A lot of people tend to just drift along in life getting by reasonably contentedly without really thinking too deeply about what life is all about. Others too don’t really have a focus in life but are more disenchanted about what life’s all about and don’t really know how to go about discovering a meaning to it.
The fact is that it’s only if you are willing to accept that there is some deeper purpose to your life that you can start discovering what that purpose is.
However, if you have resigned yourself to the fact that life doesn’t really have any deep meaning to it and that we’re just meant to get on with things and muddle through the best we can, then you’re destined to never attain any great heights nor will you achieve anything particularly noteworthy.
The Power of the Subconscious Mind
When considering the purpose of your life, the chances are that it’s your subconscious mind that holds the key to the answer. However, we are all so busy concentrating on the here and now that we barely give our subconscious mind the opportunity to surface and consequently never allow ourselves to discover our real purpose in life.
A good way of allowing your subconscious mind to have its say is to get yourself into a relaxed, quiet frame of mind then start recalling experiences in your life which have made you truly happy and to write them down on a piece of paper. It might not necessarily be associated with your job or career as, for many people; this area does not offer a true reflection of what they are like as a person although for others, they tend to define themselves by what they do for a living.
The things you write down needn’t be anything major or profound, simply scribble down all those occasions when you have felt truly happy within yourself and have felt at total peace with the world.
What you will possibly learn is that the things you recall which have made you truly happy will have nothing to do with your job or career, your own peace of mind, your own fulfilment or even your hopes and dreams but will probably be directed to outward thoughts and feelings about somebody else or some other external situation. In other words, a lot of the time our true sense of happiness comes as a result of us giving ourselves to others as opposed to selfishly seeking ways in which we can fulfil ourselves. Once you have analysed this, you’re well on the way to discovering what life means to you and what your ultimate purpose is within the world.
How to Prepare Yourself for Uncovering Your Purpose in Life
When you look at your list of things which have made you happy, you’ll then probably be able to identify some kind of common thread running through many of them. This would also be the case if you were asked to come up with a list of all the things which have caused pain, grief, sadness, fear and other negative emotions to take hold within you. However, if you take the ‘happy’ list, then you’ll be able to sense a pattern of appreciation emerging which will ultimately steer you in the direction of what’s truly important to you in life as opposed to thinking more self-centred thoughts such as what you personally hope to get out of life. In other words, it’s usually what we can give of ourselves that determines our purpose in life as opposed to what we can take out of life.
Ways to Tap into the Inner Self
You need to allow time and space to be able to tap into your inner self. Going for a walk in a wood amongst nature or in some other kind of peaceful environment has the effect of slowing your mind down so that it can reflect and also enables you to gain a fresh perspective on life in general. Thinking about your childhood can often open a window on your soul. Think of things that made you happy as a child when your sense of security was taken care of for you and you weren’t under pressure to survive the world of an adult. Do those feelings of happiness trigger some kind of deeper emotion now that you’re an adult and do they paint a visual picture of the kind of world you’d like to see and where you fit into that picture?
Some people mistrust certain Asian cultures like meditation, yoga, tai-chi or prayer without really knowing why other than they feel an innate sense of the unknown about them and, whilst they may not be for everybody, for many they can unlock the doors of the subconscious and enable you to discover your true mission in life.
Even if these practices aren’t your kind of thing, try to make a point of setting aside 5 or 10 minutes each day just for some quiet contemplation. You don’t actually have to consciously think about anything during this time but simply free up your mind and just allow any thoughts and feelings to emerge. Sometimes this can give you clues as to what’s lacking in your life and point you in the direction you are seemingly drawn to.
It’s often said that we only use a very small percentage of our mind each day to function adequately so if we allow ourselves to let our mind flourish, who knows what that might reveal to us about ourselves and about our purpose in the world?
