This Perfectly Ordinary Life

A text message pops up on my phone: “For u, where do u find your fulfillment/purpose in life?”

…

I ponder my response for a bit but then realize how simple the answer is.

…

"Oh my dear, there are so many things I could say to you about this, not to say that I’m entirely successful at doing all of them, but I have many things to say nonetheless. To answer your question, I find myself most fulfilled when I love people and even can just be with people.

Your question reminds me of something that occurred to me last spring. I was going to school and really not enjoying my classes; I felt so discouraged because it seemed like my studies were not only not bringing me joy but also preventing me from loving others in a deep and meaningful way. I almost couldn’t see the point in taking classes, because although in the end they will allow me to love people in a way I never could if I didn’t go to school, it seemed that there were better ways to bring joy and love to myself and others at that time. But what I realized after much pondering was that the sacrifice I was making in going to school and putting in my best effort was indeed a real sacrifice that I could make for my future family. You see almost anything you do (so long as it is virtuous) can be an act of love, even something that on the surface appears to be selfish (e.g., getting an education to better myself is really not about me but about serving others and my family). Of course I often need to remind myself of the reason for what I’m doing, but it certainly helped me to see my life in a different light.

And when I say that I find the greatest fulfillment in loving/being with others please don't think that I'm some great saint; your question is about joy and fulfillment, and it is no accident that joy (which is true and lasting happiness, not fleeting happiness) comes from love, because if heaven is being in eternal joy and also in the presence of God WHO IS LOVE then naturally our greatest joys would come from sharing love with others.

It's also important to remember why we are here; why am I here on this earth?

It’s simple really; our purpose is to love; our purpose is to become like God. If you've ever read C.S. Lewis you may be familiar with what he says about this in Mere Christianity: God became man so WE could be like little Gods - Saints.

And maybe you gathered this already too if you’ve read Story of a Soul by St. Thérèse of Lisieux: most of us will not be like the great saints, like St. Joan of Arc or St. Cecilia who were martyred for their faith. Most of us will live simple, ordinary lives, but how fulfilling our lives are or how holy we can become is not about how grand our sacrifices are, it's about what we do with our ordinary lives. St. Josemaria Escriva said something about this that really struck me: ”Either we learn to find our Lord in ordinary, everyday life, or else we shall never find Him.”

Either we find our HOLY in our ordinary, everyday lives, or we shall NEVER FIND HIM…

I don’t know about you friend, but this moves my heart. If we don’t seek our Lord in the daily grind of life then we shall NEVER find Him who gives us breath. This means that I must search for God in every part of my life, not just on Sundays at Church, or when I feel like it, or have some free time. I must seek the Lord in everything I do. And oh how it frightens me that I should ever not find our Lord, for I have known both the emptiness and dullness of a life without God, as well as the overwhelming joy, and sweetness of a life with Him who blesses me and calls me, yes ordinary, little me, HIS beautiful daughter. And it is the knowledge of the stark contrast between these two options that prompts me to step into the light: the dull twilight of being in a place without God — a place in which one always hopes that the light is coming and yet it never comes — contrasted with the golden radiance of a life with God, basking in the warmth of Him who is The Light."

(And this is why my friends say I send the longest text messages).