Last week we built bridges to our relationships with Others, the people in our lives. I really hope that went well for you. 🙂
This week, we’ll be concentrating on building bridges to our relationships with our Work in the World.
What does that mean?
It means checking in to be sure that what you came here to do is what you’re doing. Gulp.
If you know what that is and are actively engaged with it, then great!
But for many, that isn’t the case, especially now when the pandemic has pushed many to reassess quality of life, spurring them to leave jobs to seek work that better suits them. It’s not surprising then that the two most common questions during my coaching sessions are: what is my purpose and how can I gift it to the world?
Not knowing the answers can be immensely frustrating because it often evokes a sense of spinning one’s wheels, which can understandably feel like a big waste of time and energy.
But let’s back up a bit…
I think the first thing to acknowledge is that we come into human form with an intention to express ourselves as unique fractals of a divine essence, or Creator Force, as I like to call it. We craft this lifetime beforehand to give ourselves the best opportunity to accomplish our goals while also understanding that we will have free will to make choices along the way.
Sometimes our objective is to be in service, either in quiet or public ways; sometimes we’re here to get through a series of challenges that will polish our souls until they shine brighter than before; sometimes we come to correct a wrong; sometimes we just wish to experience an existence to see what it would be like; sometimes all of the above and more. In every case, we’re here to discover new aspects of who we really are, and that includes finding a connection back to that from which we sprang.
In the broadest sense, it almost doesn’t matter what the work we do is because “the job” is just the vehicle for our expression of what our purpose was for arriving here in the first place. By this I mean, whether we walk the highways collecting trash or sit in a skyscraper moving money around the world, it’s how we do what we do that matters… where is the heart and intention set while the work is being done?
That said, finding the kind of work that best reflects what we came here to be is the best case scenario because then our daily lives are in resonance with who we are. When you hear someone say, “I get paid to do this?” you know they’re in synch with their purpose – at least for that time frame.
Some people do the same kind of work their entire lives – they’re doctors from Day 1 to when they retire. But for others, there are unpredictable twists and turns that throw them into situations they could never have imagined, pushing them to find different livelihoods for each chapter. (That would be me.)
For those people, there may be periods of quiet along the way during which a change of direction is taking place and these are vitally important not to rush through. Even though it can be hard to sit in the not-knowing lull, usually there’s a deep rearrangement going on under the surface, much like the chrysalis pause in the butterfly’s development.
Ultimately, whether it is a paying job or volunteer, with any luck we find the niche that suits us and allows us to grow, learn, create, and share who we are at our cores. You’ll know you’re there by the joy that it brings, which is not to say it will be easy or fun 24/7… but the feeling of alignment with yourself will be beautifully evident.
If you have questions about what your relationship is to your work in the world, please remember that I have a special running for one more week that produces a tremendous amount of information and guidance:
Infinite blessings,
Hope
