Assisi and Purpose...

Il 6 ottobre 2011

Assisi

It's 3:00 pm and I'm in my apartment, after four hours of class this morning and lunch in a restaurant with three friends from school. When we are together, we speak in Italian and, after a couple of glasses of sparkling white wine at lunch, my language skills definitely improved. This is the fourth course I've taken at l'Accademia Lingua Italiana Assisi so coming back here to study is familiar and comforting. We got our books this morning and, I will admit, the more I learn, the more difficult it becomes because the expectation is that I remember everything I've learned up until now. As we all know, learning a language is cumulative so there is a tremendous amount of information-vocabulary, grammar, etc. that one must store away and retrieve. I've decided not to “beat myself up” for what I don't know and “pat myself on the back” for how far I've come. I ordered for the four of us at lunch today and even though it was a few words, it felt good to use the language in a natural way.

This has been a week of getting settled...grocery shopping, starting to once again cook for myself, and do my homework assignments every evening. I'm happy in Assisi; it' such a beautiful place and being here gives me a chance to “take a deep breath” and think about the blessings in my life and where I want to go from here.

A good friend of mine sent me an article about finding one's purpose in life. Although I've been privileged to do many things, travel far and wide, and feel the love of family and friends, I know that I am due for a re-evaluation. Where do I want to go from here? When I was a business/life coach, working with many people who experienced frustration professionally and confusion personally, we would often talk about purpose and mission. I found that the “Bucket List” or the “100 Things I Want to Do Before I Die” was a simple exercise that helped people see what they were missing; what they were putting off until later. What I've learned in my life is that “now” is what's important; to be “present”, to take that deep breath and be centered and in the moment....because the moment won't last. So I'm thinking about those things I've done that have given me the most satisfaction, the greatest sense of accomplishment, the greatest joy. Satisfaction, accomplishment, joy...it you feel those things, then your purpose, I think, is being fulfilled. If this blog does anything, I hope it will be a reminder that life is a blessing and that it passes quickly. The adventure is there for each one of us...What colors are you using on your palette?