I know these post titles seem to promise quite a bit…… I always start with the best of intentions but somehow the posts seem different from the titles… :)

In my last post I talked briefly about purpose in life and how that might tie in to meaning.  I want to cover two things that I have found to be true, at least in my own personal experience.  The first is that if you don’t follow the guidance that you receive, eventually the universe will conspire to push you along that path by whatever means necessary.  The second is that you don’t get to know the outcome of any guidance you receive.  So on one hand, we have no assurances as to how things will turn out, and on the other, if we dont follow our heart something will pop up to push us in that direction anyway.

I am going to jump into the second topic first.  When I say “guidance”, I am talking about a feeling, heartfelt and from deep within you, a “knowing” of what you should do.  Often times it is the answer to the question ” What would you do if you were not afraid?” or “What would you do if you were certain of the outcome?”.  We are so afraid of uncertainty that we would prefer to ignore our deepest longings than to risk what we currently have.  Here’s the catch, if you want to follow that “calling” then you have to let go and see what turns up.  You have to follow what you can create and what shows up in your path.  I don’t think it will turn out the way we want it to.  It never has for me…. But it has always brought me to a richer place in my life.  How do I know?  I have done this at several points in my life, and I am doing it right now.   The more you follow what your inner voice tells you, the more help you will receive and the more guidance you receive.   Try it sometime if you dare.

Not following guidance is something I have also been guilty of.  I will give a brief example.  I was in a job that was not a good fit for me.  There was nothing wrong with the job or company per se, it just wasn’t a good fit for me.  The things I had to do as part of my work were contrary to my personal sense of integrity.  Nothing against standard business rules or the law, just things that were not OK with me.  make sense?  So I stuck with this job LONG after my own inner voice was telling me to leave, screaming at me to leave, begging me to leave. But the job paid well and gave me a sense of importance so I stayed.  Well, perhaps it is coincidence or perhaps not, but I began to be sick.  I wont go into the details, but it was not easy and it persisted for months and months.  Eventually, I left the job and when I did, I began to get better.  Although I am still dealing with the residual effects of this, I am sure that if I had followed my inner voice from the beginning, I would have moved on from the job without getting ill.  My lesson: ignore your inner voice at your peril.

What does all this have to do with Purpose?  I have found that when I follow my inner voice or guidance, even or especially without any guarantee of what the outcome will be, it has led me to a place of being in line with my integrity and dreams.  A bit nutty I realize, but I have found a sense of purpose.