What is your purpose in life? Are you completely satisfied with the life you are living? Are you expressing yourself to the fullest of what you know is possible? Do you live with easeful passion or does it seem to come and go of its own volition? Do you admire those who are alive with enthusiasm and direction? Are you sometimes troubled when your own sense of purpose wanes? Does your spiritual seeking give you purpose?
Though many of us are blessed with an unquenchable thirst for meaning and development, we rarely take the time to fully grasp the awesome responsibility of discovering our true purpose.
Purpose empowers creativity. Purpose is the smile we wear, the hand we hold out, the glint in our eye, it’s the wind in our sails, and the breeze on our face. Purpose is what calls us to spring out of bed before dawn. Purpose also implies social value, whereby we combine all our most important relationships as one toward a goal for the sake of humanity, which we honestly don’t really know we can ever reach. Purpose allows us to strive through all sorts of obstacles, with great compassion and wisdom, sometimes with little concern for our personal comfort.
Yet, we are frequently unable to stabilize a consistent expression of our true purpose. Why is this? Due to concealed conditioning, the outcomes of our decisions are not consistently aligned with such a wonderful goal, despite our finest intentions.
EVOLUTIONARY POINTER: Creating a life of purpose begins with the understanding that there are essentially two ways in which we make choices: Conceptual-free-will or conscious-free-will.
Conceptual-Free-Will: Conceptual-free-will is the decision-making process of the ego. It appeared in each of us at about the age of five or six when we first became self-aware. Conceptual-free-will stabilized as we developed and matured. We use conceptual-free-will to survive and thrive in this world. The range of options it offers to us is naturally constrained by the average level of consciousness in the culture in which we grew up. Though conceptual-free-will is a necessary level of development that we all must go through, it also traps us in conditioned limitations, albeit as accomplished members of that community.
Therefore, it is important to acknowledge that significant choices from our past were not so much a reflection of our individual volition, but of our selections from the alternatives offered by concealed conditioning. Unfortunately, conceptual-free-will offers no possibility of discovering and expressing our true purpose beyond the perimeters set by our particular culture.
It becomes clear that if the range of options available to us in regard to consistently accessing purpose does not extend beyond the bounds of individual and collective conditioning, we have choices, but only up to a certain limit.
Attempting to find true purpose using only the selections of the conceptual-mind is futile, not to mention frustrating. This is just one way that the unhealthy-ego stifles our potential and drains our vitality. If we believe that we can live on purpose, without first identifying and transcending hidden habituation, the ego has us right where it wants us, believing, but without consistent evidence for that conviction in our life circumstances.
EVOLUTIONARY POINTER: When the ego is the only one seeking purpose, it commonly misnames that itinerary as our conscious path. Pre-set conditioned boundaries do not afford us the opportunity to awaken to original purpose.
Are you unknowingly restricted by conceptual-free-will? Accepting the illusion of true free will provides us with the keys of release.
Conscious-Free-Will: Conscious-free-will begins to unfold as you identify the ways in which conceptual-free-will may have been restricting your development. As you uncover and let go of individual and collective conditioning, you can access conscious-free-will and unleash your full potential. Purpose stabilizes to the degree that you identify and go beyond the outer limits of conceptual-free-will. By the consistent application of conscious-free-will, you are able to co-create an awakened life together with other people in relationships that are completely free from personal conflict. Conscious-free-will allows you to master your destiny for the sake of humanity.
EVOLUTIONARY POINTER: To apply conscious-free-will to the discovery and expression of your original purpose, you must first develop objectivity on the root cause of suffering – the natural limitations of the exclusive use of conceptual-free-will. The possibility of success must be an option before you attempt its manifestation.
True purpose, therefore, is a daunting prospect, not for us as individuals, but because of our unwitting attachment to the ego’s cherished beliefs and its decision-making process: conceptual-free-will. Discovering your true purpose requires that you must first let go of your exclusive identity with the choices that fulfill only those conditioned fears and desires for the future. Are you ready to release an identity with the individual and collective ego so that your original purpose may unfold?
Practical Tips:
- What do you feel is your true purpose? Summarize it in detail.
- Did you inherit that purpose from your culture or is it radically new and different?
- Is your purpose related mainly to personal expression – extending to your family and friends alone… or does it also have a scope that includes the whole of humanity?
- List the distinct expressions of purpose in each of these three areas.
About the Author:
© 2008 Mick Quinn, All Rights Reserved
Mick Quinn is the author of The Uncommon Path and Poder Y Gracia and the founder of Choice for Enlightened Living Foundation. Mick’s work is quoted in The LA Times, Yahoo!, CNN Living, and Woman’s World. Gary Renard, the best-selling (Hay House) author said this book is “informative and gripping“. For upcoming events visit: www.mickquinn.com.
