Purpose: Simpler than You Thought?
I think most of us want to feel like our lives have meaning. At least, if you’re reading this you probably do. We want to feel like we make some kind of a difference to others, like we are engaged and connected in a way that supports the heart as well as the mind and body.More than meaning, though, many people now are reaching out beyond it, seeking for their life’s Divine Purpose.
There’s a growing yearning among those seeking greater self-awareness to discern precisely where they are meant to be, doing precisely what they’re meant to be doing. This has led to a wealth of platforms and proposals in the popular spiritual and self-help arenas promising to unveil this elusive Life Purpose.
But what exactly is it?
Many of those seeking out their “purpose” are talking about a livelihood. They’re more-or-less looking for meaningful work doing something that gives them joy and helps people. There’s a sense that there’s a type of work they’re supposed to do.
When you have meaningful work that connects you with your sense of purpose you feel alive, your small self takes a back seat more of the time, and you have the satisfaction of knowing that your gifts are used to their fullest potential. There is a sense of destiny to it, especially when signs and synchronicities lead you to it.
So say these signs and synchronicities lead you to a wonderful teaching job that feels like a perfect fit. You think, “This is it! I’ve found my Purpose!”
You interview, you get the job, you love it. You’re making a difference in the lives of your students and their families. You’re making systemic changes that make the whole school work better. This is it!
You work there for three years, then mysteriously you start to get an itch to change careers completely. You don’t want to be a teacher anymore, you really know you need to quit and go become a trail guide in Nepal.
Does that mean that you weren’t meant to be a teacher? And where does this leave the notion that your Life Purpose is your vocation?
In our scarcity-based world we’ve been tricked into identification with our vocation, and we tend to think that what we do as our livelihood is who we are. (Check out Charles Eisenstein’s Sacred Economics or The Ascent of Humanity for more exploration of this phenomenon.) But that leaves out so many other elements of our life that surely must be included. We’re a lot more than what we do, aren’t we?
So if our Purpose isn’t our vocation, what is it and how do we find it?
In my explorations I’ve been fortunate to have learned from teachers steeped in the lineage of Sufism, a form of mystical Islam. For whatever reason, that’s been the school of thought that’s pervaded my spiritual rovings, and it continues to walk alongside me on my travels.
The Sufis I’ve learned from believe that each of us brings through us a quality of the divine — a particular idea or way of relating that we transmit to others. This quality is also the one we need the most for ourselves. When others drink this quality through us we receive it, too. There’s a feeling of rightness that fills us up when it’s engaged, and we just Know.
This has been a powerful teaching for me, and is where my belief in purpose lies. I believe our purpose is something we’re meant to unfold throughout our lifetime. It is something that we continue to learn from and about as we say “yes” to what calls us.
I think we discover this divine wavelength by learning to listen to the voice of the heart that rises above the din of our overactive mind, and we grow as we cultivate the courage to follow where it leads.
Like most things in life, I believe purpose is more of a dance than a destination. Once we discern what our unique gift is we’re able to recognize when it’s active. From there we learn to seek out the people, places, and activities that cause it to engage.
We seek by feeling, we find by Knowing. And then we seek again, we Know again as we are ready.
Following the trail of this quality will most certainly lead us to our vocation/s, but it also shows up in our relationships, in our families, in our values, and in our passions. It’s how we interact with the world in our most vulnerable moments, and what fills our hearts when we seek nourishment.
I don’t believe we came into this world with a checklist of things to get done. Not necessarily. Certainly not one that doesn’t get revised regularly. I think of our agreements like a game made up by six-year-olds; the objective constantly changes.
I believe instead that we are here to cultivate a way of being that honors and amplifies our divine core in every aspect of life. Our Purpose is found in the becoming, in the remembering of who we really are, bit by bit. It’s an experience we have every time we uncover another facet of the jewel within.
There are any number of paths to this uncovering. Me, I’ve gone down more of them than I can count, and my curiosity will undoubtedly lead me to explore many more.
So long as we are holding the intention to allow our hearts to lead, and are curious about our truth as we go, we are dancing with our purpose no matter where we find ourselves. No boats to miss, no getting it wrong.
Keep on living, tasting, trying on. Keep falling, failing, trying again. But mostly, keep seeking the love, keep remembering.
