Finding Your Purpose in Difficult Times
An Answer to the Nagging Question “Am I Doing Enough?”
During these trying times, you may be asking yourself if you are doing enough. As you witness so much pain and suffering in the world, questioning your efforts and your responsibilities is natural. Even if you feel aligned and on track in your day-to-day life, when faced with the troubles of the world around you, you may be asking yourself deep and important questions. Or, you may even feel overwhelmed, confused, and uncertain about how to navigate.
These questions and challenges are arising in my clients’ lives and my own.
I yearn to live with integrity and sometimes the pain of the world makes me question myself. It is easy to vacillate between feelings of disconnection and overwhelm. On one hand, these challenging feelings can be viewed as deep empathy. As Elisabeth Kübler-Ross stated,
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
On the other hand, the discomfort and questioning you are experiencing might be beckoning you to change. Sometimes discomfort occurs when your soul is tugging you in a new direction. How you handle that tugging sensation matters! You can feel ashamed and question your worthiness and efforts and, from that place, you can feel lousy and remain stuck. Or, you can listen deeply to your inner truths and gain an understanding of your purpose and your deepest desires.
If you choose the latter path, and I certainly hope that you do, it is important to know that when you are seeking your purpose, you don’t need to have all of the answers.
Spend time in solitude and ask yourself what you truly care about, what you want for yourself and humankind, and ask yourself how you can make a difference. Allow the information to surprise you; it might not be what you expect. You may find out that healing your family relationships feels like an important step right now. You may find out that you want to volunteer to help others. You may find out that you want to learn a new skill to shift your work life. You may find out that you want to develop more courage to speak your truth and share your perspectives with the people in your life.
Wherever you land with the inquiry, large or small, see how you feel with this new information. If you feel a sense of peace or calm, you can rest assured that you hit on what I like to refer to as a “soul truth.” Soul truths make you feel good. In this time of great division and suffering, the more that people seek out their purpose, the more potential for collective healing. We are deeply connected and staying true to yourself matters. Always remember, you are an important instrument of change!