Why am I here? It’s one of the most difficult questions we ask ourselves. Or in other words, what’s my purpose? In this world of abundance and materialism, many of us have lost touch with what’s really important in life. When life hurts, we numb the pain with shopping, sex, chocolate, alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs. We lose our way. We get depressed. We go through the motions in an attempt to engage with the world around us.
But what’s it all for? Sooner or later, we have a form of “breakdown”. Arguments with our loved ones, lack of focus at work, rising credit card bills, and maybe even alcoholism. We’re left searching for the answer to why we are here on this earth and what purpose are we meant to fulfill.
The good news is that if you have life, you have purpose. So it’s about finding what that purpose is and then working towards making that a more central part of your life. The more you are able to do that, the happier and more connected to everything you will become, and the less you will have to numb yourself from pain.
So let’s take a look at the 3 secrets to discover and live the life you were meant to:
1. Be True to Yourself and Your Unique Life Purpose
Some people call it your soul, others your spirit, and others your intuition. Regardless of what it’s called, we all agree that it exists. It’s the part of you that seeks both meaning and purpose for your life. It is always drawn to hope and believes in the goodness of people and our world. It’s the little voice inside you that steers you to making the “right” choices. It is the voice/feeling that keeps you awake at night when you have betrayed it and you made a choice that you shouldn’t have. It’s what the movies interpret as the “angel on your shoulder”. When you listen to it, it steers you into being true to yourself.
Your purpose is being able to recognise, articulate, and live in accordance with something you know you were meant to do. It’s those moments that you can’t put your finger on what’s happening, but that you are aware of feeling a fundamental alignment within you. These moments reveal themselves through acts of coincidence or synchronicity, or obligations you can’t seem to get out of no matter how hard you try.
So take a few moments and ask yourself these questions:
- What kind of things are you doing when you feel most at peace with yourself and your choices?
- What choices come easily to you?
- What kind of recurring coincidences do you find in your life?
- What sorts of activities do you keep trying to get out of but they keep sucking you back in?
- What would you be doing in your life if you knew you couldn’t fail and that money was no issue?
2. Have No Judgements About Life
One of the biggest things that gets in our way to us living the life we should is our focus on living the life we think we want and/or deserve. We spend a lot of time judging what’s happening to us and around us. Those judgements are based on expectations we had that correlate with our perception of the life we want and/or deserve. We want an extraordinary life. Ordinary isn’t good enough. And when ordinary things happen to us (our relationship breaks up, we lose our job, we’re struggling financially, someone passes away unexpectedly etc.), we go into shock and declare that we don’t deserve such things to happen to us.
If we manage to give up the expectations, the resulting judgements, as well as the need to know what happens tomorrow and why things happen as they do, we are more likely to be able to find our true path and follow it. We need to embrace the ordinary, accept that these things will happen because they are ordinary things that happen to ordinary people, and we need to process them and move on.
Here’s some questions to ask yourself:
- What are some of the things you believe you are entitled to (your expectations)?
- What ordinary things have happened to you that you are still bitter about?
- What are you expecting to happen tomorrow that is influencing your behaviour today?
3. Be Present
Being present is all about living in the now. It’s being able to appreciate fully what’s in your life right now, leaving your expectations and judgements behind. It’s about being able to let go of needing to know the outcome and influencing things in that direction, and replacing it with an awe for watching what develops in the space when you are being true to yourself, speaking your truth and listening to that voice inside you. It’s about allowing others to step into their true selves and marvelling at the surprises that will uncover for you.
Here’s some questions to ask yourself:
- What will you lose by living in the present, instead of the past or the future?
- What will you gain by living in the present?
- How can you remind yourself to let go of unhelpful expectations and judgements?
Interested in Learning More?
If this has piqued your interest and you want some more support in helping to uncover your life’s purpose, contact me to set up a free 1-hour coaching session and learn more about how I can help you become a happier version of you.
Photo credit: Tony Fischer Photography / Foter / CC BY