When you work, you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music . . . and what is it to work with love? It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth. –Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Hello Spiritual Warriors, and welcome to the newest edition of The Source where each week we explore a powerful life tool to help us move beyond our constrictions and into our best expressions.

This week, we explore living with purpose. According to the oldest teachings on the planet, each of us is here for some divine purpose. When we use our unique abilities and our distinctive talents in the service of others, we feel in flow. By mastering our purpose, or at least beginning the journey to understand our purpose, struggling over the age-old question, “Why am I here?” is eliminated. In its place appears a deeper fulfillment in each moment as we begin to live a purpose-driven life.

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• So what is the meaning of life?
• Why are we here?
• What is my purpose?

These three questions have rippled through the minds of humankind for as long as we have had thought. And the questions don’t change regardless of your orientation to God, your belief in a divine creator, or your position in society. Every being has wondered some form of the question at one time or another. According to brilliant psychologist Abraham Maslow – a powerful influence in Dr. Wayne Dyer’s life – our deepest most evolutionary set of needs—self-actualization—is where we truly connect to our purpose.

The need for meaning creeps into every aspect of our being. And if we are not experiencing purpose in our work or home life, then we start a process of detaching from them. We may find ourselves going through the motions, withdrawing from opportunities, becoming mired in malaise, or getting stuck in quicksand. We become directionless and lost from the lack of clarity and passion, and we begin to make non-nourishing choices.

Each of us is here to self-actualize, to discover the best version of ourselves, to realize our higher self . . . our spiritual self. Call it source, call it God, call it the universe, or call it the oneness that rests within; but that’s what we’re all here to do. And we must find out for ourselves that we can awaken the God or Goddess in embryo—the most divine aspect of ourselves that rests deep within.

If we can do what we love… and serve others in the process – that’s living purposefully!

Whether we are driven by science, religion or spirituality, the concept of living with purpose has relevance to us. When we can discover that task, duty, role, cause or career that fuels the passion in our heart and feeds the fire to do more—that genuinely makes us feel fulfilled—we feel whole . . . actualized.

This is the reason that once a year, I dive deep with an intimate group of 25 spiritual warriors to explore our life’s purpose & activate our divine calling at my Discover your Dharma Immersion at the Meditation Nest in the SweetSpot of the Universe.

Purpose = Better Health and Longevity

Although the concept of purpose has been around for thousands of years, only recently have we learned that Purpose in life predicts both health and longevity. Those with a higher connection to their purpose in life have lower cardiovascular risk, lower risk of depression, lower weight and healthier cholesterol levels. In fact, the newest science is now proving that people are more likely to be mobile when they get older, less likely to develop Alzheimer’s, and even less likely to die if they have higher levels of purpose in life. It appears to be a protective resilience factor.

Purpose Does Not Necessarily Equal Your Job

Now of course, finding purpose and meaning in life does not have to come from your job. You can live an amazing destressified life that is richly rewarding and deeply fulfilling where you don’t necessarily have the dream job. But I’ve found that self-realization is a journey to wholeness—where all the pieces of life merge together. So in time, if everything in your life is perfect other than your job, you will most likely take unconscious steps to quit or be fired so that the work component of your life can better fall into alignment with all the other facets of your existence.

I share my own personal story of how I left a long-time unfulfilling career in my first book, Secrets of Meditation —but I didn’t save and I didn’t make a plan. I simply leapt and assumed the net would appear . . . and it did . . . but it took 14 months. That’s a lot of unnecessary pain and hardship for everyone else in my life to endure while I searched for my purpose. Take that as a cautionary tale.
You spend at least 2,000 hours a year (1/3 of each day), and more than 220 days out of 365 (2/3 of each year) doing “your job.” That’s a lot of time, energy, thoughts and stress for something you aren’t passionate about. When you love what you do, it’s not work.

We can take a few powerful steps right now to get us on the right track. And if you want to take it deeper, join me this March and let me help you Discover your Dharma (early bird tuition is still available). In the meantime, here are six steps to Dharma to get the process moving:

1. Surrender to the process. Step back and give up control (just for a few moments). Take your hands off the wheel, slide into the passenger seat, and allow the universe to do the driving for a little bit.
2. Commit to a daily practice of stillness and silence. In addition to proactively destressifying you, just a few minutes of a daily pattern interrupt like 16seconds will enhance your awareness skills.
3. Give yourself permission to step into the unfamiliar . . . the unknown . . . and the undefined aspects of your life that have yet to unfold.
4. Listen to your body. Listen to your heart. Listen to your inner guidance, and trust (not second-guess).
5. Pay attention and lean into the direction of fulfilling your needs.
6. See the world around you as your friend, your partner in the process, something you are deeply connected to and interwoven with—not some harsh environment that doesn’t support you.

Practice these six steps every day and you’ll start to feel a shift. In the meantime, I’ll see you n the gap!

Aham brahmasmi baby!!!! peace. -davidji