final review and rewrite based on the feedback from my editor and beta readers. I hope to begin working on the audiobook version of it soon as well. Lord willing, I hope to have it ready and in the hands of readers by the end of the summer. I also got the cover art completed last week, which is another exciting milestone for this project of mine.
Recently, I found myself asking my manager a question that I found interesting: “What motivates you each day to get out of bed?” It is a question that I think for many people might be fairly simplistic at first, and yet if you spend time really meditating on it, I think many will find that it is a compelling question to ponder, or maybe I’m just weird, as I often find myself pondering existential questions like this.
Regardless of whether this is normal or weird, I think it is important to ask the question of why.
Why do I wake up?
Why do I do what I do?
Why do I care?
Because without a why, it’s easy to drift.
To default to autopilot.
To let the days blur together until the weeks vanish and the years become ghosts of who we could’ve been.
And maybe that’s what I’ve been feeling lately—not sadness, not frustration, but drift. That quiet erosion of purpose, the quiet slipping away of time, that doesn’t hit like a tidal wave but more like slow, rising water. You don’t notice it at first. But then one day, you realize your feet don’t touch the ground anymore.
That’s why I’m grateful for questions like this. They pull me back. They tether me to something higher than just the next meeting, the next task, or even the next success. Because those things aren’t bad—they’re just insufficient as foundations. So often I find myself returning to the question of where I am and where I am spending my time. Trying to ask the question over and over, what am I investing this truly finite currency of time into?
I recently decided to invest in a little piece of technology called “Brick,” a device that locks down all my distraction apps. The only way to unlock those apps is for me to tap the brick with my phone. This brick then lives on my refrigerator. In this effort, I am putting into practice an idea from James Clear, which involves making bad habits difficult.
Circling back to this idea of why I get out of bed, I’ve found that the best answer to “Why” isn't found in productivity hacks or five-year goals. Though I will use these hacks to make better use of what time I have been given, for me, it’s simpler. It’s the belief that I’ve been entrusted with something truly precious, and that is time. Time to grow, time to change, time to learn, time to serve and love others.
Gratitude for the currency of time doesn’t always come naturally. It often has to be practiced, like a muscle that resists atrophy. And maybe that's what I’m really wrestling with—not a lack of blessing, but a lack of awareness of just how blessed I am.
So, here’s what I’m committing to this week:
To recognize the drift when it starts.
To name the gifts I’ve been given.
To remember the why.
Because maybe contentment isn’t about changing your circumstances. Maybe it’s about changing how you see your circumstances.
And maybe—just maybe—that’s enough to keep you anchored, even when everything feels the same as I continue to work on making slow progress toward those bigger goals.
Today’s post is a shorter one, as I have begun working on my second book, intended to be a soft sequel to the first, which is now with my editor. Continued prayers in these efforts are appreciated. Until next time, I hope you find time to reflect on the question of why, and that it inspires in you gratitude, or perhaps even change.