How can I realize my purpose?

This is the time of year when many of you take a vacation. The focus is on taking time for yourself, relaxing, and doing what you want to do. This often involves being out in nature. On one level, you are choosing to have a certain type of experience. It is like the sabbatical, which is an extended period for stepping out of your regular life, but it is more a place for playfulness and expression than for introspection. It is a time to enjoy life. Some of you experience less than pure joy on your vacations. A tremendous pressure can be felt to make the most of the time. For some there is the dread of the impending return to the ”real world”. This is particularly true for those of you who are not doing what you came here to do. It is as if the rest of your life is a sacrifice and the vacation has to fill all the empty holes in you. Then, at the end of the vacation you go back to a life that isn’t chosen from your heart.

For those who are fully into your Right Livelihood, the Buddhist term used to describe following your heart in the work you do, there is a seamless flow from work into leisure. Vacation is simply another way of expressing your truth. But, for all it is a time of recharging, particularly in connection with the feminine energy. Let’s look more closely at this term. Right Livelihood is connected to dharma rather than karma. It is not a balancing of energy from past and present life confusions, or karma; it is acting in harmony with your deeper being. There is something that you came here to do. It is yours and yours alone. Nobody else can do this, nor can you do anything else and know true peace. If you are not doing the thing you came here to do, there is a sense of failure and frustration about your life.

For some people, there is a total shut down around their purpose, but for many of you a piece of your purpose is visible to you, though not the whole. The challenge is to surrender fully to purpose. In the same way that you don’t come in remembering your divinity, you also don’t remember what you came to do. The remembrance comes through a conscious choice. If your commitment and habit is to choose love over fear, you will slowly uncover your Right Livelihood. When you are there, you are living in love. You are following your passion and sharing that love with others. What stands in the way is the belief that you don’t deserve to do what you love to do. This may be expressed through a belief that the universe will not support you in following your heart. The ego voice in your head tells you, ”You need to be serious. Buckle down. Keep your nose to the grindstone. You have to work hard to support yourself and your family. That’s how it is.” That is the voice, the belief, of fear and lack.

Part of following your Right Livelihood is to release the fear. But, an equal part is to truly know what your purpose is. These two are intertwined. If you carry a great deal of fear it may block the knowing. You may not be able to see it at all. You may think of yourself as someone with no particular gifts to offer the world. Or, you may see part of the picture but doubt your sanity and not trust what you see and feel. Those of you who live in western civilization are influenced by a mass consciousness that considers Right Livelihood to be a frill that can only be dallied with once you have taken care of the ”meat and potatoes” of life, after you have done the duty that you owe to yourself, your family, and your society to work hard at something. But, the true service happens when you give from your divinity and share it with those who are close to you, your community, and the world. That is the greatest benefit you can offer, much grander than any self-sacrifice could provide.

How do you go about releasing fear and finding true purpose? A wonderful place to begin is with the five-step process. Your “old story” is whatever you believe to be true about Right Livelihood. It may be a statement of fear, one of confusion, or one of hopelessness. Feel where you are holding that energy in your body and focus your full attention upon it until you feel the unconditional love emerge. Then accept your divinity by taking full responsibility for your “old story”, thanking it for its role in guiding you to your Right Livelihood. Finally, choose your new story from your heart. In addition to this process it will help to commit to bring something you love into your life each day. Set some time aside for yourself. Prime the pump with love until it begins to flow out of you constantly.

When we use the term ”Right” this is not a judgment; it is a knowing. This is not to imply that there is a ”Wrong” Livelihood. Right in this case means true to yourself. Only you know your purpose. Only you can feel it. It is like an inner GPS. No matter what direction you take in your life, this inner voice always points ”right” to your purpose. It makes no difference how many painful steps may have been taken. Your inner compass will point you home. All there is for you to do is to wipe it clear of fear and let the love light your way. Let your vacation be a beginning. Choose to bring that special energy into every day of your life. You can do it on purpose.

God Blesses You,

Sanhia

August 1, 2014 1955Acceptance, Fear, Five-step Process, Love, Mass Consciousness, Purpose, Right Livelihood, Sanhia Message, Story