Do you have an awareness of your life’s purpose? Do you ever question where you are and where you are meant to be? Are you thriving or is something draining your soul?

I remember back in the mid-70’s watching a movie called Death Be Not Proud. It was about a teenage boy who had a brain tumor. I was very disturbed about him having a bald head from his surgery and treatments. That was upsetting enough but, in the end, (spoiler alert if you have not watched the movie) he died.

I was too young to understand the whole movie, but I thought, “Wow I’m glad I’m never going to have a brain tumor.”

Well.

Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.

A few years later at the age of 12, I was going paralyzed on the right side of my body and I was diagnosed with – guess what?

A brain tumor.

The short version of the story is that surgeons successfully removed the tumor. It could have gone either way.

I’m still here.

So, from a very young age, I was completely confident of my own mortality. There were no guarantees.  I cherished relationships and had a lot of empathy for others because of my condition. I worked hard, (in school then and later in jobs – yes – that work ethic followed me). I did not want to waste time because I never knew if I would wind up in the hospital again or worse.

I believed that I had a purpose in the world. I did not take things for granted and believed in the concept of Carpe Diem.  Seize the Day. Make the most of time! All things are interconnected.

Then amidst all my health issues, about one year later my dad died without any warning.  That’s another long story of an unexpected life curveball that I thought only happened to other people.

I had assumed those experiences would be enough life lessons from the ‘universe’  but some years later my sister died suddenly, leaving behind her husband and four children. It was another huge reminder to focus on valued priorities and to make the most of time. Never take loved ones for granted. Always say I love you.

I’m not sharing this for sympathy because I had so much to be grateful for through those experiences and now.  I was blessed with a loving family, cherished friends, people on five continents praying for me and the presence of God.

I do share it to paint a picture of early experiences that shaped my values and why making a difference, fulfilling a purpose, connecting to others, and having faith in a higher healing power were so important to me!

Many years later I found myself with a successful career, a big office, a sweet salary, and a great reputation. However, I was in a toxic, dysfunctional work environment that was depleting my soul. Meanwhile, I was pursuing a master’s degree in leadership, researching healthy leadership qualities like self-awareness, empathy, trust, creating meaning and significance through work, fostering a safe place for risk-taking, letting go of control, and being comfortable in chaos and change.

Finally, this was the kind of leadership that resonated with me!

But I did not see this in the workplaces I was in during that part of my career  In one place, dysfunction and toxicity took its toll on my soul. In another job, I saw ethical wiggling that made me uncomfortable. I witnessed and experienced bullying (passive and aggressive) that went unchallenged and even rewarded. I could not thrive where I was. Something new was calling.

Guess what? Things happen for a reason.

I had been having nudges from the spirit and my soul to start my own consulting business where I could inspire people who were open to something better and bigger in life.

At that time, I read an article by Richard Barret on ways of receiving information and making decisions.

This portion resonated deeply:
“Inspiration is the way we receive soul-based promptings into our mind. Inspiration is always very personal and directive. It is about what you need to do. It is a persistent thought that will not go away or it is the next step you have to take in a soul-centered activity. It will keep prompting you to take action until you do something about it. The purpose of inspiration is to support you in fulfilling your soul purpose. . . . When you keep receiving a soul-driven persistent thought about an action or direction you need to take, and you do not follow this directive, there will eventually be emotional consequences, usually in the form of melancholy or depression.”

Finally, I listened to those nudges and walked toward a new path.

Are you aware of your life purpose or is something draining your soul? Are you allowed to live into your potential and calling or are you trapped in some way? Can you follow your calling and thrive where you are? Do you feel nudges toward a new path?

Awareness of your life purpose is skill #2 in growing your spiritual intelligence and is part of the suite of skills defined by researcher and author Cindy Wigglesworth.  Finding your calling and purpose is also a critical component of Resilience at Work described by Kathryn McEwan through her Resilience @ Work Tools which I also use to support teams and individuals.
I’d love to support you if you crave growth wherever you are at today.

I’ll leave you with some inspiration from a song that has resonated with me at different life transitions.
For me, it’s about letting go and changing priorities even at the risk of leaving the comfortable and familiar for a higher purpose.

Thrasher
“It was then that I knew I’d had enough
Burned my credit card for fuel
Headed out to where the pavement turns to sand
With a one-way ticket to the land of truth
And my suitcase in my hand
How I lost my friends, I still don’t understand.”
(Neil Young from Thrasher)

Resources
https://kathrynmcewen.com/
https://www.valuescentre.com/articles/the-six-modes-of-decision-making
Wigglesworth, C. (2012). SQ21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence. BookBaby.