Did you know that according to the Torah, each of us has a specific mission to fulfil?
How cool is that?!!!
Our personal mission, that which we are here to achieve with our lives, is called our tachlit. How do we find out what our tachlit is? Is it written somewhere? Well, as a matter of fact, it is! 😎
Let me explain…
So in the olden days we could simply go to a prophet and have them look at our soul. Once they had looked into our very essence they would be able to clarify for us all manner of things and we would have much more clarity regarding where we should be focusing our energies. Today we don’t have prophets, so going to one obviously isn’t an option, however, as the great Torah sage Rav Avraham Grodzinski explains, a personal prophecy has been given to each one of us…
Let’s look at where we can read about our personal mission in life. For now I will focus on the part of our mission that involves our personal contribution (but the principal that I am going to be sharing can be applied to other areas of our personal mission as well).
It will be easiest to use an analogy to explain where our personal prophecy has been written. Rabbi Akiva Tatz gives a great analogy about a construction worker for this purpose. Imagine a construction worker on a construction site, wearing construction worker clothes and ear protectors, holding a big pneumatic drill in his hands and standing right by a big chalk drawn square on the ground inside of which the words “dig foundations here” had been written.
Now, if this construction worker would have momentary amnesia and forgot what his job was, do you think that he would be able to work it out given all of his clues (his clothes, his pneumatic drill, the worksite…)?
I think that there’s a good chance he would! And the truth is, it’s the same with us and our mission!
What specifically do we need to look at to discovery what we are here to do? Well, to start off with we need to look at our personal nature (the way our personalities have been wired), our strengths and abilities and the environment within which we have been placed.
Let me explain… In terms of finding your personal contributions to your world around you it will be helpfull to ask yourself these three questions…
[1] Ask yourself:
- What are my talents and abilities?
You know your talents and abilities (be they organisation skills, oratory skills, people person skills…) weren’t given to you randomly. These are the ‘tools’ that you will need for your personal mission whilst you are in this world!
[2] Ask yourself:
- What are my passions? (e.g. working with kids – programming computers – understanding human behaviour – art…).
You need ongoing energy to pursue your personal mission and your passions provide a constant ‘fuel supply’ that never runs out. Why do you think you were given an endless energy supply in these specific areas?
[3] Ask yourself:
- What are the ‘broken aspects of my world around me’ that given my nature, my life experiences, my sensitivities, I think and feel are most important to fix?
The answer to this question is incredibly important. It shows you where you should focus your energies and abilities.
Do you see that as you ‘read’ yourself and the environment in which you find yourself you uncover the clues you need to figure out what your contribution is.
Generally the area where you will make the most significant contribution to the world is the point where you are using your G-d given passions and talents and you are focusing them towards those areas of the world around you that most crucially need addressing.
Here is a diagram for you to see visually what I am talking about.
Point “X” represents those contributions (projects, goals, callings) where you are working with your passions (so you have a continual energy supply), using your talents and abilities and directing them towards recipients / issues that you understand to be the most appropriate recipients of your help.
Here’s an example… Joe lives in a place where there are quite a few young Jews but they are scattered around and have little connection with each other or to a Jewish community. This really bothers Joe. Joe’s passion is sports and especially football. He also has great people people skills. Putting everything together Joe decides to make a Jewish football league, using his people people skills to network and then to encourage people to be a part. He includes every single disconnected Jew, plus the Rabbi and people from the nearby Jewish community. After the first season Joe has managed to connect over 50 young Jews to each other and to the families of the Jewish community, Shabboses and events.
Joe used his passion for football and his strength with people and networking and directed these at what he felt was important. So… Can you think of any projects, goals, careers, contributions that would allow you to use your fuel supply and your tools to help you address the most important issues in your world that need addressing?
Go on!… Why don’t you actually DO this exercise?! You can ‘copy and paste’ the following questions into the notes section of your phone or a blank page on your computer and then you are set up to answer them and supercharge this aspect of your life!:
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Questions to COPY & PASTE:
- What are my talents and abilities?
- What are my passions?
- What ‘broken aspects of my world around me’ do I think / feel are most important to fix?
And then ask yourself:
- Can I think of 5 projects which will incorporate my answers from all 3 areas?
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If you actually DO answer the above 3 questions and brainstorm projects that fall into point “X” you will have done a powerful potentially life changing exercise that will help you identify an area of contribution that flows from the very essence of who you are and addresses issues that you yourself believe to be incredibly important to address!
Go on, if you haven’t already, copy and paste the above questions so you can take some time out to do the exercise!
By the way… As you go through life, the issues that you think are most important may evolve. For example, a person may initially feel that saving the Rhino is the big issue of the day. They may at some point, however, move on to believe that addressing certain Jewish issues are even higher priority.
Rav Noach Weinberg who founded Aish Hatorah would teach that the main causes that Jews should focus on are the areas where the Jewish people are suffering the most… Two incredibly important areas being a lack of Jewish unity and a lack of exposure to authentic Jewish values and wisdom for living.
Rav Noach Weinberg also strongly believed that even if a person didn’t feel that their personal passions and abilities were a perfect fit regarding addressing the most important needs around them, they should still step up and do their best with what they have rather than find a lesser issue that fits their personal resources better.
A lot to think about…
Please G-d, as you get clarity on the right contribution for you to make in the world and as you share your blessings with others, you will in turn receive all the blessings you need to be effective.
Thank you for reading 😀
Until next time😀.
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