I hear people ask all the time, “What is God’s purpose for my life?” and while I can’t tell you whether you should be a veterinarian or a stay-at-home dad, I can tell you that the purpose of life is not to seek pleasure and avoid pain. The real purpose is to be aimed at Love—love for ourselves, our neighbors, our families, our communities, and even our enemies. We get so easily distracted and beset by the struggle to find meaning through a paycheck or the daily grind of holding down a job. While those things are practical and necessary, let’s be honest: they fall short of filling the human soul with real satisfaction. We are on this earth for the far greater joy of Love.

I honestly doubt that Michelangelo dragged himself up onto that scaffolding to paint the Sistine Chapel or carved the famed Pieta just because he had to pay his rent. I don’t think Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa hoping to win his mother's approval or to cover his taxes; he did it out of a deep love for the gift inside his heart, using it to capture the unique, rye beauty of an everyday person.

Each and every one of us carries gifts and talents that bring us joy when we exercise them, and something in us comes alive when we do. Whether you are farming to feed a nation or teaching future leaders in a classroom, the truth is that others will fall in love with your gift because you love your gift. I have always said there is no task so small that it cannot be performed with great love. Even if you are a street sweeper or a night-shift janitor, if you perform that task with a radiance of love, everyone who sees you will be inspired to say, “My, my, they sure seem to love life.” No matter where you are or what you do, join me in being done with the BS and start living for Love alone.