Several things I’ve read recently offer an interesting look at the human experience. From the perspective of life being a learning or evolving journey (a surprisingly modern meme), we explore tools and knowledge that will help us make the next step.
We come into this stage of the journey with a specific set of innate, develop-able skills along with some baggage. This leads to several interesting observations…
Our greatest skills are often:
a) not recognized because they’re natural to us
b) masked by our greatest fears
c) the keys to our sense of accomplishment and satisfaction
d) the bait to overcome our greatest resistance
That last one was rather insightful. We’re given our gifts to overcome our barriers. Their greatness indicates how big a job we have. (laughs) But also, that the means come with the challenge. I’ve observed that we are often most motivated by what we have overcome, by what we don’t want. We wish to help people avoid the bumpy bits.
We could say our sense of Purpose arises from our personal vision and talent but our Mission or motivation is driven by what we want to avoid. These are the 2 steps of progress – clearing the way and moving forward.
As long as you have a life to live and follow a householders path, your function in the world will have a role, awake or not. The perception of who we are and why we’re here evolves. But life goes on. The sprouted seeds of karma are still in play. It’s thus best to optimize your life to the smoothest, quickest ride. 😉
Davidya
Mercury retrograde so not sure I’m understanding. Could an example be a guy who returns from war with PTSS and he heals that and then goes on to help others heal that?
I think sometimes a part of the motivation can be to redeem one’s own pain by making it meaningful in this way, that it can help others heal or avoid what we went through.
And yes I agree, that part about our skills being the bait to overcome resistance is a good insight.
Great post! Can you suggest further reading?
Right, Share. Sorry, I tried to pack a lot of ideas into the last 2 paragraphs. Exactly.
Hi Gayle
Welcome. If you click the Key Posts link on the right, it has some prior posts, grouped by subject. The list is out of date but does have a good general range.
If you’d like to explore the subject of Purpose, try the search box on the upper right. I also write about Dharma here, the subtler term from Sanskrit.
Thoughts during morning meditation:
What if, just what if THIS is my Life Purpose? This replying to a blog. Or taking the kids to school. Or taking the trash out. Or spending time with my Mom. Or walking the dog. Or chatting with a friend at lunch. Or paying the bills. etc. etc.
Maybe it’s not WHAT we’re doing but rather HOW we’re doing it, the feeling and attitude with which we do, that is the essential factor.
Maybe if we think of everything as our Life Purpose, then every doing will take on that special quality that we maybe unwisely reserve for our someday, future Life Purpose.
And maybe, just maybe, by bringing to bear that special Life Purpose quality to our current doings, it will hasten the arrival of what we think is our real Life Purpose.
Anyway, hope this is helpful.
Well, in one sense we can never be divorced from our purpose. Everything flows from who we are. It is only the egos idea of control that distorts our perception of what is unfolding.
Seeing life more as it is would certainly help us live more in life itself.
I don’t think it’s so much that some future purpose will reveal itself. It may be though that our talents may be more overtly expressed during certain times of our lives.
Our culture tends to put a lot of attention on fame. For most people, our purpose is not to be in the limelight or become well known. Rather it is to do our part in the whole and assist in the unfolding of the play. It’s more we’re in the chorus. But without that music, where is the play? Where is the joy?
There seems to be a music that is the soul’s own vibration. So maybe I’m talking about just putting more of our soul into exactly what we’re doing right now. So that a talent is not so much something we do, but rather something we are. Something we radiate out into the world, just by being, just by letting the soul shine forth.
Right. This is the essence of enlightenment. Steeping more consciously into who we are and how we’re being in the world.
Our talents a re just the expression of our unique function in wholeness.
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