Just as most of us do, I went to school. I attended a small school, with about 50 people in each class. The good thing about this is that everyone knew each other, and the bad thing was that everyone knew each other.
For the most part, I enjoyed school, mainly because I was good at it. I did well in every class and eventually graduated as high school valedictorian. The downside to doing well for so long, is that you eventually fear that you will fail, or get a B (which is the same thing as failing).
In fifth grade, I forgot to turn in a homework assignment for one of the classes. Because of this, I got a zero on the assignment. That pulled my grade down to a B. This of course was unacceptable. Because I knew how to work the system, I talked to another teacher. Most of our teachers would drop the lowest grade each semester in case we were having a “bad day”. Somehow I was able to convince the one teacher to talk to the other teacher and my zero was dropped, and I was able to keep my streak of straight A’s alive.
School always came relatively easy for me. I didn’t need to study as much as other people did. I don’t think that I was really a teachers’ pet, but doing well in school gave you certain “privileges”. I could walk the hallway without being questioned, and go to my locker during class without getting the fifth degree. Doing well established a certain level of trust, even if it wasn’t earned.
So what does any of this have to do with life purpose? Doing well in school for me fulfilled my purpose for a time. It was a worldly purpose, one I placed on myself. No one pressured me to do well in school. I completely placed that burden on myself. I do believe that God gave me the ability to learn easily, but that has also led to my restlessness at this age when I’m not being challenged in life.
See. I brought it all together eventually.