Finding your Purpose - Excerpt from, The Third Road - Rachel Devine
Transforming your life with purpose can be the most rewarding step you can take to having passion and intention in life. I wrote a book called, The Third Road, that takes one on a journey into their inner-self and helps people discover their purpose in life. Aristotle believed, the purpose and ultimate goal in life is to achieve eudaimonia ('happiness'). He believed that being happy was not just achieving pleasure in life, rather it was the heart of virtue. What a wonderful thought, that part of being happy is having purpose in life. It’s important that one find your purpose and passion in life. Finding your purpose is the most organic and natural process you could resonate with. It is imperative to find your passion in life, in order to leave a legacy of importance for others to discover. Your spiritual journey to creating your purpose starts today.
This is an excerpt from my book, The Third Road, Your Secret Journey Home, in a chapter called, Your Purpose:
Your Purpose
“God alone knows the secret plan of the things he will do for the world using my hand.” ~ Toyohiko Kagawa
We were all born with a specific purpose in life. Our purpose is never to be a victim, survivor, or someone whose only existence is to work, take care of the children, or to be a drifter. There is a reason why you were created. Just like there is a reason for everything that has been created. For instance, the sun heats the earth. The flowers decorate the world, and give us beauty and oxygen. The ocean reaps fish that we can eat, and the animal food chain is an amazing asset. You get the picture of how everything created has a reason for being here and they all fit into the big picture called nature.
In a sense, we are all part of a big picture called life, and our part is just as important as the part played by royalty, presidents, writers, and artists. The main thing is discover what your purpose in life is.
There was a study done a few years ago that addressed the question, “What are the components that make a person happy?” The study concluded there are three main components to happiness.
One was that people who earned a little more than enough money to live on, having extra money for things they wanted were the happiest. Being rich or poor was not on the list. Furthermore, they also concluded that people who have a creative purpose, such as, dancing, writing, art, sculpting, gardening, music, or an array of other outlets, were also happier than those without one. And the last component to happiness was having a connection to God or our Higher Power in a spiritual or religious manner.
So, there you have it. The three components to happiness are, having more than enough money to survive, having a creative outlet or purpose in life, and having a connection to a spiritual or religious Higher Power. Discovering your hidden talents such as writing, art, dance, music, singing, gardening, sports, or something that makes you really happy, can help you find your purpose in life. Your purpose in life usually benefits others in a small or large fashion. For instance, your writing talents can be used perhaps for a creative website that helps others in some way. Or you might use your musical talents to entertain the elderly in nursing homes. Perhaps you are a talented artist and you can use that talent for a voluntary promotion on the dangers of drinking and driving. Or perhaps your dancing talents can be used to entertain terminally ill children in hospitals.
We all have hidden talents and finding our purpose is not hard. The key is awareness. Just sit and meditate on what you love doing and your purpose will surface.
A man name Bill W. found his purpose in life in a very profound and mystical manner. He pulled much good out of a hopeless desperate situation in his life. Any member of 12-step program knows who Bill W. is. He is one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, a spiritual 12-step program that helps millions of people arrest the disease of alcoholism. I am not a part of this fellowship, but I studied its traditions and steps, thereby, knowing enough about it to really appreciate the amazing spiritual aspects of its success. Bill W. started this fellowship with a man name Bob S., who was a surgeon.
I personally think the success of Alcoholics Anonymous movement is because the program is designed to help reconnect one to their Higher Power. In reconnecting to God, healing is now possible and one views their situation in a more honest, loving manner. Even the most desperate person who has the disease of alcoholism can heal when he honestly works the 12-step program, that has a spiritual basis, not a religious one, and encourages people to discover the God of their understanding.
Bill W. had an amazing awakening one night when he had reached his bottom in life. At one time he was a hopeless alcoholic and was in the hospital seeking help once again. He was at the end of his rope. Alcoholism was consuming his life and he felt an extreme desperation on this fateful night. His story is a powerful testimony of climbing out of the dark pits of despair and into the light of hope; from darkness to light in an instant, or from ego to love.
