August 7, 2018

1. The buzzword of today is life purpose, and everybody is frantically looking for it. Some people find it and tell us on Facebook how absolutely amazing their lives are.  They encourage us to follow our bliss and never give up on our dreams.  Others make it sound so easy to give up our day job and start earning a six-figure income!  After exploring a few options, most people find it an empty pie-in-the-sky-promise and begrudgingly get back to their boring day jobs.

Is living your dream life then only meant for a select few or are we missing the whole point?  Let’s explore the deeper meaning of life purpose and calling:

2.  We sure live in privileged times to be able to concentrate on finding meaning and purpose in our work. For most of the world most of the time, work was something that had to be done in order to survive, put food on the table and provide shelter.  There wasn’t a lot of choice in the matter, you simply had to do what you had to do and there was no point in spending time and energy being unhappy with your lot in life.

3.  Several factors led to the emergence of the life purpose phenomenon:

• As the personal development and self-help movement grew, people became more aware of who they are and what they want from life.
• We are living longer so there is more scope to change jobs in the later years, specifically to jobs that are more in alignment with our values and interests.
• As the world continues to grow and evolve, different kinds of jobs become a possibility while other jobs disappear.
• The world of work is continually changing and as there is less job security, we have to take personal responsibility for our careers and play an active role in continually developing and expanding our skills.

4.  Life purpose is all about meaning, having a reason to do something. We thrive on meaning.  If our everyday activities lose their meaning, we very quickly stop doing them or start looking for other things to do.  We feel satisfied that we are living our life purpose when we do the things that we believe in, when we trust that these activities will help ourselves or others and add meaning to our lives.

5.  The word calling comes from the Latin word vocare which means vocation. This calling comes from an internal source and we can’t quite explain where it came from or why it is there.  We just know that this is something we have to do, it is what we are “called to do”.  We can try to deny or ignore this calling and it may fade away over time.  However, this leads to a nagging emptiness that we can never quite fill even with all the money, food, alcohol, drugs, sex, possessions etc. in the world.  It is only when we are brave enough to dig through all the busyness of our lives, that we can get rid of all that stands between us and our calling.  The calling itself will never leave you because this is not just a calling to a fulfilling job and all the lovely perks that go with it, it is a calling to become who you are.  Jung called this process individuation.

6.  This inner voice that is calling you to individuate, is calling to your attention all the activities that will help you express who you are and through doing them, become more of who you truly are. These activities will have specific meaning for you and therefore give your life a unique purpose.  This unseen force will drive you to do them and that is where the passion comes from.  You will be so involved with them that you would be willing to give up your time, energy and other comforts, because the meaning you derive, or the feeling of personal fulfillment, will be bigger than any external reward.

7.  Our calling is not a single, specific job that we do for the rest of our lives. It includes paid and unpaid work, parenting, home duties, volunteering, hobbies and education. It is a combination of all our values, gifts, talents and skills.  Having a calling is not just for the rich and famous.  Everybody has a calling.  Every one of us has the responsibility to listen to our inner voice and follow the prompts to develop our talents and skills to help us fully express who we are.

8.  Following our calling is not to arrive at a specific time and place. It is not something we finally achieve and then stop doing.  It is an ongoing process, an ever-expanding and evolving of the personality, to keep on doing the things we cannot not do, the things we will do for free, the things that make us lose track of time.

9.  Our calling is not something we do just for the money, job security and other perks such as annual leave, super and performance bonuses. It is also who we are, in every aspect of our lives.  It is who we are at home and at work, on the sports field or in the classroom.  Who we are when we are on our own as well as who we are while spending time with family, loved ones, co-workers and strangers on the street.

10.  It is not something new that we have to find in the world out there. It is part of us since the day we are born, an internal knowing of who we are and what we want to do with our lives.  It is the external world that disconnected us from this inner knowing and it may take some work to remember who we are and why we are here.

If you feel you may have lost contact with this inner knowing, join me at Blossom into you where we will focus on helping you rediscover this inner calling and reconnect with your life purpose, passion and personal power.  We will tap into the ancient wisdom of tools such as astrology, numerology, archetypes and the Enneagram to help you find creative, playful ways to expand your understanding of yourself and your path in life.