A few weeks ago I ran into an old friend that I have not seen in years. He has a terrific job at a large media company where he is highly respected and well paid. He has a very pretty wife, two healthy children, and a second home being built near the beach.
He has money, health, security, family, etc…but all he wanted to talk about was his frequent trips to Las Vegas where he does…well, lets just say he does seem pretty terrible things which really should “stay in Vegas”.
It was apparent that all his external success is not translating to internal fulfillment. He has done everything perfectly right according to societal standards, yet can not seem to find real satisfaction in his life. He goes to Vegas for what he calls a “release”; although I would more accurately call it an “escape”.
Internal Purpose vs. External Purpose
Isn’t the scenario above pretty common nowadays, and how many people do you know that fit this bill? My buddy is making the same error that way too many people are making, and that is searching for fulfillment on the outside first and then expecting it to transpire on the inside second.
My friends, it just does not work this way. No matter how much external possessions and material you have, it will never translate to inner happiness.
You must first make the commitment to be happy internally. To do this you must garner a genuine understanding of who you really are. Although this can be hard work, and is certainly a different path then what most people follow in our society, it is the only way you can attain true happiness:
“Finding and living in alignment with the inner purpose is the foundation for fulfilling your outer purpose. It is the basis for true success. Without that alignment, you can still achieve certain things through effort, struggle, determination and sheer hard work or cunning. But there is no joy in such an endeavor, and it invariably ends in some form of suffering”.
- Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
Therefore we must put aside societal pressures and find our internal purpose first. Once we are able to do this, our external purpose flows as an extension of it.
Seeking Internal Purpose Leads To…
When you start becoming aware of your inner purpose, it is incredible what happens. Many of the shackles of modern-day culture suddenly disappear, and you feel free and light. People around may even tell you that you are “glowing”.
This happens because you learn to let go of all the ridiculous expectations others have of you, and also rid your mind of self-deprecating thoughts. Ask yourself: how much more powerful of a person would you be if you freed yourself of all the societal constructs that keep you in place?
How do you think my friend above would answer this question? This is not to say that you can not have kids, a wife, and a stable career. On the contrary, when you search for and find internal purpose first the things you want to happen externally become a reality anyway.
But when you do it the right way, the external results are a physical manifestation of the internal intelligence…and this makes all the difference.
Here are 5 important steps for manifesting internal purpose:
1. Ask yourself the question “what do I really want in life”?
Most people are too afraid to ask themselves this question, and I find this totally insane! To me it is perhaps the most important one to ask in all of life, and is the first step to uncovering your true purpose.
2. Make a practice of sitting in silence
The reason why most people are not in touch with their true purpose is that they either don’t know it exists OR they don’t know how to listen. Sitting in silence is an excellent way to have your truest purpose manifest. Every day spend at least 20 minutes in stillness and get in touch with your intuition.
3. Become a seeker of people and information
There are so many individuals out there who are experiencing higher levels of consciousness and so many books that talk about uncovering truer meaning in life, that you are doing yourself a disservice by not finding them and learning from them.
4. Create outlets where you monitor your progress
One of the main reasons I started this blog was so I could have an outlet for my quest to find true purpose in life. You don’t have to start a blog and be as public about it as I, but what about writing in a journal? Perhaps writing a letter or series of letters to old teachers might help. Be creative about finding your inherent voice!
5. Be OK with the initial struggle
As you first start down this path, your practicality (ego) may resist your internal purpose. That is OK, accept that it is a struggle. Soon it won’t be, and you will be living externally in full alignment with the internal. That is called living a life of dreams…
It is never too late to start looking inside. I look forward to your comments and emails…
Picture above by photographer extraordinaire Jane Feldman. And yes, that picture is of me in Costa Rica a few weeks ago!
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