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- #027 Finding Your Rhythm: A Guided Exercise in Purpose and Presence
#027 Finding Your Rhythm: A Guided Exercise in Purpose and Presence
A guided reflection to help you uncover your path, act with intention, and return to what truly matters.
Rey Mungai
July 04, 2025
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
I’ve always counted myself lucky for discovering my passion and purpose early. Shortly after high school, I stumbled into design—first out of necessity. The graphic t-shirts available locally didn’t quite reflect my taste, and the brands I admired were far out of reach financially. So, I began creating my own. That love quickly turned into something more: a service, a skill, and eventually, a career. Over a decade later, through countless roles and ventures, I’ve come to realize that my deeper purpose is to use design and creative entrepreneurship as tools to build solutions, empower others, and shape the future of African innovation.
As cliché as it may sound, I often say I don’t feel like I “work” in the conventional sense. Design isn’t just my job—it’s my rhythm. I design when I’m relaxed, when I’m bored, even when I’m unwinding. And yes, I’m lucky enough to get paid for it too.
But discovering your purpose is only the beginning. Living it is the discipline.
Start with the Seed
Not everyone has a lightning-bolt moment of discovering purpose. For many, it begins as a quiet urge — a consistent pull toward certain problems, ideas, or ways of creating. You might not recognize it at first, but it’s often hidden in what you pay attention to when no one’s watching. What you do instinctively. The way you show up when no one’s asking you to.
For some, it’s a sense of responsibility — to create, to care, to fix, to build. For others, it’s a deep curiosity that won’t go away until it’s explored. Often, the seed of purpose shows up long before we have the language or confidence to name it. But it’s there, quietly shaping what excites you, what irritates you, and what you’re willing to struggle for.
Pause and ask yourself:
What do you find yourself drawn to repeatedly, even when life is busy?
What problems or opportunities naturally capture your attention?
What patterns do you notice in the ways you try to help others or improve things?
These aren’t just preferences. They’re clues. And they often point toward the deeper thread that can become your purpose — not as a fixed destination, but as a path you walk with more awareness over time.
“Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.”
Walking the Path: Action, Alignment, and the Courage to Continue
Unlike most of my posts, this week’s piece isn’t centered on a personal story. Instead, it’s an invitation to reflect — together — on the deeper questions that shape how we live. If you’ve ever felt unsure about your purpose, or caught yourself waiting for a moment of grand clarity, you’re not alone. The truth is, purpose rarely announces itself. It doesn’t always arrive with fireworks or perfect timing. More often, it reveals itself in motion — through the quiet discipline of showing up, adjusting, and showing up again.
We often wait for clarity before we act, but clarity often comes because we act. Purpose isn’t a lightning bolt — it’s a path built through small, consistent steps. It’s not always about having a big mission. Sometimes, it’s just about doing the next right thing. With intention. With presence. With heart.
Reflection Prompts:
What’s one action that aligns with your deeper calling that you can take this week, even if it’s small?
Where have you been waiting for the perfect moment to begin?
“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”
But as you act, the world might push back. Others may question your direction. Friends and family might not understand the path you’ve chosen—especially if it doesn’t follow the script they imagined for you. The discipline of purpose isn’t just about showing up. It’s about doing so even when it means being misunderstood.
Reflection Prompts:
Where in your life do you feel out of alignment because you’re chasing approval instead of purpose?
What would it mean to disappoint others in order to stay true to yourself?
“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”
And even then, purpose often isn’t loud. It’s quiet. It looks like staying up late to refine a project no one asked for. Like walking your child to school even when you’re tired. Like showing up every day to build something that doesn’t yet exist.
Reflection Prompts:
What is a quiet form of purpose in your life that you sometimes overlook?
What would happen if you honored it more intentionally?
“Don’t you see how much you have to offer — and yet you let yourself be distracted?”
And when the effort feels invisible, and the noise of progress fades, purpose invites you to return to your why. Not to the applause, but to the anchor. To the deeper reason behind the work.
Reflection Prompts:
What would you continue to do even if no one clapped, liked, followed, or paid you?
What is the deeper “why” underneath your work, your service, your effort?
“To love only what happens, what was destined. No greater harmony.”
Look, you don’t need a billboard purpose or a perfect plan. You only need honesty — and the courage to act in alignment with it, one day at a time. This week, try to show up with more intention. Less performance. More presence. Let purpose be the compass, not the destination.
And when the path feels unclear, or you find yourself drifting from what matters, come back to this post. Sit with the questions again. Let them meet you where you are. Purpose is not a fixed point — it’s a rhythm you return to. A quiet practice of remembering, realigning, and beginning again.
Speak soon,
-Rey
Sophia • Andreia • Dikaiosyne • Sophrosyne
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