The great thing about chair lifts is they give you lots of time to think.

Or practice the pronunciation of obscure words.

A few years ago (quite a few years by now) I was riding the chair lift and letting my mind wander when I remembered that morning’s word of the day, care of Merriam-Webster:

omphaloskepsis.

That’s one fancy word

It provided me and my chair mate with some fun for not only that ride but a couple of others as well:

How do you pronounce it?

“No, it’s ‘ompffff,’ not ‘ompth.’”

How do you spell it?

It soon became and still is my favourite word.

It’s a good way to sum up what it can feel like when you start to search for life purpose and your quest to have it all: there will be a lot of navel gazing.

Riding the chair of life

There is another great thing about chair lifts: just pick the one you want, hop on, keep yourself from falling off, and you’ll arrive at your destination.

It doesn’t work that way with life.

We don’t always get to pick our chair lift.

Or, we don’t realize we’re on one until we reach our Final Destination.

Do you want to pick your chair lift?

Or do you want to ride whichever lift comes along and see where it takes you?

We all have different styles.

The main thing to ask when you get to the end of the lift and turn around to look back on where you came from, will you like the view?

Your life is good.

You have wonderful people around you, an interesting job, and fantastic co-workers.

But at the end of the day you’re left yearning for more:

  • What is my purpose?
  • What do I want to achieve with my career?
  • How do I find balance?
  • How can I have it all?

They’re big questions.

Dive in, start asking, and let the omphaloskepsis begin.