It cannot be denied that life is full of suffering but if you have a cause to suffer for, something you truly care about, the suffering loses its gravity. In fact, the obstacle becomes the way. This is the story of Jackie Robinson’s “Why?”

Robinson, born in 1919, was one of the five children raised by a single African American mother. Growing up in an America where racial segregation and discrimination were a norm, Jackie overcame one hurdle after another driven by his passion for sports. Soon, Robinson went on to become UCLA’s first athlete to excel in four sports – football, basketball, baseball, and track & field.

But a bigger challenge was about to reveal a bigger purpose to Robinson soon. In 1947, he got enrolled into the Dodger’s team for Major League Baseball (MLB). First, some team members created a petition to stop Robinson from playing. This attempt failed, but the journey was still not all rosy.

Given how rare it was to see an African American play in the MLB, around 14 thousand African American’s came to watch Robinson’s first match but the game was nothing remarkable. This set a bad precedent for Robinson, as most people were already against a black man playing a “white man’s sport.” In fact, over the year, Robinson got kicked and spat at by rival players, as well as faced criticism from white followers of the sport.

But all this only acted as fuel for the fire in Robinson. He had found his purpose. Robinson was now serving a cause greater than himself. His “Why?” was not just becoming the richest or most famous player, but to open the doors for integrated play, to allow African American players in sports and treat them as humans.

From here, there was no stopping. Over the years, Robinson took his team to the World Series regardless of the fans’ taunts and racism, became a spokesperson for his people, and even blazed the trail for the Civil Rights Movement, working with Martin Luther King Jr. to raise money.

In the end, it all paid off when Robinson became the first African American to be inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1962. This was his contribution to making the world a better place, a foundation for equal treatment of all humans, regardless of their race. This is the story of commitment and courage.

This is a beautiful example of how you do not need to know your purpose or life mission before taking action. Just surrender to something that you really care about and give your best. The experiences that resonate with your being will guide you to your purpose themselves.

If you notice, Robinson overcame self-sabotage every day. He did not let external noise put his spirit down and stood up against all self-doubt. In fact, he used criticisms and fears as fuel for his cause. There was no guarantee that he would succeed, but he took the leap of faith to find the answer himself.

In the words of Marcus Aurelius, “Our inward power, when it obeys nature, reacts to events by accommodating itself to what it faces – to what is possible. It needs no specific material. It pursues its own aims as circumstances allow; it turns obstacles into fuel. As a fire overwhelms what would have quenched a lamp. What's thrown on top of the conflagration is absorbed, consumed by it – and makes it burn still higher.”