Purposeful Service: Ending the Endless Chase of Life

The Endless Chase Of Life

We often find ourselves running in the endless chase of life, attached to material objects and devoid of purpose. However, anything and everything we choose to do in life should have a purpose behind it. We should lead our life and fulfill our duties with a sense of detachment. We should aim for purposeful service i.e. serve others better with a higher purpose.

If you want liberation then renounce the vishayas (subjects/passions) like visha (poison)

Ashtavakra Gita

It is only human to have have desires, dreams, aspirations, goals, family and relations! In this endless chase, we are so attached to every single object that we have in our life. And to the subjects in our life. We chase wealth desperately or we don’t, and both are harmful. We eat a lot or do not eat at all, and this is harmful too! We want everything and blindly run after worldly things, neglecting to remember our purpose behind wanting it.

Thereafter, we leave everything to find peace and still struggle!

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Moderation is the key

Whatever the path, whatever our seeking, it must not be extreme! It is my firm belief that we should follow the middle path, rather than going on an endless chase!

Indulging in too much pleasure of life makes us forget our responsibilities. Sometimes we take life so seriously and that it leaves us burnt out. Doing everything in moderation and consciously every day is the key.

Food is a necessity, a required intake for staying alive, nourishment and repair for our body. If you eat food for staying alive, it is good. However, if you live for food and every evening or every weekend want to just think about luscious food, it makes you a slave to food. While eating food, enjoying the food and appreciating its taste is not bad, but relishing too much of food every time can make you sick. Even an animal doesn’t take more food than required.

Similarly, a car is the means to comfortable travel but not the end. It helps us travel easily, but I see people making it their life’s goal to buy an expensive car! Nothing wrong in having such a goal, provided the purpose behind it is to make your life comfortable and not for petty show off in the society.

Usually what happens when someone buys an expensive vehicle and takes pleasure of riding and showing off? Such pleasure is short lived and exists only till they see someone driving a better car. Now they want the next bigger car. The chase is endless and it can leave anyone depressed.

I see people obsessed with their houses, as if they are going to stay there forever and never going to die. They even judge others from the same point of view! Nothing wrong in acquiring a mansion, but that doesn’t allow us to be judgmental about people living in a one bed-room house.

These are some of the ways you find yourself in a trap of the vicious circle of chasing the subject. Desires never end, if we do not have a purpose behind it. This unending stream of desires then becomes the reason for chaos in life.

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Isn’t the chase meaningless without a purpose?

There is a limitless chase in human kind. For decades we chase our desires and yet feel unfulfilled and clueless about the reason for this chase!

The other day, one of my friends spoke to me about his desire to do something new and different from his current line of work. After doing years of work and after achieving the expertise, why he wanted to change? Exploring something new but no idea what it is!

Of course, he was sounding a bit restless! I could relate to it because I was in the same state some years ago. I am sure many of us can relate to this. What is the chase about? Is it for the means or the end? If the chase is to become a better version of yourself, it is healthy but if not, then it becomes illness.

Chasing a purpose is dharma but chasing endlessly is illness. We chase everything and anything which is shiny and appealing. We expect instant results – instant business, instant money. But what I learnt, it’s a process of fear, risk, frustration, joy, happiness and disappointment. While people choose to do something because it worked out for someone else or its in trend like start ups, a chain of eateries, certain career, they tend to forget to do the real work.

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Purposeful Service

The real deal is to engage in purposeful service to live a meaningful life. You can start by asking yourself a couple of questions –

1. Do I want to do it because I have a purpose behind it?
2. Do I want to do because it is appealing to me?

Let me give an example. Today I had a conversation with a techie turned women entrepreneur. She is an entrepreneur by passion. She is socially responsible and has a mindset to serve. Well! That made me ask what could possibly be the reason to choose to get into the business of selling hand-made goods from block printing with eco-friendly dyes, over a lucrative job. She said apart from personal reasons “I believe in creating rather than just buying product from outside where she is not just nurturing her creativity but working along with the weavers from village for material.”

Well, she has the purpose to create and experiment with customized products. She also has a sense of responsibility to empower the regional weavers! Though she started out with the idea only to run a business, but later got aligned with a greater purpose to serve. She works from a place of love, service and sustainability. We bloom when aligned with our inner purpose as human beings.

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My Tryst With Purposeful Service

Before doing anything, question yourself about its purpose to amplify awareness within. Earlier, I was chasing things endlessly, hoping to achieve financial goal without a purpose. This led me to face disappointment which in turn led me to introspect to find out why I wanted it?

While I was doing everything out of desperation and not from the place of love, creation and purpose, I was miserable. I just wanted to be busy doing something. This was not a healthy practice and no wonder nothing worked out for me. Desperation only creates impulsiveness. Inquiring into these questions aligned my life choices and empowered me for greater choices.

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Enjoying Life, Purposefully!

When we are aware of the purpose of our acts, we begin to enjoy them. Most importantly when we act with the thought of helping and serving others, for purposes bigger that what we can achieve individually, we truly uncover our potential. We forget fear and excuses, our pain and misery and begin working with passion. We begin to feel alive and enjoy this indulgence in purposeful service.

For me, I am in my element while I am coaching, I feel alive and at my best. I forget time limits and get into a flow. Once you know what is your element, your sense of purpose helps you to grow consistently. It builds your character. It gives joy and fulfillment.

There is joy, love and compassion in serving! Not to chase anything blindly but with a purpose. Embrace purposeful service in life everyday, in every breath and in every moment!

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Editor’s Note:

If you enjoyed this article by Namita Barik on ‘Purposeful Service: Ending the Endless Chase of Life’ , you may also enjoy her quest to help you find your wholeness and realize your limitless potential. She questions the fundamentals of the premise on which we live our lives and doesn’t stop there. She urges you to search within to move to You Version 2.0.

About The Author

Namita Barik is an entrepreneur, life coach, mother and a loving wife. She is a core member of Confederation of Indian Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (CIMSME) and is working towards empowering women enterprises.

Namita is passionate about mentoring people to achieve a breakthrough from their self limiting beliefs. Her vision is to empower people to realize their inner potential and live a life of freedom and choice.