#23
Do you know what your life purpose is yet? Do you have a sense of what brings you passion and engagement? That one thing you were meant to do with your time on Earth? Or, like the vast majority of people, does it feel maddeningly just out of reach?
Or, like the vast majority of people, does it feel maddeningly just out of reach?
Here’s a thought for you: what if you are barking up the wrong tree and instead you should be climbing it?
You might be asking yourself what I could possibly mean by that? We are constantly bombarded with stuff suggesting we need to seek out and find our Life Purpose. I would like to offer a different perspective, and I invite you to try it. It might just open up a whole new horizon.
There has been plenty of research telling us that living life with a clear sense of purpose leads to greater happiness. There are loads of coaches and therapists that offer different methods of discovering that life purpose. But here is the thing; for many of us our life purpose is a journey not a destination. It is constantly unfolding and moving onwards and upwards. And through that journey we find our passion and fulfillment.
I don’t believe that our life purpose is entirely ‘figure-outable’ with our conscious minds. We can’t simply ‘think’ our way into our life purpose. We have to step into action. From those actions, we shape and re-shape and grow. The reward is the experience itself.
You might like to try these things to fill your life with purpose and passion:
- I just love metaphors! They unlock innate intelligence without our needing to understand how. Imagine your life as a tree. Each day as you experience things you climb another branch. Some days you take a huge step up. Or you might just edge along the branch you are on. Then on other days you might switch to a different side of the tree and clamber up from there. There are occasions when a branch might snap, and you are just hanging on in there! If you take a moment to look at the view from each branch you will notice how your perspective is constantly shifting. What you see changes. More often than not you can only decide which branch to aim for next once you are closer to it. It is wonderful to pause on a branch and simply enjoy the view. But notice if you are sitting there not moving because of fear because then nothing shifts.
- What is it that you want in life? Such a tough question for so many of us. There are a ton of coaching exercises that can help uncover it. One is to start noticing the many things that energize you, and that you love doing … and do more of them. If you are doing something you love each day your life will be unfolding with a sense of purpose and passion.
- How can you tell if you are on the right track ? Check in with your heart. This will guide you on what steps to take and what branches to choose. If something doesn’t feel right to you, it probably isn’t. Get used to checking in with yourself and using it as your guide as you move on. Notice if past stuff is getting in the way of present joy. If you hold on to past stuff it will keep you stuck on that branch, probably in a bad spot with little or no view. Learn to unhook from it.
