This is a war cry and victory cheer for everyone who has been a part of the Purpose Pages during this first month of conception. I want everyone who’s been here to shake their proud fists in the air as I make this announcement –
The Purpose Pages on Thursday passed the 1,000 person visit mark. We’re actually closer to 1,100 now and counting.
Six months ago I never imagined sharing my life and views with you all in this style of publication. I’ve realized I am alive to write for a long time now, but even with my grandiose visions, I never dreamed it would be on an internet site like this.
It’s been a long road to get to this achievement of 1,000 views. My personal journey took ten years and swallowed up most of my twenties. At times I actually felt like I was living on a different planet trying to figure out what earth should really be like. It was a crazy, upside down experience as I tried to find myself. During those years, I spent all of my time trying to gain the qualities of truth, talent, and purpose in my life. I had a chip on my shoulder to make my life mean something. I became so determined to make it happen. I became unwilling to settle for second best. I accepted huge hopes for my future, and I stopped caring what anyone else thought. I experimented expressing my creativity and if I failed to be brilliant, I picked myself up and tried again. I knew what God was telling me to do , and that’s all that mattered to me. It was now up to me to make an impact in the world.
I journeyed most of that time through faith, and then two years ago I suddenly realized what I was supposed to do with everything I’d learned along the path. I had collected so many pieces of philosophy that hinted toward what a life purpose was, but none were the full answer. I realized I got to my point in life where it was now my turn to put them all together to build my own philosophy on life. That revelation was the most important puzzle piece I’ve ever discovered. It finally gave me a place to put everything else I’d learned around it to expand the picture.
I hope everyone can experience a moment like this. Where you see exactly who you are; what you’re supposed to do; and why you’re on this planet right now. I hope that’s what the writing on this site inspires everyone to do.
But back to the story of how this site came to be… So when I moved back to Minnesota after spending the previous ten years searching and finding who I was, my uncle sent me to meet one of his business associates who offered to help my find my place in the business world. This man was a successful, retired corporate sales guy who just wanted to help a guy with a good heart who was in a jam. We met at a coffee shop, shook hands, and after spending most of the afternoon talking about my philosophical viewpoints with him, he stopped me and said, “You have some real intellectual property here Bill. We’ve just got to find the right way to get it out of you.”
Again, I hope everyone can experience a moment like this. When you’re dreams are no longer dreams, but are referred to as intellectual property by people you respect.
He grabbed some scrap paper and started scribbling on napkins, brainstorming different plans. When our coffee’s were empty, we had a plan. I was going to start a blog. I’d never even heard of a blog before that meeting. Our goal was to begin with solid writing – that would always be our trademark – and then build the culture into one of the coolest, most inspirational places internet sites ever. Like an oasis of purpose where you can find your calling; everything else is just pictures and binary code.
And that’s the short story of how we got to this moment now where I’m smiling and raising my fist and shaking it in the air and saying, “Heck yeah, we got 1,000 views and have added at least some meaning to people’s lives along the way.”
Since the site’s been up I’ve been invited to a dinner party with people I’ve never met; who were all enthusiastic and seeking new beginnings in their lives. That group has since become some of my best friends… I’ve been on the phone with a beautiful woman who’s been clean from meth for 13 days after a 12 year addiction, determined to save her life and make a better reality for her child. I’ve even met a guy who was in prison but whose #1 goal now is to make his son’s life an adventure. That was all in just the first thousand. I can’t wait to see where we’re going to go from here. 10,000 suddenly doesn’t seem that far away now. We can do it. Not just me, but as a team. And that’s what this is. We’ve come together for Purpose. You just keep following God until you eventually reach your bliss. Thank you.
I’m also going to use this opportunity to advertise a new writer who’s going to be writing a column. He’s an African American ex-gangster, currently incarcerated in prison, searching for meaning and a new beginning like all of us.
