Your hero’s journey may break your heart, your bank, or your arm. But it will also mend your soul, your life, and your part of the wild new world.
-Martha Beck (Finding Your Way In A Wild New World)
Like many of my recent posts, this one is repurposed from my weekly newsletter.
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Theme: On “finding” (an expression of) your purpose
What has your life prepared you perfectly to do?
As you take a moment to ponder this question, try not to focus too much on what you studied in college or your current career trajectory.
Instead, take an inventory of your life experiences – especially those that were pivotal in some way or shaped how you decided to show up in the world.
What did those experiences prepare you perfectly to do?
Once you’ve identified a contender, sit with it for a moment. Visualize yourself doing this thing (whatever “it” is) and note how your body responds.
If there’s tightness, contraction, or dullness, chances are that it’s not aligned. In that case, keep searching.
But if you perceive sensations of lightness, expansion, or even nervous energy, chances are you’re onto something.
And, if nothing’s coming, consider what you’ve struggled with deeply in your life and yet managed to overcome. Or something that you’ve been inexplicably drawn to for eons. Or something you’re known to be good at amongst those who know you – the thing that they come to you for.
Education and career trajectories might play a role here, but maybe not in the way you think.
For example
I’m great at building complex spreadsheets (and yes, I actually enjoy doing this!) and analyzing data. I studied applied economics in graduate school, which is all about critically analyzing data. And yet, the idea of being an economist or writing code or building spreadsheets all day is incredibly constricting for me – a definite HELL NO!
But when I explore why I chose to study economics in the first place – because it literally flipped upside down a deeper paradigm I held about how people make decisions – I have something useful to work with.
Another thing I’m really good at is holding space and “seeing souls”. This doesn’t seem at all related to my study of economics, but when taken in context of why I studied econ, there’s something juicy to be explored.
Additionally, I’ve undergone a few dramatic “hell and back” experiences and a few courageous “follow my soul’s call” journeys that have radically altered my life’s trajectory.
Some takeaways from these experiences
While each experience has loads of potential takeaways, I teased out those that offered me the greatest insights.
Econ taught me how to not lose sight of the bigger picture, problem-solve, and create supporting structures…and that I do these things very, very well.
Holding space and “seeing souls” allows others to feel safe enough to get deeply vulnerable around me, which can be incredibly healing for them.
Embarking on “following my soul’s call” journeys shows me and others that we can, in fact, follow our own North Stars, even when culture tries desperately to force obedience and conformity. And, that doing so is incredibly liberating.
And going through my particular flavors of “hell and back” is testament to the fact that we can override what limits us – what keeps us prisoner to ourselves – and create lives that are joyful and liberating, no matter what our external circumstances may be.
Connecting the dots
Looking at the italicized phrases above, it’s clear to me that my experiences have perfectly prepared me to be a life coach of the Wayfinder variety. [This is even more apparent if I were to create a Venn diagram!] I’ve lived and breathed Wayfinding in many different capacities decades before I’d ever even heard of this thing called “life coaching.” And I Wayfind from a place of deep integrity, as I embody the very things I help others with.
Other professions that my life has perfectly prepared me for include that as a therapist or another modality of healer. Yet another possibility is as a leader within an organization that values visionaries (The Sister House Project, perhaps?!).
That being said, I don’t believe that “purpose” is the equivalent of a job title. But living your purpose may be, in part, reflected in an occupation, including unpaid endeavors such as child rearing or care-taking.
Or stated another way: the current expression of your purpose can absolutely include such labels.
Stripping my purpose down
At the end of the day – when I strip my purpose down so that it’s bare ass naked and not obscured by things like jobs or roles or relationships with others (which are simply expressions of my purpose) – my purpose is to embody love.
To help elevate the collective consciousness of humanity.
Wayfinding is simply one powerful way for me to do this. But it’s not the only way!
Bringing this back to you
Considering my example and with this context in mind, I invite you to again consider the questions I posed at the beginning of this post:
- What has your life prepared you perfectly to do?
- What did those experiences prepare you perfectly to do?
And then, ask yourself what else? What else has your life prepared you perfectly to do?
Sit with the answers you find. Feel them out in your body. After all, your body is a powerful gauge for whether something’s aligned with your true nature.
Turtle steps
Finally, I invite you to identify one itty-bitty turtle step that you can take to honor what your life has perfectly prepared you to do. To honor this expression of your purpose.
That is all.
