“Whenever you become anxious or stressed, outer purpose has taken over, and you lost sight of your inner purpose. You have forgotten that your state of consciousness is primary, all else secondary.” ― Eckhart Tolle
Finding my true sense of purpose turned my life around. Being asked what you want to do at 16, then having all your hopes of becoming a writer being dashed by a careers advisor doesn’t help. From that time, I often found myself drifting and attempting to make jobs I didn’t like meaningful. It wasn’t until I began working in healthcare that lots of the things began to fit together.
My career in hairdressing began on leaving school, I suppose I believed this would offer me the chance to be creative at some level and get paid. What I learned rapidly was I was much better at counselling and helping people with their life issues than anything else. As my career ventured further, to one on the move as a mobile therapist I began to notice this part of the job became easier and the hair not so much.
I dropped into healthcare through a suggestion from a friend. I needed some cash to get out of debt but didn’t want to commit or to drop my self employment. I worked in clinics to start with and the ones I found fascinating were those that I could get involved with, where I could learn and help the most. I grew rapidly, I felt my learning had a purpose, where school had never fulfilled that deeper knowledge.
Looking back now, I was guided to the right environments and the right people. Beginning to work on wards. Critical Care, Cardiac, Respiratory and then to the fast paced units where well rounded and grounded people skills were a must. I flourished but I often felt trapped in the system. Having the personal tools to help but not the structure to offer them was the most frustrating position to find myself in and I know many others who felt the same.
I had always had a side hustle and like many of us during the time of COVID life took a big turn, I felt the knowing I could do it differently but I didn’t know how. I had to go deeper.
The route was no longer how school or the dreaded careers advisor had told me of in the early days, and clearly never was. The whole time I felt I had been moving from one job to the next, changing careers again and again. It was truly a journey to my life's purpose.
A life purpose is not an optional choice or a set of goals, but something inherent within, an energy we hold. A seed planted within when we decide to live in this time and in this place.
I had always been looking for a way for my “career” to be a seamless part of my life, where what I loved to share was the thing that helped others and in turn provided me with a living.
I wanted to find a way to connect my learning and growth and to share that with others. To support them towards their own growth and healing. This seed is at the core of my Soul.
Learning my own character through astrology, human design and working through different modalities to connect to my heart and Soul has been a deep dive and a guide. It has helped me through times when I thought I was walking through treacle. Connecting to my inherent purpose gave me a deeper sense of myself. It helped me find commitment and understanding and enabled me to be courageous enough to respond to big turning points in my life.
The World itself is in a huge time of change and expansion and without this deep sense of what I was here to do, I would have struggled.
Genuine purpose gives us a deep knowledge and so when the World gives us what we feel are lemons, we know that we need to find the best recipe for lemonade.
We also feel, in this fast paced World that things come quickly and easily. We are told that if we don’t find the answers quickly then jump off, find the next path and try again. But in my experience your purpose will continue to find you and give you tests and challenges until you actually hear its voice.
You can see by my story.
The shy girl that chose hairdressing to be creative found her voice.
The skint lass looking to fund herself found free education working in an environment that built her confidence and gave her strong foundations for her future.
And so on and so on.
Each part of the path shaped me. But it was all guiding me to exactly the learning I required. It was harder to bear when I didn't understand the process. But once I was able to surrender, the right next steps became clear. The way I do things will surely change, but my true purpose will always be present.
It’s a process that keeps giving me chances to face myself, to be brave enough to reach out when I need it and a chance to become all that I can be. There is no other gift that I need from life.
Finding and living our Soul's purpose is the way that each of us can contribute to the making and shaping of our own lives definitely, but also the next version of the World we inhabit.