Next on the path is Intention – the path of Purpose
Through the cultivation of Awareness and Connection, we are best able to clarify the Intention needed for a life directed by a sense of heart-felt Purpose rather than the conditioning of our family and culture.
As our identity and sense of security is greatly influenced by family values and social pressure, we too often make choices related to our life direction based on ego satisfaction and social acceptance. Financial pressure adds another dimension, leaving passion and creativity often ignored or a secondary consideration at best.
As a young man, I decided I could choose to live for weekends and retirement or follow the direction of my heart. With little understanding of what that meant or where that might lead, I pursued evolving interests in creative and healthy home building, holistic sustainability, spirituality, emotional healing, conscious relationships and community building.
I have looked at major life events and new decades as a crossroads, and an opportunity to evaluate where I have been and where I want to head. Through life’s transitions, I have struggled to live from the direction of my heart, motivated by the “calling” that comes out or the pain and joy of life.
The satisfaction of being directed from the heart involves risk and uncertainty, a willingness to find and go with the flow of life. It involves pursuing the wisdom of intuition and the making of meaning. It requires growing awareness of our cultural conditioning, and the filters and blocks that hold us back. It also requires evolving awareness of our strengths, gifts, needs, and longings.
Our Purpose solidifies and expands as we deepen our “why”, pursuing opportunities that comes from an evolving sense of vision and mission. It continues to evolve as we embrace our gifts in service to the need of others and the planet. Purpose is then brought to fruition as we focus our Intention moving forward.