the power of purpose

“Whatever your age, if you learn to listen, your inner voice will tell you your way,” writes oncologist Dr. Bernie Siegel in Peace, Love, and Healing, Your “Work on Earth.” This wisdom that is directing you from within is your birthright… an inner message, an inner consciousness that says, ‘This is your path, this is how you can be the best human being you can be.’ If you follow it, you will achieve your full growth and potential as a human being before you let go of the Tree of Life…”

I know Dr. Bernie is right, because I see the power of the inner voice daily in my clients, in my friends, and in my own life. My clients ask, “How can I access that voice, that wisdom, and get my feet on the trail?”

It’s easy for any of us to become discouraged by the suffering around the world: racial prejudice; addiction and self-destruction; political oppression in its multiple forms (hunger, war, torture, misinformation, imprisonment, denial of the rights of expression, health and human dignity, and simply intolerance and evil).

My own reaction, years ago, was despair. “I can’t bear it! So much suffering! So much trouble! There’s nothing significant I can do.” Gradually, with the help of wise people, I realized that I shouldn’t do EVERYTHING. I just needed to separate. But what part? Thus I began to learn about my inner wisdom, my unique birthright, my own quirks and talents.

We are all unique, with different genetic mixes, different fingerprints, different gifts and personalities, so let’s assume there must be a reason for our differences; a map. Included in the Plan is a special place for each of us, and we have been designed by a Super Intelligence for a special task within the Plan. Assuming the Plan exists, what is your part in it? What were you designed for? What is your “work on earth”?

If you feel confused or overwhelmed by life, or if your life seems to have no meaning, no important reason for your existence, spend some time reflecting on the Plan. Whether you call your Source a Higher Power, Spirit, or God, try to read His mind a bit: Imagine: If you were God and you created the human being that you are, why would you have created that person? It’s an interesting puzzle, and the clues are in your unique features. Are you good at listening? Then maybe counseling is your intended “job”. Can you explain things well? Perhaps they are directing you towards teaching something. Are you a math genius? A musician? An artist? Can you make people laugh? All of these talents can be used in unique ways to make the world a little better. For example, if you like to make people laugh and enjoy being around the elderly, perhaps entertaining, volunteering, or working at a senior center is your special place. Or if you are a survivor of abuse or illness, perhaps your “job” is to help others survive.

Like me, many others have found it helpful to ponder how to solve this puzzle. The hints and clues are subtle, but they exist. The secret to your life purpose is hidden in your heart’s desire. Discover that, and you discover meaning, joy, and purpose. There is a Plan, and you fit into it. No one has been omitted, every little link fits. As you discover your secret mission and join in the rhythm of the Wise Plan, life begins to run by itself, doubt fades and joy becomes a more frequent companion. Try listening to your heart and the obvious things about yourself, and you will see that it works.

“‘Give you something you don’t know what, enrich it you don’t know how, bring it back you don’t know when. And remember, I’ll be watching you.” Said the Sun to the newborn child”. – this is how the children’s writer PL Travers expresses the mystery of finding your ‘work on Earth’.

“Finding in ourselves what makes life worth living is risky business,” writes Marsha Sinetar in Ordinary People as Monks and Mystics: “because it means that once we know it we must look for it. It also means that without it the life will have no value.” .”

Did you know that problems with binge eating, substance abuse, destructive addictive relationships, and obsessive behavior are often misguided attempts to satisfy the heart’s desire?

We are such amazing miracles of creation. Within each of us is a driving force that will NOT give up or go away. We may try to drown it out with a loud and shrill life, anesthetize it with food or drink or drugs, avoid it through one fanaticism or another, run away from it by being frantically busy, ignore it by working obsessively, be too overwhelmed with drama and agony to notice; but as soon as the inevitable moment of quiet occurs, there it is, urging us on. Often people misinterpret this uncomfortable inner restlessness as “fear” or “loneliness,” but it is only the call of the heart. Until we acknowledge it, it won’t allow us to be at peace. Believe it or not, our hearts are full of purpose and meaning, and we will be constantly pressured to discover our true desire and act on it.

A spectrum is a wide range of something, such as the colors that light creates when it is projected through a prism. A rainbow. My rainbow, the one I want to share with all of you, is the warrior rainbow. It is the wide range of people who are willing to face their own fear and anger, to brave the terrors deep within, to brave the detractors and critics, because they know how important it is to be who they really are. It’s a broad spectrum of people, of all colors, orientations, beliefs, and experiences. Nothing complicated is required to take your place in the rainbow warrior, just the courage to be yourself, face your fears, believe in yourself, be willing to fight where you can, while remembering that a rainbow warrior always takes prudent risks. Destruction is not encouraged.

I find that many people who come to me for advice are “autophobic” – they are afraid of themselves. They are afraid of feeling emotions, afraid of being forced to be alone with themselves, afraid of discovering what is really inside them. In reality, it all comes down to fearing the power within. We run very fast, in an attempt to escape from what we are.

“If the person insists on a certain program and does not listen to the demands of his own heart, he will run the risk of a schizophrenic crisis,” warned the philosopher Joseph Campbell. “Such a person has… aligned himself with a lifelong program, and he is not the one the body is interested in at all. The world is full of people who have stopped listening to themselves or listened only to their neighbors to learn what they should do, how they should behave and what are the values ​​they should live by… my analysis… is that we would rather feel alive than be alive. or in a corporate setting where it’s pretty clear you’re heading for a heart attack, and you don’t change course because you’re living in that current of energy and vitality. Your life is far from that.”

Reading through the wisdom of the ages, I have come across this advice time and time again. Humanity’s greatest teachers insist that the costs of denying your heart’s desire are far greater than anything that can happen if you follow it. Every time my clients overcome their reluctance to know who they are, they release an inner power that transforms their lives.

What better time to become a rainbow warrior than now? Here is Dr. Campbell’s advice on how to get started: “You must have a room, or a certain hour or so of the day, where you don’t know what was in the papers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe nobody, you don’t know what nobody owes you…a place where you can simply experience and manifest what you are and what you could be…the place of creative incubation…if you have a sacred place and you use it, eventually something will happen…Where is your station of happiness?Music that no one else respects.Or get the book you like to read.In your sacred place you get the “you” feeling of life…for the whole world… if you follow your happiness you put yourself on a path that has been there all along, waiting for you, and the life you should be living is the one you are living, in the field of your bliss, and the doors open for you. I say, follow your happiness and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they would be.”

I invite you to become familiar with your heart’s desire, join me in a resolve to surrender, to slow down and discover what is within, straining to get out, longing to make contact with you. Make yourself a “sacred space” and spend a little time in it, first reading or listening to music, and little by little listening to your heart. Perhaps it will change your life, as it has done with so many others. God has already blessed us all.