Purpose is the Reason you Journey

There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work, than follow your passions in a way that serves the world and you – Sir Richard Branson

This photo speaks to me about how I offer the fire of my heart, my passion, to help wake up others. Passion is the energy that comes from bringing more of “you” into everything that you do.

The Latin root of passion means “to suffer or endure suffering or ridicule from others”. The root word for purpose means “an aim or a goal one wishes to achieve”. It is like the two words are married to each other, two parts of one whole. The only way to do great work, which is purpose, is to find the thing that sets you on fire igniting your passion.

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence – Aristotle

This is the thing that keeps you up late at night and wakes you up when it is still dark with excitement to get up and get going. It is what makes you come alive.

Jeff Bezos reflected that “you don’t choose your passions; your passions choose you.” If you pursue your life from this space, then at the end of your life you can say “I have no regrets”. It is your legacy you leave behind, because you lived life being who you really are and doing what you really loved.

Passion is living uncomfortably on purpose. To me this doesn’t mean that your passion doesn’t fit well with your soul. Rather it is what makes you the round peg in the square hole. It is what makes you take the path that is less traveled. It is your “why” for living this life. It is the link or connection to your personal genius.

Dig deep and you’ll find that a person who lacks motivation is a person who lacks purpose – redactedcoaching.com

In a thousand ways you can turn any so called “limitation” into a beautiful gift that you can offer to the world.  When you live your life from this perspective (with passion) it is what enables you to walk through the valley of shadows and death with serene peace that you are being guided on your journey.  You know from the bottom of your heart and soul, that this experience can be turned in solid gold, into a passionate life that enriches both you and others.

The suffering comes from the fact that this fire of passion reduces you to ashes. There are some things as you follow a passionate purpose driven life that must be left behind because they no longer serve you.  Your character will be sifted through the fire as it reveals both the light and shadows of who you are.

Even though many of life experiences can feel like you are being abandoned and you suffer the loss of what you have lost, you are also gaining so much more than you lose.  Look forward, look at the gifts you now have.   Like the Phoenix you rise again from the ashes, remade.

The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning – Mitch Albom

Fear is what creates suffering.  Pushing through the fear(s) is part of your preparation. Pushing through the fear is what creates the gateway to accomplish your purpose – the purpose you came here to do, and which only you can fulfill. If you are not remade, then the gateway cannot appear.

Every door that you miss comes back around.  Every opportunity to create the life of your dreams keeps appearing until you recognize it.  So, when you look back on what happened today, this week, or this month – know that those misses will come back – be awake and keep looking for them.

When you feel lost and alone, you have become disconnected to your passion and purpose.  You bought into letting the opinions of others tell who you should be and act like.  You have lost yourself.

Or maybe you rejected who you are, because you felt somehow you were less than capable of being that person.  That you were somehow wrong for having those dreams, or that what you wanted in life was not good enough (you need to be a doctor or lawyer, not a gardener or musician).  Do not let anyone including your inner talk inside your head deflect you from your passion, your purpose.

Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great and strong purpose in your heart – Gordon B Hinkley

Every day your hair grows.  You can cut it and shorten yet, yet the next day it begins growing again.  In life things will cut you, hurt you, damage you.  But remember that your body regenerates your skin, your hair, your nails – no matter what they continue to grow.

Be like that.  Never stop growing.  Whatever got you off track, off purpose doesn’t matter.  You can still be positive and know that at every moment the dream that you have for your life is coming into focus.  At unexpected moments and in ways you weren’t expecting it to happen, you find your passion and purpose again.  You start back on your path.

At the end of life, what really matters is not what we have bought, but what we built.

Not what we got, but what we shared.

Not our competence, but our character.

Not our success, but our significance.

Live a life that matters.

Live a life of love.

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