It’s surprisingly easy to build a life so full of commitments that we lose sight of why we chose them in the first place. We keep adding responsibilities, projects, and obligations until activity begins to replace intention. Over time, that constant busyness can drain our energy and pull us away from what matters most.
Nature offers another way. In the garden, pruning is never about making something smaller. It is about removing what no longer serves so that healthy growth can emerge. Pruning reshapes a plant, allowing it to become stronger, healthier, and more vibrant. Perhaps we can approach our own lives in much the same way.
Last week’s blog focused on pruning intentionally, with lessons from the great oaks in my yard. As I reflected on pruning as a process of reshaping, I found myself turning from trees to water.
Gravity and pruning work similarly
Some of my favorite memories are from visits to Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Each spring, melting snow rushes down the hillsides toward the lake, taking on many different forms along the way. Sometimes the water meanders quietly. Sometimes it tumbles over waterfalls or races through rapids before settling into calm pools and backwaters.
The landscape certainly influences its path, but another force is always at work. Gravity—an invisible force we rarely think about—continuously draws the water toward the lake, shaping its movement every step of the way. I began to wonder whether purpose plays a similar role in our own lives.
Like gravity, purpose is an unseen force that quietly shapes our choices, commitments, and direction. Throughout our lives, the “geography” around us changes. Our education, careers, relationships, and responsibilities all influence the paths we take. Yet beneath those changing circumstances, something deeper continues to pull us forward.
Some important patterns to consider
When I was younger, I didn’t think much about purpose. Looking back now, however, I can see patterns that I couldn’t recognize at the time. Certain kinds of work continually drew me in. Certain questions kept capturing my attention. Some commitments remained meaningful even as other interests faded away. Over time, those recurring patterns revealed something important about why I was here and how I could contribute.
It took me more than five years of reflection before I could answer that question with confidence. Purpose isn’t always something we discover in a single moment. Often, it emerges gradually as we notice what consistently calls us forward.
Once we begin to understand that deeper purpose, pruning becomes much easier. Instead of asking whether we can fit one more thing into an already full schedule, we begin asking a different question:
Does this move me closer to my purpose, or farther away from it?
Three simple questions from Nature
Nature’s lesson suggests three questions that can help us begin that process.
- What is my purpose? This question deserves patience. If the answer isn’t immediately clear, look back over your life. What kinds of work, relationships, or activities have consistently drawn you in? What themes keep reappearing? Often, our purpose is revealed through these recurring patterns.
- Which of my commitments support that purpose? Take an honest inventory of how you spend your time and energy. Which activities move you toward the person you want to become? Which commitments are aligned with the contribution you hope to make?
- What can I prune now? Purpose is only meaningful if it influences our choices. Consider what you may need to release so you can devote more attention to the work, relationships, and activities that are most aligned with who you are and what you are here to do.
Nature reminds us that healthy growth is rarely the result of adding more. More often, it comes from making thoughtful choices about what to keep and what to let go. Gravity continually guides water toward its destination. In much the same way, purpose can quietly guide our own decisions. When we understand what is pulling us forward, our lives begin to flow with greater clarity, intention, and meaning.
