What Would John Coltrane Say About Finding Your Purpose in Life?

Purpose isn't something you find lying around waiting to be picked up. It's something you discover through dedication, through commitment to something larger than yourself. For me, it was always music—but music as a spiritual pursuit, not just as entertainment or a way to make money.

You have to ask yourself: what calls to you so deeply that you cannot ignore it? What makes you feel connected to something beyond your own small existence? That calling, that pull toward something greater—that's where purpose lives.

But here's what matters most: once you find it, you can't dabble. You must commit completely. I spent hours upon hours practicing, studying, pushing the saxophone to places it had never gone before. Not for applause, though that came. I did it because I had to. Because my soul demanded it.

Purpose requires sacrifice. It means saying no to the easy path, the comfortable path. It means facing your limitations and wrestling with them until you transcend them. You'll encounter resistance—from others, from yourself, from the very materials you work with. This resistance is not a sign you're on the wrong path; it's often a sign you're on the right one.

The key is to align your purpose with something eternal, something that connects you to God, to love, to the universal truth that flows through all creation. If your purpose is only about personal gain or status, it will eventually feel hollow. But if it's about service, about adding something meaningful to the world, about expressing the divine through whatever gift you've been given, then you'll find endless fuel for your commitment.

Don't wait for perfect clarity before you start. Begin where you are, with what you have, and let the path reveal itself through faithful action. Purpose grows stronger the more you pursue it with integrity and sincerity.