It's the question that keeps me alive...

Never answer these words… but ask them every day of your life.

Barbie sang it best:
“What was I made for?”

I think it’s an existential human question. I ask it all the time, probably even when I’m asleep.

I think it’s what was coming up for me when I was lying on the ground, getting the shit kicked out of me by bullies when I was 12.

It’s like a sacred whisper as a foot slammed into my ribs, excruciating pain.. YES.. but also a still, small voice.

”What was I made for?”

And the answer I heard then is the same answer I hear today in any struggle: it is always the same.

“More than this.”

As you read this post, I’m wondering about you. What are you made for?

We’ve got thousands of readers, so as this message spreads across the interwebs, this question is being asked of you, and of many others.

It’s a deeply philosophical question.

Here’s what I don’t want you to do:

I don’t want you to answer the question.
I simply want you to keep asking it.

There’s danger in answering too quickly. In our modern world, we tend to reply with a job or a role:

• I was made to be a fireman.

• I was made to be a mother.

• I was made to be an accountant (said virtually nobody).

The problem is, once we answer it, we settle the matter and we stop asking the question. We cut short the great unfolding.

What were you made for?

This is meant to be a lifelong exploration, a deep dive into the unfathomable adventure of living a big, bold, beautiful life.

So my answer is always:

“More than this,” and then I wonder about all the beautiful, magnificent things that I am made for?”

That’s how you tolerate bullying. That’s what gets you off the ground. It’s the question that helps you break out of a soul-sucking 9-to-5. It’s the thing that gets you out of debt.

It’s the question that causes you to create beauty from the ashes of grief.

The answer is never practical. It’s always exploratory.

If you’re tempted to answer “fireman,” go deeper.

What was I made for?
More than this.
More than a job.

You were made to be brave.
To run fearlessly into fires.
To not hold anything back.
To love where love is difficult.
To speak the truth kindly when silence is squashing you.

You were made to go to the difficult places that others fear, because you are brave. Nothing can stop you from caring.

Please keep asking this question. I beg this of you.

G. x

If you're a paid supporter of SPHERE, thank you. I’ve created a list of 17 versions of this question you can ask yourself below, in different seasons, in different tones, and in wildly different ways.

19 WAYS TO ASK THIS QUESTION

These are questions to ask and not to answer. They will propel your life forward in a million different ways. Print them out and dive deep. Your support means the world to me.