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What’s my life purpose? Great question.

27 July, 2022

Before fretting that you are the only person who doesn’t know their life purpose (spoiler: you do), read this.

There’s a story about 3 stone cutters in the middle ages.  When asked “what are you doing?”, the first stone cutter replies “I’m earning money to feed my family.”  The second replies “I’m cutting stone”.  The third replies “I’m building a magnificent cathedral for the glory of God”.

While this story is usually told to illustrate the power of a great vision, in fact each answer could emerge from the very same purpose each cutter holds.  The first stone cutter could be working to feed his family because his purpose is Love.  The second – his Love of stone and/or beautiful craftsmanship.  And the third – his Love of architecture and/or creation and/or God.

Purpose is an innate impulse that resides within each one of us.  It is a sense that we are in this human body for some reason which is more than the details of our everyday life played out by our personality self.  We can sense that within us there is a greater potential than we currently realise.

When we ask “Who am I?”, that question inevitably leads us to “Why am I here?” and/or “What’s my purpose?”

Discovering who we are leads us to an awareness and understanding of our values, preferences, passions, creative expression, our vulnerability, and our choices.

This is often what leads people into Coaching, and it is understanding this that is woven into the coaching conversation.  It leads us eventually to the deep experience of our essential true nature – Oneness … Love … Connectedness …

What then is our purpose?  Purpose is so often paired with work or career, but actually, that is only one aspect.  There’s also a misconception that a purpose must always be BIG, like saving the world, or bringing peace to the Middle East.  Certainly that is some people’s purpose, but others may have a ‘smaller’, quieter purpose.

Purpose has many expressions, both inner and outer, and it is a life-long developmental journey, that is constantly evolving.

When we listen to and let ourselves be guided by our heart and our soul, and consciously make choices from that guidance moment-to-moment, we can trust that we are on purpose.

Purpose relates to how we use our gifts (passions, strengths, personality traits, skills, etc) and our vulnerabilities.  It relates to how we express that which is uniquely ours.

It asks these questions:

  • “How can I live my life authentically?”
  • “How can I live my life as a true expression of who I am?”
  • “How can I live my life as my Core Self, as Essence?”

Living our purpose could mean living each day from Love, as an expression of Love.  Living each day from Love could mean working to save the whales, healing the sick, nurturing our children, cleaning a house with love and care for the people who live in it.

It is possible also that our purpose has many levels of expression, many facets.  Perhaps our purpose is to create beauty, to nurture a family, to heal generational wounds, to change the paradigm of the industry we work in, and to find inner peace.  Perhaps our purpose is also to enjoy the gift of life!

When I’m working with clients and they discover that they are living their purpose, they do so with a sigh of relief and a renewed sense of , well, of purpose!  And we go from there.

onwards xx

Claire Porima Coaching.