The Journey to Self-Discovery: Tips to Develop Self-Awareness
Purpose-Filled Messages
Today, more than ever many people are unclear about where their journey is leading them. This is causing stress and unhappiness. However, life is always presenting us with purpose-filled messages. Have you tapped into the messages of your life’s purpose?
No doubt our lives start off as worry-free, incredibly easy and full of things to explore. However, as we grow, life becomes a mystery, it becomes a challenge to navigate at times - we become entrenched in our work, we worry about what others think about us, and we discover that we are unhappy without reason. Why? Well, a lot of times it’s because we get so occupied with following the crowd that we lose connection with ourselves and who we really are. Life is always sending us messages about our path and a lot of of the times it’s wrapped up in the adversity and the resistance we face. The key is to tap into the envelopes of meaning and the learning opportunities that are hidden in these experiences and to carve out our purpose.
THE SEARCH FOR PURPOSE
Madeline Levine, a clinical psychologist observed a pattern of emptiness in teenagers. She noted that many of the teens she spoke with, ‘have a notable ability to put up a good front,’ but they expressed feelings of anxiety and emptiness. They described themselves as unhappy for no reason.* These viewpoints can also be extended to adults. Human behaviour thrives off of placing action towards the betterment of others. This is purpose. But, many may be left feeling empty because they may lack a connection to others which make them feel isolated. Berkeley University in their blog called Greater Good writes, “Many seem to believe that purpose arises from your special gifts and sets you apart from other people—but that’s only part of the truth. It also grows from our connection to others, which is why a crisis of purpose is often a symptom of isolation. Once you find your path, you’ll almost certainly find others traveling along with you, hoping to reach the same destination—a community.” *
PAYING ATTENTION
In every moment of our lives we are doing and experiencing things that are trying to reveal our purpose to us. We don’t tap in easily because we are so focused on external motivators - aesthetics, money, the perfect social media post, competition, people pleasing, getting a promotion in a career we aren’t even in love with…
