We humans are encoded to search out our reason for being and then express it. When we are not living on purpose, we know it; we are unhappy, we feel isolated, things don’t flow in our lives and our bodies reflect it. But when we ARE living in the rhythm of our unique purpose, we feel it.

Through the ages, we’ve spent a lot of time figuring out how to express our inner being in a tangible outer way. Spiritual teachers, gurus, poets, artists, philosophers, inventors and, well, people who have gone before us have left us the roadmap of "living on purpose". While there is a process to expressing our purpose that we access regularly (whether knowingly or not), it is helpful to understand what purpose is - and is not.

Living on Purpose is NOT…

Living on purpose is NOT a big production, contrary to popular opinion. When something is real, it doesn’t need trumpets to announce its authenticity - it just is. Looking to the outside to validate our inside doesn’t give us what we seek – that merely limits us because we are lacking self-trust. It’s the little ways that our purpose moves us forward that creates the results that matter.

It is NOT about a job or career. A job is the way we exchange our energy with the world in such a way as to be paid either for our time or our value, which can be two different things. An innate purpose expresses itself through us whether we are being paid for it or not.

It is NOT about being in bliss every single waking moment. Somehow, we have confused living on purpose with being in paradise. Just because we are on purpose doesn’t mean the people around us are, or that we magically have everything we want at the snap of our fingers. It means that we are making decisions from our true values, speaking authentically, and are aligned with our gifts and core essence rather than living a glamorous idealization. Living on purpose requires a humility that can be painful in reality – for an extreme example, consider Joan of Arc.

It is NOT defined outside of you. While you are an expression of source energy, it – and your purpose - is a part of you. You have free will in determining how to express it, but your purpose is within you. Regardless of the situation, your purpose reveals itself; for example, a healer makes people feel better but that doesn’t mean s/he is a medical professional. Your purpose is known internally and you choose the outer expression of it.

Living on Purpose IS…

Living on purpose IS about who you are and how you show up on a daily basis. In fact, you can choose how to express your purpose through everyday choices – from relationships to careers to pursuing your interests – and then watch as whatever is not in alignment with your purpose eventually falls away.

It IS about the challenges of staying your course; that is, living your purpose causes you to grow through challenge, leave people, beliefs and situations behind as you develop beyond them, and live with the uncertainty of what’s coming next even as you know that it’s right. Sometimes it means not having the resources you need to be ready – and doing it anyway.

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