7 Steps to Finding and Living Out Our Purpose

What's your purpose? What reason do you have for getting up each morning and going through the day? I'm not looking for some altruistic answer such as: to make the world a better place or to get rich (which is not so altruistic). It can be as simple as: to be a better parent or get a better education or to spend more time with loved ones. The point I am making is that without an overreaching goal or purpose for living we will be at the effect of life and not at cause with it. We would be like a rudderless and powerless ship on the surface of the ocean being forced to go wherever the wind or current takes us.

7 steps to help us define and live out our purpose:

1.     Articulate it. Speak it as if your purpose has already been accomplished. For example say: “I am a great parent” or “I am educated”.  There is power in the spoken word.
2.     Write it down or place an image of it in a place where you will see it daily. This act in and of itself will signal your intellect through the use of your subconscious mind to direct the body’s actions towards your purpose.  This worked for me as a young lieutenant in the Marines when I had purposed myself to become a Naval Aviator. I placed a picture of myself, seated inside the type aircraft I wanted to fly, on my bathroom mirror. Two years later I was assigned to a squadron and flew in that type aircraft.
3.     Trust it. Here is where many of us become discouraged and afraid because we fear the unknown and cannot lay out a specific roadmap or timeframe. In these instances we must trust that our mentor will always lead us in the direction of our highest and best good.
4.     Visualize it. As many times as possible throughout the day use your imagination to see yourself as if you've already accomplished your purpose.
5.     Live it. Allow yourself to act it out in your life. No longer allow yourself to be tied to old ways and habits. Become one and at cause with life and your purpose.
6.     Review it. From time to time review whether or not the results you are receiving are in line with your purpose. Be aware that many times our intellectual nature allows certain negative core beliefs to interfere with the successful achievement of our purpose
7.     Refine it. As we find ourselves nearing our goal it may be necessary that we tweak it to fit our individual circumstances. Don’t be too concerned about this because our mentor/spiritual nature will signal us when necessary.

I hope that you find these 7 steps useful in determining and living out your purpose. Did you notice how our spiritual-intellectual-physical natures complement each other in attaining our purpose? 

Until next time here's hoping that you live today and every day passionately and with purpose. Thank you and God bless!

Are You Worried Sick?

Hello, and thanks for your interest. If you’ve noticed, my last few series of posts have concentrated on: our intellectual, spiritual and physical nature as well as the importance of our inner voice. It's important to understand that these aspects of our nature do not work independently of each other and in a void. They must all work together as a team in order for us to experience life to the fullest.

In the mid-1900s the medical industry believed that our mind was completely isolated from our body. Doctors treated mental issues separately from physical issues. They did not believe that the mind could affect bodily functions. Since that time there has been a tremendous amount of research, which proves our mind plays an important role in the health of our body.

Now, before you get up in arms and say, “Al thinks all illness is mental in nature.” let me assure you that’s not true. I believe no matter how physically or mentally fit we are it’s possible for us all to be afflicted by illnesses of opportunity. I also believe that a positive outlook on life provides the medicine we need to quickly bounce back from these illnesses. Conversely, I believe that fear, anxiety and worry cause an overwhelming majority of our sickness and diseases. Let me share with you what I mean.

Medical experts are finding that there’s a definite relationship between chronic stress and heart disease. In many cases they have found that long after stressful events have ended many individuals will relive them over and over again in their mind. And as stated in earlier posts, our brain, not being able to distinguish between real and imagined events, signals our bodies to increase the amount of adrenaline in our bloodstream. This prepares us to fight or flee from events that aren’t present. The events may not be present but the effect adrenaline has on our body is real non-the-less.

The Mayo Clinic has determined that long-term activation of the stress-response system  and the subsequent overexposure to adrenaline and other stress hormones  can disrupt almost all our body's processes. This puts us at increased risk of numerous health problems, including: heart disease, sleep problems, digestive problems, depression, obesity, memory impairment, worsening of skin conditions, etc. That’s pretty depressing isn’t it?

I'm sharing this information with you because I care and also know that every cloud has a silver lining. Our silver lining is if our mind had something to do with creating our health problems then it can also be helpful in curing them. It’s never too late and we can begin healing ourselves NOW by using our mind to take direct control over our response to the events, circumstances and situations occurring in our life.  We don't have to wait for or depend on others to do this for us. As soon as we change our minds we will change our lives.

Our age, current health, ethnicity or socio-economic condition does not matter. One day spent in the light of knowing what to do and doing it is better than 1000 days spent in the darkness of ignorance. We’ll explore this subject more in future posts. Until then here’s hoping that you live today and every day passionately and with purpose.

Thank you and God Bless!