I have been reading alot of writings these days to gain perspective as to how other people, especially women, find balance and harmony in their work-play lives, handle stress, laugh off hormonal fluxes and flummoxing, and deal with the daily challenges of finding more time to spend doing the things you enjoy with less money to spend doing them.
Ever since the economy has been in reverse it seems so has my income. It makes you wonder what the purpose is in working so much harder and getting so much less out of it. Ultimately, it is not just about the money. It is the basic question: What is your purpose in life and what are you doing at this time to achieve it? And what are you both doing and not doing that is preventing you from getting there?
Of course, I am doing all this soul searching on a shoestring. After spending one hour unloading on a therapist recently my attitude may have felt fuller but my wallet was emptier, which put me in a flux again. I left wishing I had spent the money on a massage and facial which really would have made me feel much better and more glowing. That same day I ended up having dinner with two friends for a third of what the therapist cost me and I had more fun and felt much happier after spending time with them.
Being both a realist with a mortgage and debts to pay and an idealist with dreams of traveling around the world with my husband to live my bucket list, I have decided to start pursuing a new purpose in my life by first re-purposing my current one.
There is a best selling book on the market called “The Purpose Driven Life“ by Dr. Rick Warren, who is a deeply religious man with talent for e-commerce. I am not a deeply religious woman but I have always dreamed of writing a best-selling book, and e-commerce is where it’s at these days. That sounds like a great purpose for me to pursue. So I won’t write off Dr. Warren completely. See, you can learn something from anyone if you re-purpose your thought process.
I center my inspiration on ” The Re-Purposeful Life.”
The Re-Purposeful Life means this: Re-purpose what you have to make it work for you in new ways. If it does not make you happier, more productive and more fulfilled, toss it and move on. Don’t let things that truly no longer work for you stand in the way of finding things that will.
In simple a day-to-day life, I realize I re-purpose a lot. Here are a few suggestions:
Use olive oil (the cheap kind) to polish your shoes and use dark magic markers to hide scuffs.
Use hair conditioner to shave your legs and clear nail polish to stop runs in your stockings.
Turn stained T-Shirts into polishing rags. Turn moth-eaten cashmere sweaters into blankets for your dog.
Use hair spray to get rid of ballpoint pen ink stains and salt to get rid of red wine stains.
-And so on. I never tried Preparation H to shrink bags under my eyes, but that is a legendary example of re-purposing a product for an alternate use. Throughout history and in most cultures of the world women have been the leaders in re-purposing things to clean homes, care for children, cook and economize.
So how does the Re-Purposeful Life fit into The Big Picture of Finding Purpose?
First, the approach helps you gain new perspective. You may find something out about yourself that you didn’t know.
Second, it can get you thinking outside “the box” you are stuck in.
Third, it can provide creative inspiration to the monetarily challenged and ultimately open up new paths to financial success.
Finally, re-purposing your life may help you realize the life you really want to live.
Here are some tips:
1. Re-purpose your routine. Maybe your attitude is off because you have taken the same approach to something day in and day out. Turn it inside out! Take a different route to work. Dare to wear a style or color you have never tried. Sit in different seats for goodness sake. We all get stuck in the same rut and routine way too often. I have made it my goal to try something new every week so I am never stuck in neutral. Neutral is not my “color!”
2. Re-purpose how you appear to others. Toss the frownie face and grin it and bare it. When I am mad or nervous, I smile. I “grin and bare my teeth.” I do this a lot when I am producing events. People always comment on how calm I look when I may seething inside. It works! And frowns cause wrinkles, and wrinkles are expensive to get rid off. Who needs that?
3. Re-purpose old friends or colleagues: Reconnect with someone you have not spoken to in years and really catch up, as in pick up the phone and have a conversation or meet for a drink. I have done this a lot and it has opened several new doors for me.
4. Re-purpose your hobbies and interests. What would you rather be doing, and are you spending more time doing that activity or something you barely tolerate? I really do not like the basics of the PR business, the industry in which I work. People treat you with no respect until they want something out of you or have a crisis. And it amazes me that I am paid to write words to put in clients’ mouths when I find writing and speaking in front of people so darn easy and fun! But I love drinking wine, traveling, writing, connecting people around the dinner table and doing good things that make a difference. So late last year after finishing treatment for the Big C, I re-purposed my business to create The Connected Table to focus on doing the things I love, like connecting people to each other and to interesting products, places, causes and programs, and writing about things I enjoy and can share, such as this blog.
5. Re-purpose your belongings. Closet consultants always say one should create “toss” and “keep” piles. I say add a “re-purpose” pile. Turn an evening dress into a cocktail dress or a gorgeous lounge-around-home dress. Turn earrings into shoe ornaments. Wear your belt backwards. Turn a fur coat into a vest or make ear muffs. Instead of buying something new, re-purpose something old. Mind you, “cheap” is not cool and sexy but “thrift”and “creative economizing” is.
My favorite “re-purpose” clothing story is that of Sara Blakely, founder of SPANX, who cut off the legs of her pantyhose to create what has now become the word’s best selling tummy flattener outside of a surgical tummy tuck. Now that is a “Re-Purpose Your Life” success story!
I also have a dear friend who re-purposed her life as an investment banker in the health care industry to create a company called Meals to Heal which is dedicated to making the lives of cancer patients and their caregivers less stressful by providing information, resources and healthy meals to meet their nutritional needs. She is applying her considerable business and industry acumen to something she is passionate about that gives both her and others purpose.
In the end, to achieve a more purposeful life, maybe you don’t need to spend a lot of money on outside experts. I am sure they help, but I just can’t swing it when caring for my the health of my somewhat frail 13-year-old dog Chance, paying down credit card debt and putting away money for that dream trip around the world take precedent. So, I will re-purpose for now and enjoy the challenge.
Take a look inside yourself and around you, and try re-purposing your skills, your passions, your outlook, your material goods and your surroundings, and find new ways to use them. It just might give you a whole new perspective and purpose. And that’s the point!
I want to hear stories from you about how you did it! Post at Facebook.com/MelanieYoung or Twitter@mightymelanie.