He describes his experience or conversion in this way:
“My depression deepened unbearably and finally it seemed to me as though I were at the very bottom of the pit. I still gagged badly at the notion of a Power greater than myself, but finally, just for the moment, the last vestige of my proud obstinacy was crushed. All at once I found myself crying out, “If there is a God, let Him show Himself! I am ready to do anything, anything!
Suddenly, the room lit up with a great white light. I was caught up into an ecstasy in which there were no words to describe. It seemed to me, in the mind’s eye, that I was on a mountain and that a wind not of air but of spirit was blowing. And then it burst upon me that I was a free man. Slowly the ecstasy subsided. I lay on the bed, but now for a time I was in another world a new world of consciousness. All about me and through me there was a wonderful feeling of Presence, and I thought to myself, so this is the God of the preachers! A great peace stole over me and I thought, “No matter how wrong things seem to be, they are still all right. Things are all right with God and His World.” (Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age): A Brief History of A.A., page 63.
What happened to Bill W. on this fateful night? What force appeared to him that gave him hope in an instant? What could give him a peace that contradicted all understanding? What was this great power that came over him? The answer is obvious. The power of God’s Spirit had come into that room with its light, its ecstasy, and its peace. God is peace and Bill W. said that, “a great peace stole over me and I thought, no matter how wrong things seem to be, they are still all right. Things are all right with God and His World.”
For a brief period, Bill stepped out of his dark world of despair and into God’s world of light and hope. In an instant, he was transformed from a man who “gagged badly at the notion of a Power greater than myself,” to a man who incredulously stated in the next instance, “so this is the God of the preachers.” His inner world was transcended from darkness to light or from great despair to hope, in an instant, but his outer world remained the same.
He stepped out of the dark road and instantly onto, The Third Road, where he started his spiritual journey “home.” He was now in a world that was unseen, but very much felt. He felt the power of God’s Spirit bind him to peace and serenity. His outer circumstances did not change, (he was still in a hospital room recovering from alcoholism) but his inner world was transformed. He was finally set free from the chains that bound him to the disease of alcoholism.
The wall that keeps us from this world of God is our own self-doubt. Release the doubt and step into God’s world that is within you and everywhere else in the world. The path to God’s love, and this peaceful world is through nurturing the soul. Prayer, meditations, reading spiritual literature, peaceful music, and serene walks in nature, are all ways to reconnect to this omnipresent Spirit of our loving Higher Power, which I reverently call God. A spiritual awakening is an individual experience. You might have an awakening similar to Bill W. and you might not. Some awakenings are more subtle than others, and others come about gradually with time. It doesn’t matter how it happens, all that matters is that it does happen. An open trusting heart is imperative to connect to this omnipresence.
When Bill W. connected to his Higher power, he found strength to stop drinking and also become one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, a 12-step program that has literally changed the lives of millions of people, helping them find the same peace with sobriety in their lives. In turn, this helped their families find peace and the domino effect of God’s presence on that fateful night flourished and still lives on today. God, with all His mercy and divine love, touched the life of Bill W., and in turn touched the lives of literally millions of souls in the world who suffer from the ill effects of a debilitating disease called alcoholism. The 12-step fellowship has branched out into numerous self-help groups such as Al-Anon, Nicotine, Emotions, and Overeaters Anonymous, just to name a few.
The only way to find your purpose is to put emphasis on who you are, what you want, and how you will go about doing that. In order to find your purpose in life you must put some time and focus on yourself. My writing took creative shape because I pursued what I love doing and kept my focus on my goals. It was easy, because I was doing something I love with a deep passion, which has given me so much joy. Writing is my passion in life, what is your passion or purpose in life?
End of excerpt.
Rachel Devine is the author of, The Third Road & Lessons from the Needle in a Haystack.
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Please let me know in the comments what your purpose is in life. Or just leave a comment letting me know about what steps you might take to achieve some goals.