HJ: One of the primary keys to a fulfilling, inspired life is understanding your purpose and living a life with meaning. Without these ingredients we are prone to feeling lost, isolated, at odds with ourselves and the world and developing dysfunctional habits like substance abuse and other self-destructive behaviors Humankind’s search for meaning, and the apparent lack thereof in the current scientific paradigm, is one of the biggest contributors to the rather chaotic state of the world today. Knowing, as the Healers Journal readers do, that the world is but a reflection of your inner state, then one can easily see how a world of people living without purpose or meaning (at least in their own perception, because every life has meaning in an objective sense) can manifest all sorts of dysfunctional traits and scenarios, which are a collective mirror of the symptoms described above.
My own personal search for meaning has led me here — to create the Healers Journal to share what I found and help others to understand that their lives do have purpose and meaning and that it is not terribly difficult to figure out what that is when one has quality guidance. I was blessed with a mentor whose life purpose was just this very mission and who gave me the tools to figure it out for myself — now I share them in the hopes that you too will benefit from the information and one by one, the world will be healed and changed for the better.
– Truth
Our Search For Purpose and Meaning
By Evita Ochel | Evolving Beings
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Purpose
For a scientist, the purpose is the beginning to every experiment. This invokes the asking of a question and a reason to follow through for trying to answer it.
Without a purpose there is no experiment.
The same can be said about our lives I feel. I truly feel that it is better to ask, and not have an answer, than to never ask at all.
Look around you. There are countless examples of people who fall into one of three areas:
- Those who do not question their life, purpose or existence – they simply live day to day governed by routines and easily become distraught when one of those routines changes – life generally seems empty or like a struggle
- Those who ask about life and their purpose, yet don’t seem to find any concrete answers – they struggle some days, see the light on other days, but ultimately seek
- Those who ask about life and their purpose and get answers that are satisfactory to their existence – they live lives that to others may seem “easy” or “lucky” or enlightened
Think now of yourself and which group you fall into. I think what many people will find is that they fall into the second group. Whichever group you find yourself in, think now of others you know who fall into the other two groups. Can you see the connections? Can you see how their levels of happiness or unhappiness directly correlate to how they are living life – seeking purpose or not?
What I have found for me, is that the purpose of life is very simple – it is to expand our consciousness as beings. Now how you live out your personal purpose based on this general idea, is a whole other discussion.
I used to think like many others that life was some “test” or playground for proving oneself “worthy”. Well, I don’t think that anymore. As many scientists and teachers in the metaphysical and spiritual areas say “collect answers and data for yourself – find what makes sense to you“. Well, after going within – looking both internally and externally and collecting my own data – that is what makes sense to me.
Therefore, if this resonates with you, think of it this way. Each day is a success for us, if each day in some way we live “better” than the day before. Now I use the term “better” here loosely. Better as compared only and always to yourself, to the day before.
If yesterday you were unable to forgive being cut off on the road, today try forgiving that action.
If yesterday you threw litter on the ground in the park, today try to put it in an appropriate receptacle.
If yesterday you were drawn to drama and gossip in the workplace, today try to see that this does not add to your being or lead to your growth.
The examples are many. The bottom line is that this is your journey, hence there is no need to look at others or compare yourself with them. See how you can build and expand your own consciousness each day. Imagine what that can do over the years. Imagine what that can lead to in a lifetime.
I truly feel and believe deep within me that we are meant to be here to re-discover the amazing beings of light that we are. We need the contrast that comes with the physical. We need to be able to express our free will. This is why this world is set up as it is. Some people even say that “we are God discovering itself” – I do not doubt that as a possibility today.
Even though I also believe that nothing is inherently “bad” or “good” – there are of course actions that serve the expansion of our consciousness and those that don’t. Growing in consciousness happens the most when we raise our levels of vibrations. Actions, thoughts or words that vibrate at high frequencies raise our consciousness, an example could be meditation. Actions, thoughts or words that vibrate at low frequencies lower our consciousness, an example could be gossiping. Ultimately we decide with our thoughts, words and actions in which direction we grow.
Thus, every day and every moment you have a choice to declare yourself, and live with the purpose of being, or not. Again – you do not need to agree with me here, you need to find your own truth. This is simply my truth as I know it today.
Meaning
You may have heard that one of the conditions that plagues our human race today, mostly in the developed world is depression. I truly believe that the biggest reason why there exists so much depression today is because people have lost the meaning to their life, or life in general.
Giving your life meaning can be very similar to living with purpose, but it is not the same as knowing the purpose of life.
There are two ways that I encourage people to find or give their lives meaning:
Give of yourself to others. Nothing will give your life meaning faster or perhaps even deeper, than when you give of yourself to others. You can give through your talents, your words, your actions or in any other way that you can or feel called to. There is just one rule – the giving has to come from your heart with no expectations in return. This also encompasses the fact that it is not about having a “martyr” attitude. Love your life, and let that love pour out onto others in whatever way your spirit calls you to.
And/Or
Follow your passion. This is another way that people can give meaning to their lives. It requires a longer discussion, but generally speaking when we live from the depths of our passions, we feel like there is a meaning to what we do each day. Think about it this way, when we do things that we do not enjoy, we may say these things are “meaningless” to us. Therefore find your passion, live from it, and what you will normally find, is that directly or indirectly it spills over to giving to others.
Ultimately find something about you or within you that makes you happy to be alive. Be grateful. Help others. And remember also, as in the words of author Neale Donald Walsch in Conversations With God – what you choose for yourself, choose for another. There is no better way to feel what you want, then to cause another to feel it. Therefore if you want to have meaning in your life, cause another to have meaning in their life and see what transformations take place within you.
Live Your Life With Both
What I have found in life thus far is that the ultimate happiness, joy and peace comes to us when we live life with both purpose and meaning.
Evita Ochel is a consciousness expansion teacher. Her diverse passions and expertise include being a speaker, holistic nutritionist, web TV host, and author of the book Healing & Prevention Through Nutrition. Her health oriented teaching and writing focuses on natural, wholesome, plant-based and organic nutrition to enjoy optimal health and longevity. Her spirituality oriented teaching focuses on consciousness expansion and heart centered living, to live with joy and inner peace. Evita has also created several online publications: Evolving Beings, Evolving Wellness andEvolving Scenes, as well as Healthytarian—a lifestyle for the well-being of the mind, body and soul. To learn more about her work, visit EvitaOchel.com
