Being Open to a Sense of Purpose
Being Open to a Sense of Purpose
There’s a driving force within each and every one of us. No matter your interests, goals or aspirations in this life. A drive to be the best that we can be. It could be to start a charity that supports your community. It could be to make it to the Olympics or to sail around the world. Or, it could be to sell the best lemon meringue pie your town has ever seen! It is a calling within us that drives us to ‘more’. Ambition has nothing to do with it. It is our own personal sense of purpose. And if you think you don’t have it, I urge you to think on it some more because, trust me you do!
We have a sense of purpose as a collective, too. As the human race. To find a way to live this life from a more loving perspective. But as individuals, our sense of purpose is extremely personal. It is tailored to our personalities, to our environments and to our upbringing. To the melting pot that is our lives. Take me, for example. It is unlikely I would be here today, writing these blogs, if I had grown up in a household where one parent was an accountant and the other was a dentist for example. Unlikely, I said, but not impossible.
In my case, I grew up in a house with highly creative parents. Whether it was singing, art, writing, you name it there was always creativity going on around me. This is the environment that inspired my creative heart and mind. This was the right environment for me. And, even so, it took me years of living my life off course to understand that the call of my purpose would never go away. Rather, it would get stronger and louder until I listened. And so will yours. Thus the title to be open to your purpose.
What if your Environment is Wrong?
We are all different and there are those out there that will fight against all odds to fulfil that fire that burns inside them. Their very own sense of purpose that calls to them. Their purpose is so strong that they push past the hurdles and the blocks that they face. People who were not born into the best, most nurturing environment, but had a calling and a purpose so strong in themselves, that they did everything that they needed to do, everything that they could do, to create the life that was calling to them from somewhere deep within.
I mention this because I believe that whether your hurdles are environment or years of emotional blocks that hold you back from pursuing your dreams, you can overcome them. Try to see the opportunity that waits beyond the obstacles. Stop and listen to that voice because, when you do, you will see that with that sense of purpose that nags at you comes a sense of knowing. A knowing that this is meant for you. A knowing that what is in your heart is your calling.
Getting Lost before we are Found
Do we all have a sense of purpose? I believe that, yes, in every heart there is a purpose for this life. Can we struggle to find it? Yes. Can we wander off course for sometimes many years? Yes. I am writing this post because I believe, too often, we let a stone on the road turn into a landslide that washes us away from our truth and our purpose. We see danger where there is none and turn opportunity into fear which is the real danger. The greatest danger in this life is to lose all sight of that inner guidance. That sense of purpose.
So, even if you’ve got more grey hair and wrinkles than you can count, your purpose is still your purpose. You don’t get to decide the timeline of your growth, or for that matter, the chess moves played by the universe. You are put in place, at the starting line of your race, at the exact right time for you. So, when things feel like they’re not working out for you ask yourself; ‘what do I still need to learn to get to where I need to be?’.
Life leaves Clues
I believe that our life purpose leaves clues in the things that we love in life. For example, if you grew up fascinated by Greek mythology or astrology or art history, these could all be clues that have been left for you to guide you towards your purpose in life. Likewise, if you love to cook or write, these are clues leading you towards your purpose.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I realize we like many things in life and they are not all connected to our sense of purpose. But, if you are honest with yourself you will know there is a difference between the way you feel about your passion for collecting postcards and your passion for stargazing (insert most loved obsession here. Lol.). You get the picture. There is joy and there is purpose and they are not competing for 1st place. Your purpose will win every time. All you have to do is be honest about what it is!
Look out for Guidance
Guidance can come in different ways. It can be your intuition that tells you to give playing the guitar a try or it can be triggers like getting frustrated with your current work situation, pushing you to make a change. I have found that life steers you in the right direction as long as you are open to it. I know for myself, a lot of my apparent delays in getting what I wanted from life came from tripping myself up out of fear. If, instead I had paid attention to the clear directions I was getting from the universe I would have gained more momentum and reached my goals sooner.
Honesty is so huge in following our purpose. Inevitably we have to face our fears when following our sense of purpose and when we are afraid we tend to make up stories to get ourselves out of doing those things we are afraid of. So, be honest with yourself. Identify when it is that you know what to do but are letting fear get in your way. Then, remind yourself that you were put here for a purpose and that you cannot let fear stop you from going after that purpose.
Listen to your Heart
At the end of the day there is only one voice you need to listen to. Your own heart will guide you to your sense of purpose in life. Our thoughts become so clouded over by everyone else’s opinion that we forget to listen to our own truth. Every one of us, if we are honest with ourselves, has an idea in our heart of what that sense of purpose could be for us. Fear keeps it hidden, but in our hearts we know it to be true.
Don’t allow your truth to escape you. Imagine that the life you have always dreamed of for yourself is on the other side of pushing past your fear and saying out loud what has always been in your heart. I like to remind myself that one day I will get to reflect on this life. It is up to me to make sure that I can say I did what I was sent to do. I did the best I could with what I had, and I lived a life of purpose.
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought.
Steph x
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