Kobe Bryant's Life Story Teaches Us the Importance of Finding Our Passion and Purpose to Live for

"Humans devise, and plot, and scheme

unaware of divine will -

but what does plotting and scheming have to do with divine will?

When the human thinks with his mind,

it's obvious what he'll envision;

he'll plot and scheme,

not knowing how to be God.

He'll take a step or two forward

as though he's going the right way;

but then, who knows

where he might be pulled!

Let go of the quarrel

and seek the kingdom of love -

for that kingdom will liberate you

from the angel of death.

Become a quarry unto the King,

and seek less your own prey -

for whatever you hunt

that hawk of time will take back.

Fall silent, choose a place

where you will be at peace -

for whatever place you choose

the King will sit you there." Rumi

Verses from poem #647

Translation: Omid Arabian

In one way or another, from time to time, we all end up resorting to plotting and scheming in order to get what we want. We try to control situations and mess with the divine order, only to later realize that when we don’t’ allow for things to unfold as they should, the results don’t last. We tend to let our mind and ego lead our lives instead of our heart. We constantly want to possess more than the person next to us. We want to look better. We want the better job and higher title. We want more followers and likes. But do we ever stop and think for a second that all these possessions can be gone with a blink of an eye? That when it's our time to depart from this planet, we will leave it all behind? And once we’re gone, it is unlikely that we will be remembered for the material things we possessed or the job title we held. What we will be remembered for however is the positive footprints we left behind, our joyful spirit and our zest for life.

I think Kobe Bryant exemplified these

ideals perfectly. It seems he let love serve as his guide to create the life he wanted: the love for basketball, the love for family and friends, the love for helping others... I really do believe when you live in love and go after what your heart desires, and when your intentions are pure, there are no boundaries to what you can achieve. Somehow life gets rigged in your favor and you end up sitting on the thrown of life without the need to compete and plot against others because deep down you just know that your passion and drive will get you to the top.

The level of mourning we witnessed for Kobe Bryant's passing not only throughout the city of Los Angeles but across the entire nation and even globally is testament to that. No one is talking about Kobe's material possessions or even so much about his NBA record, as that too can be beaten as it happened the night before his passing. What we've been seeing and hearing about most is his exemplary passion and ambition to go after his dream; the inspiration he instilled in an entire generation of kids and young adolescents to achieve greatness in whatever they aspire to be and accomplish; his philanthropic endeavors, including the more than 200 Make-A-Wish requests. In Kobe's own words, "It's beyond the game...There's a greater purpose to that."

It is safe to assume these are the real reasons why more than 350,000 people (according to stats published by NBC news) so far have visited the memorial site outside of the Staples Center in the days after Kobe's helicopter crash and why 20,000+ and numerous other waitlisted individuals are eager to attend Kobe Bryant's memorial at the Staples Center.

So if you're reading this post and made it all the way to this last line, I urge you to pause for a moment and really look inward. What is YOUR purpose? What is it that YOU want to be remembered for?