Hi – I’m introducing a new guest writer, Cassie Steele, who contacted me after reading “I had a black dog“. Cassie is a freelance writer and editor who has suffered with depression and felt that her life had no direction. However this was the beginning of her journey towards self-discovery and spiritual awakening. Here she writes about finding fulfilment and purpose in your life. I hope you enjoy her article. All the best, Peter.
Finding Fulfilment and Purpose In Your Life
By Cassie Steele
Do you feel like you’re missing your true purpose in life? A life without meaning can feel unfulfilling, incomplete, and even lead to faster mental decline, according to research from the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center. While some people seem to effortlessly fall in sync with their true life purpose and find fulfilment, most of us have to work to discover it. At its core, this journey of self-discovery begins with recognizing your true nature as a spiritual being with unlimited potential. Each of us is here to fulfil a unique purpose and we have to discover what exactly that is — leading us to greater meaning, happiness, and fulfilment. But, how do you begin to do that?
Go within
Your purpose in life might be right in front of you, but you just can’t see it. Get a change of perspective and practice looking inward — rather than to something “out there” for answers. Meditation, in particular, is a spiritual exercise that help you discover your inner self. It can reveal inner interests and leanings you’ve always had, but haven’t paid attention to until now.
You can also use the following questions to help you realize your life purpose each day:
- What can I do today to create happiness in my life?
- Whose life can I make a positive difference in today? How?
- What opportunities can I create to imbue my day with meaning and gratitude?
There’s no need for you to answer these questions immediately. Meditate upon them and keep them in mind as you go about your day. In the evening, reflect on ways in which you lived in line with these questions. If you realize you could have done something better, that’s okay. Keep it in mind for next time. You’ll also discover greater awareness of the things in your life that aren’t serving your true purpose. Cut out negative people, habits, and beliefs, and focus your energies on what matters.
Visualize your goals
Visualization is a powerful technique which involves creating a mental image of a prefered future event. Practicing visualization can strengthen your dedication and motivation to pursuing your spiritual purpose. It’s been proven to boost motivation, increase positive thoughts, and return feelings of calm during stress. How? By essentially reprogramming your subconscious and eliminating negative, restricting thoughts and replacing them with positive ones.
To start visualizing, imagine yourself fulfilling a specific goal. Play the scene through in your mind — and make it sensorially-rich. Fully immerse yourself in the image. What are you seeing, hearing, and feeling? Repeat the scene in your mind over and over until you feel confident in your abilities to achieve it in reality. Visualization may sound simple — and it’s no substitution for doing the hard work — but it can help the actions feel easier and familiar once you perform them in reality, encouraging you to continue onward.
Think positively with affirmations
Ultimately, pursuing your spiritual path requires self-love. Your actions — good or bad — ultimately stem from your thoughts and how you feel about yourself. So, it helps to pay attention to the kinds of thoughts you have and how they’re impacting your emotions and actions. An effective way of training your mind to think positively is with affirmations. These are strong and self-empowering statements which rewire your subconscious and encourage your brain to form new clusters of positive-thought neurons. With regular practice, affirmations can replace your old, negative internal dialogue with fresh, inspiring thoughts.
You can make up your own affirmations, but here are a few you may find helpful:
- I am the architect of my life; I build its foundation and choose its contents
- I am aligned with my higher purpose
- I follow my dreams and make them reality
Use affirmations to focus your mind upon your intentions rather than distractions which aren’t serving you. Ultimately, cultivating a positive mindset will encourage you to take actions aligned with your life purpose, while keeping negative, self-doubting thoughts at bay.
Work on infusing your thoughts, emotions, and actions with love and positivity — and you’ll be better able to find and fulfil your true purpose. If you do stray from your intentions and don’t find fulfilment, forgive yourself and keep going. Commit to your goals every day and you’ll experience just how good life can be.
Cassie Steele is a freelance writer and editor. If you leave a comment below, it will get to her.
Hi Cassie,
I really enjoyed your article. I believe if we just stop for a moment, we will be able to “see” what we really are and what we really can accomplish.
Hi Jo. Thanks for leaving a comment – I’ll make sure Cassie sees it. I hope you’re doing well.
Peter.