Spoiler alert: it’s love.

Humanity is a machine, and we humans are the moving parts. It’s a system made up of micro-systems that are made up of their own micro-systems, and so on. Just like a car is made up of things like an engine, radiator and transmission, and each of those components is made up of smaller parts, and everything’s held together with nuts and bolts, and I’m not really a car guy so this analogy ends here.

But you get the idea.

The point is that we are simply parts of a whole, and we all (read: you) have a very specific purpose in this life. Some people call it your calling, others say it’s “what you were born to do,” but my inner geek calls it your directive (a.k.a. the mission you were put on this planet to carry out).

To put it in more tangible terms, think about a bicycle. It’s got gears, wheels, spokes, handlebars, foot pedals, etc. Each of these components is designed to best fulfill its particular function, and is created with excruciating attention to detail, to allow it to perform its function well. You can’t replace a handlebar with a wheel, or the chain with the seat. Each piece must be put in the correct place to fulfill its purpose. This reveals two profound truths about purpose:

The first truth is that you must be aware of your purpose in order to actively fulfill it. Let’s say, for the sake of the analogy, that each part of the bike is sentient and has free will. Let’s further say that the handlebar doesn’t realize it’s a handlebar, but instead, thinks that it’s a wheel. No matter what the rider does, the handlebar always finds a way to place itself where the wheel should go, thus rendering the entire bike useless. It can’t fulfill its function until it realizes what that function is, and accepts it.

The second truth builds on the first. Once the handlebar realizes it’s not a wheel, it must place itself atop the front end of the bike, or else it’s still useless. Once you’ve discovered your purpose in life, you must poise yourself in such a way so as to allow your function to be fulfilled. This means that even if you discover that your calling is to take care of orphans, it doesn’t change a thing unless you go find some orphans to care for.

So the million dollar question is

“How do I find my calling?”

I already told you: it’s love.

Here’s how that works. Take a second to mentally prepare to examine your entire life. Seriously, take a second. Some people envision their entire lives as playing out on a giant movie screen; others grab a pen and paper and get ready to write stuff down. You know how your brain works, so I’ll provide the “what” and you take care of the “how.”

First, think about what comes naturally to you.

Think about what’s always been easy for you. For me it was always drawing. I drew better than most of my peers growing up, so I became the token art guy. It’s also been said that I’m a good listener. What things are you naturally good at doing, and can excel at without really trying? If you answer is “nothing,” think harder until you’ve got something.

Second, think about what you’re most passionate about.

Now I must make a distinction here. I’m not talking about experiential passion. I had a friend whose father got Alzheimer’s Disease, and she became very passionate about raising awareness of the disease and doing what she could to help other families affected by it. This is a great cause, but it’s not the kind of passion I’m talking about. Think about the things you’re passionate about for absolutely no reason. Things that you can’t remember not being passionate about. If you get stuck on this one, ask the people who know you best. Just make sure it’s not something you’re passionate about just because of something that happened to you.

Lastly, think about all of the relationships you’ve ever had with people that you deeply cared about.

This can be siblings, mentors, childhood best friends, spouses, etc. I read a book once called “The Five Love Languages,” and this book teaches that if you love someone, your actions toward them are rooted in one of five categories: gifts, time, service, verbal praise, and physical touch. I’ve since discovered in my own marriage and those of my friends that there are many more than five ways your love expresses itself through your actions. The question you need to ask yourself is, what actions define your love for the you care about most? The reason I prompted you to consider all your past relationships is because it will be easy to answer this question if you review them with an honest eye.

So you’ve got three pieces to the puzzle: your natural talents, your natural passions, and your “love language.” Here’s how they fit together.

Another quick analogy. The purpose of a blender was conceived long before the first blender was built. All the moving parts were considered, and designed to fit together perfectly, ergo the blender is very good at blending food (as opposed to heating it up or seasoning it). In the same way, if you were designed to do something, it won’t be hard for you to do it. After all, you were created with all the mental, physical and emotional components necessary to do it (and that’s why it comes naturally to you). This is the point at which you ask yourself “Am I a handlebar that’s trying to be a wheel?”

Your talents are the “what” and your passions are the “how.” Two public speakers could be equally talented at presenting ideas, but if one is passionate about camping and the other is passionate about space travel, they will affect vastly different people groups in vastly different ways. Once you know what you were designed to do and how you were designed to do it, the next (and last) question is “to whom should I do it?”

That’s right, your calling is not only supposed to be aimed at other people, but it depends on them. Think back to the bike analogy. Each piece of that bicycle is integrated with several other pieces. The spokes connect the tires to the frame. The petals connect to a gear which drives a chain to the front wheel, and so on. Everything’s connected, and each part both relies on and provides for the other pieces.

In the same way, your purpose in life is to affect the lives of others in the only way you know how. One last question: what then is the purpose of the machine of mankind? As far as we know, it’s to survive and be healthy, much like what a single human being is after. So if the moving parts of a machine are designed to enable the machine to fulfill its purpose, then it can only follow that each human being is designed to act for the good of mankind.

Kinda puts a different spin on that phrase, doesn’t it?

In the end, when you think about how you can use your talents and passions for the good of mankind as a whole, it always ends in love. If you honestly use the above method of introspection to find your purpose in this life, and describe what that life would look like, you would also be describing love.

Service to others. Helping people in need. Loving those who don’t have someone to love them. Providing for those who are without. Providing answers to the seeking, and giving direction to the lost. We all (read: YOU) are capable of doing incredibly huge things in the lives of everyone we meet, and were also designed to do just that.

Some people are thinkers, and others are doers. If you’re a thinker, I’ve probably already lost you because you’re analyzing every detail of your life trying to figure out the purpose of your design. If you’re a doer, I’ve got a much easier way to find your calling:

1.  Go out into the world and love someone. Do everything in your power to make their needs and desires come true, and don’t ask anything in return.

2.  Repeat this with someone else.

3.  Keep repeating steps 1 and 2 until you catch yourself saying “This is what I was born to do.”

4.  Do it again.

What you’ll find is that living out your calling and living in love are the exact same thing.

Hear Ryan talk about his love philosophy here.