Holistic-Personal-Development.com

No one wants to feel or be called irresponsible. But until a person finds purpose in life, then the life being lived is one of irresponsibility. I don’t mean that in a judgmental way. But if a person does not express in his or her life what the soul most earnestly wants to express, then the life is no more useful than a musical instrument being used as a paper weight. A purpose may be served, but it is not the intended purpose. Life is not meant to be lived frivolously.

If you say, “But I don’t know what my purpose is,” then make that your first purpose — to find out what your purpose is. Not knowing is not an excuse, but an indication that inner work needs to be done, some inner inventory to be taken.

This knowledge of purpose in life is so vitally important. To gain that knowledge of what you are meant to do is to gain passion and confidence. To never know what you are meant to do is to wander aimlessly through life. It’s a feeling of restlessness. It’s a feeling of conflict. The world has never offered so many vocations, but there can never be fulfillment if you are not expressing the one that is your soul’s purpose.

Whether its music or medicine or charity work or becoming a Buddhist monk, do what you are meant to do and your personality will become filled with magnetism. Why? Because you are in harmony with yourself. Your energies are all pointed in the same direction. It’s like the laser beam. All the waves of energy are going in the same direction as coherent light. This gives it the power to cut through steel. That’s the magic of following your bliss.

To have your energies scattered is to court failure, like trying to cut through steel with a flashlight. Not only failure in your career, but in your relationships, in your health, and in your attempts for inner peace. Knowing your purpose in life is the foundation of life as a holistic being. Nothing can work until that works.

There is a certain amount of surrender in this whole-hearted commitment to life’s purpose. The mind’s separative self and demands of the ego take a back seat to the higher purpose. But in so doing, the conflicts of your former life disappear as does self-doubt.

Albert Schweitzer didn’t say to himself that he would devote one week a year to helping the sick in Ghana. He made it his purpose in life. With such a bold commitment of your life to your soul’s expression, doors begin to open. Helpers appear to assist you. Intuition arises to guide you. Inspiration flows to sustain you.

There is no going back. Napoleon had a habit of burning his ships after landing in foreign lands so his men knew there was no going back.

A great example of someone knowing his purpose in life was Leonardo da Vinci. His purpose in life was a whole-hearted embrace of truth and beauty, and through that came the marriage of art and science. Everyone knows of his famous paintings, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa, but he was also a renowned architect, sculptor and scientist. When you consider his contributions to anatomy, botany, geology and physics, you begin to wonder how one man could have so much passion and energy. I don’t think there was ever a man alive who accomplished so much in the physical realm. And yet, at the end of his life, he felt that he had let down his creator by not having done more.

In Michael J. Gelb’s book, How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci, there is a list of what Gelb calls “10 Power Questions.” I will list them here because I find these questions helpful in discovering the purpose of one’s life:

When am I most naturally myself? What people, places, and activities allow me to feel most fully myself?

What is the one thing I could stop doing, or start doing, or do differently, starting today that would most improve the quality of my life?

• What is my greatest talent?
• How can I get paid for doing what I love?
• Who are my most inspiring role models?
• How can I best be of service to others?
• What is my heart’s deepest desire?
• How am I perceived by my closest friend, my worst enemy, my boss, my children, my co-workers, etc.?
• What are the blessings of my life?
• What legacy would I like to leave?

Get this piece of the puzzle in place first — your purpose in life — and the rest of life becomes much more effortless. Ignore it and your life could become a monotonous uphill struggle.