So many of us spend our lives searching for our greatest purpose here on this earth. We spend thousands of dollars on self-help programs, books and seminars, and countless hours researching and learning about how to live our most purposeful lives, often to be left deflated and wanting for more.
Why?
The books and gurus that are designed to lift us up have a downside…if we’re not careful.
They paint a picture of a pristine life and flow that exists when we “find our purpose” and promise that you too can experience the ultimate dream of love and financial abundance if you sign up for their program…which, by the way…has a value of $10,000 but for today only, if you enroll in their free online webinar, as an elite member you’ll have access to their endless stream of spam and be able to purchase the program for only $447 by signing up now…
How can you say no?
Find my purpose AND have my most amazing life with love and enough abundant cash to not only cover the cost of the program but fund my financially free life forever? For only $447? Sweet deal!
Right.
It may sound obvious not to proceed with the offer when put this way, yet we do.
So what happens?
We get caught up in this idea of a dazzling, purposeful future as the solution to our present pain, and the rest is history. The program fails, we long for more, and continue the search all over again.
And…while I can shame the predatory purpose industry all day long, there can be great value in what it provides…if you’re mindful of how you use the information, and what you choose to accept as truth in your life.
The issue I have, is that so many of us put our lives on hold as we search for our purpose, the ONE thing that makes us unique.
The ONE thing we are called here to do. Our ONE purpose that answers all of our hopes and dreams. And…by the way…even if we’re loving what we do, if we’re not getting paid oodles of money for our one thing, then we clearly haven’t found our purpose…or so we’re told, and so we think…
And this, to me, is the travesty.
Because when we can’t “find it” we start to question if it even exists. The idea of living your most purposeful life begins to seem like something only a lucky few get to experience, and you’re left in the mud and fog, trudging through this oh-not-so-purposeful life…
This, is a stealthy killer of joy, and yet another undercover version of “I’m not good enough” as you search for the one thing that makes you unique…
But I’ve got news for you.
You are already unique.
There is no one else on this earth who has the exact same combination of experiences, passions, and gifts as you. No one else knows exactly what you know. No one else is the combination of tangible and intangible factors that are you. You can’t not be unique. And that’s the truth.
So you might be wondering…
“Is she saying there’s no such thing as purpose? That’s even worse than where I was before! That’s BS and I don’t buy it.”
And if you don’t buy it and think that’s BS that’s great…because no, that’s not what I’m saying. In fact, perhaps the opposite is true.
Purpose is real. It’s tangible. It’s not some mystical magical elusive thing that doesn’t exist.
You can see it, feel it, hear it, taste it, and touch it…
How?
Each time you say yes or no from the soul of who you are, from that deepest truth within.
And when you do? There’s a recognition. A knowing. Perhaps it just feels right, a sense of calm washes over you, things become clear, or you get a sudden “aha” that lets you know you’re on track.
But when you don’t?
When you put your truth on hold? When you say yes but mean no? Or no but mean yes?
Something shifts out of alignment and begins to feel off…you may not notice at first, and sometimes it’s only after the fact when things become crystal clear.
I knew I should have said no. I knew I should have said yes…
To that job, relationship, opportunity, inspiration, obligation…
But I didn’t.
Why?
Fear, doubt, overthinking, habitual response, self-sabotage, no time.
We talk ourselves out of it. We believe our limitations over our truth.
The excuses are endless, but so is your soul’s potential, if and when you’re willing to answer its call.
How?
By saying yes.
By saying yes to your life. Yes to your truth. Yes to that quiet voice within.
It’s simple. But it’s not always easy.
The journey can be full of challenge and pain, stuckness and fog, and leaping from the known to the unknown can bring a whole symphony of frustration to the table.
It can also bring incredible possibilities to light. Possibilities full of love and joy, flow and abundance, wholeness and delight.
And as those moments come to life and each unfolds into the next, our lives become a series of moments connected as a whole.
And the more we say yes to our truth, and put it into action, the greater truth we live.
We so often think we need to find our purpose before we can live it. But what if the opposite is true? And we must live it first?
One moment. One choice. One truth-aligned action at a time.
It’s ongoing.
It’s continuous.
Your purpose is not a destination. It’s an unfolding into the self that you already are within.
Witnessing it, living it, breathing it, celebrating it.
And as you do this, a new path starts emerging with a clarity unlike before, because you’re living it. Your mind can understand it because the eyes can see it, the ears can hear it, and the body can feel it, walking through the world in your truth, from the essence of who you are within.
So what exactly is your purpose?
Your purpose, if you’re willing to accept, is you.
Being you. Living you.
From the core of who you are, in the unique way that is inherently you.
Notice the voice from within, that resonance of truth. It will tell you what it wants, if you listen. And as you do…hear it, nurture it, write it down, speak it out, begin to create a vision that aligns with you, and take action to make it so.
You don’t have to know the full plan. Simply notice the next right step for you, and take it.
Then rinse and repeat.
One step, one moment, one soul-aligned choice at a time.
And when you do, when the energy you were using to live someone else’s dream gets freed up to fuel your own, you just might see how simple living your purpose actually is.
***
With love and gratitude,
Lena
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Lena D. Meyer is a Transformational Life Coach, and the founder of Gratitude6. She is ranked as one of the top life coaches in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, and since 2008 has supported hundreds of people in living their most joyful, purposeful, and empowered lives. Including media and public speaking events, her tools and messages have reached thousands.
Her specialties include intuition, mindset shifts, life transitions and positive impact, and she believes now more than ever we have the opportunity to create positive change in our lives and world.
Originally published 10/2/17
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