This is my 47th birthday post, and I couldn’t be more grateful to get here. My years have been getting better, and it is thanks to the Yoga Sutras. Specifically, its suggestion to establish clear intentions.

One of the worst feelings is doing something we feel is pointless. The Sutras prompted me to ask: What’s the point? Of everything I was doing when I was 26. My job, my relations, how I was spending my time; everything was up for examination.

Intention-setting is one of the reasons I’ve been teaching yoga for 19 years, and the biggest question I needed to answer in 2005 was: What’s the point of my life? I was working as a compliance auditor at a firm in Washington DC. If I continued down that path, I knew how I was going to feel in 20 years. If I quit and gave yoga a go, I would have no idea how I was going to feel.

Of course, we never really know what’s coming. But I decided the point of life was to experience the unknown; to study the human condition; and to try and help others feel better.

I wouldn’t recommend starting with a big-life question like that, though. I got used to setting intentions in smaller ways:

• Why do I drink coffee? (I like it)
• Why do I run? (The cardio seems like a good idea)
• Why do I listen to music? (it’s both emotionally and intellectually satisfying)

I got good at examining my life, and realized some habits were fine as they were, some habits needed adjustment, and some habits needed to be retired. Including waking up, grabbing my laptop, and hopping on a plane to another audit site.

At 47, a fair bit of my life is known. The journey has been rewarding, and much of that feeling has been because I was on point. For my life, the point is the point.