What is Your Purpose?

Last week's article was all about the Power of our Imagination - our uncapped, and often untapped, source of creativity and abundance.

An essential aspect of being able to visualise an abundant life is to tap into our abundant "Self" and see our purpose. Our life is a journey, but it is a journey with a mission and raison-d-être, no matter if you "believe" you play a big or a small role. Please note that I inserted inverted commas, because beliefs are often illusions, distortions of the way we see ourselves as influenced by our culture, family background and experiences.

Abundance is all about seeing yourself as special and unique. We are made of the same fabric as the stars. Our cell structure is the same as that of the Universe. Our biological rhythms are the symphony of the whole Universe. The chances of you being born are 1 in 400 trillion (check out Mel Robbins's TED Talk ).

Once you acknowledge that you are here for a reason, the next step is to understand that your journey is one into joy and bliss, in Sanskrit "Ananda". This is the fulfilment of your soul's expression. We can't be in a state of joy and bliss if we are seeing ourselves as tortured, as a victim, as limited in our creativity (creativity in the broadest sense of the word) and as someone without intrinsic worth and value. The trap we have set ourselves is our blindness to this fact - what I referred to in my first article as "Maya" (the illusion). This blindness is a societal or global one, borne of pervasive fear and scarcity. It's a blindness to the ultimate truth, that we are composed of cosmic energy infused with a Divine intelligence and consciousness - an ability to use our creative thoughts to bring our ideas into the physical realm.

If our ultimate purpose is to seek joy through fulfilment and meaning how do we do that? We do that by living our life inspired by love and acting in service of others, which redounds to us. For who hasn't felt better when he has been able to gift something to someone else (whether that's a compliment, a smile, an act of charity or compassion or the offer of an attentive ear)? Who hasn't felt better when he sees his fellow man improve his "lot" as a result of his own words, deeds and contributions?

I used to think that my purpose, like many people who work a 9-5, was to save enough money to get married, enjoy occasional holidays, indulge in some leisure pursuits, buy a house, support my family and my children to be become self-sufficient and independent and to provide for my retirement so that I could have some much needed downtime after a lengthy career in service of a corporate world. That is all well and good, but when you "wake up" to your potential, you know there is so much more to this life, this sojourn on planet Earth. You know that there is a different paradigm of being.

After following a more spiritual path since my redundancy in 2020, the vision of my life has changed to one less limiting and less three dimensional. Diving into your real sense of purpose and clarifying the spiritual truth of Self requires a whole lot of conscious and deliberate thought, inward-gazing and connection to feelings. Because, when we become more "conscious" and aware of how powerful and divinely creative we are, we step onto the path of discovering or revealing our higher purpose.

Dharma or the enactment of our life in the service of ourselves and others is a spiritual duty. Acting in service of others can be expressed in many ways and will be determined by your unique personality, gifts, talents and experiences.

Sometimes I say we are cursed to be blessed. By this, I mean that we may have to undergo some painful experiences and life's lessons (and to recognise them as such), which then mould and shape us to become the person who is singularly and deeply motivated to assist others in avoiding the same conflict or similar pain.

When you lead a life of soul-aligned purpose, you find that depression and anxiety ease and eventually dissipate. For indeed purpose is the pole opposite of depression. You establish a firmer connection to your true Self, to faith and inspired action. Your energy is thrumming to the high vibration of the Universe (the frequency of love, gratitude and joy) and is in harmony with it and everyone within it. You learn to make healthier choices, live longer and more expansively.

If you're not serving your Dharma, your body will let you know in the form of pain and discomfort (headaches, anxiety, insomnia, depression, chronic fatigue, digestive disorders and more). It is our in-built mechanism reminding us when we’ve stepped out of alignment with our purpose (note: we can have more than one purpose). When you leave the Dharmic stream you enter a Karmic stream of resistance, struggle and strife and there will be no positive ripple effect in the field of all possibilities and connections. If, however, we learn to heed the messages our body is sending to us, we can make different choices and move back into harmony with our sacred mission in life.

As a final recommendation, if you're unsure of your purpose in life, I suggest you tune into your heart and listen to your body. What are they telling you? If you're not sure, just make a decision to go one way. Indecision is in itself a problem, since we remain stuck and cannot move forward.

You'll soon know by the body's communications (through feelings and the physiological symptoms) whether you have veered off course. But equally, you'll know if it's the right move, because your excitement and passion will start to build and you'll gain traction and momentum. Whilst doing so, ignore any quivers of apprehension because that's the ancient subconscious mind fearing change and uncertain terrain.

If, on the other hand, you only experience foreboding and dread and your body is in low vibration energy, then that is the moment to choose a different path - one that will reconnect you to the highest expression of yourself - unconditional love.