“Realize that your entire life journey, ultimately, consists of the step you are taking at this moment.” – Eckhart Tolle
You know those nights where you toss and turn for hours, roll over to look at your phone, realize it’s 3am, and groan because you have to be up by 5am.
The nights where your mind is racing a million miles a minute. You’re so overcome with anxiety and fear that your ego has robbed you of a peaceful sleep.
You keep thinking:
“Is this really what I’m supposed to be doing with my life?”
“If this is my life’s purpose, then why don’t I feel fulfilled?”
“Why does everyone around me seem to be in love with their life, while I’m just trying to figure out how to make it through each day?”
It is human nature to want a true purpose, a real understanding of why you were placed in this constant cycle of ups and downs. Everyone wants this.
You just have to be brave enough to create a safe space for yours to reveal itself.
Tolle explains in Chapter 9 of “A New Earth” that no one has only one purpose. That in reality, you have always had two: the inner and the outer purpose. Society has tried its best to make you only focus on the outer purpose. But, when your inner and outer purpose merges, you’ll find your truth waiting on the other side.
Your inner purpose is the reason you are here. This purpose is the same for every human on this planet. We are meant to awaken from this subconscious slumber. Your main purpose, which is the inner purpose, is inseparable from the Now, so it requires what Tolle refers to as ‘the negation of time’.
Awakening involves your thinking and awareness becoming separate. It’s not an event that suddenly hits one cold, May afternoon but a process that takes as long as it needs. True awakening is when your thoughts become a servant to your awareness. To do this you must live in the present moment at all times.
So when you’re on your way to work. Don’t worry about work. You’ll be there soon enough. Commit all of your energy to the drive to work, to parking, to walking inside, to greeting your coworkers, and then commit to working. Life is made up of the small steps.
Worrying the entire drive would only further add to your anxiety when work wasn’t even your purpose at that moment.
Stay Present! Your life journey ultimately consists of the step you are taking right here right Now!
Your outer purpose is considered your secondary purpose because it deals with actions and lies within the dimension of time. It can only truly be done after you’ve found inner purpose. The outer purpose changes with time and rarely stays the same throughout the years. This is because it is dependent on your inner state of being.
Your outer purpose actions can take on many forms. These actions could be realizing that your job doesn’t align with your inner purpose and quitting; or, your inner purpose could provide you that calm space to continue on in your endeavors at work. It is all dependent on your inner purpose, and what resonates with you as you awaken.
We as humans tend to become so frustrated by the concept of the future. We feel as though there is always something we should be doing to solidify our futures. Instead of living in the moment, we create a present that’s full of waiting and wanting.
This waiting and wanting of a future that we can never truly control is what creates our anxieties and our fears. It is this kind of goal that keeps us up at night. It’s not wrong to have ambitions and goals. But, you have to work every day at your inner goal for your outer goal to come to fruition.
The future is always happening now. Every moment you are in the present you have created a successful future. This is because your future, and past, is made up of all of the present moments of your life. When you decide to really commit to each moment of every day, to every interaction, to each task, then you’ll see not only your outer purpose become clearer but an overall increase of happiness in your life.
You’ll see life start to happen for you. Doors of opportunities will swing open. Coincidental encounters that lead to future partnerships will arise. Why? Because you committed at that moment, to that moment.
And, true authenticity is something that cannot be matched and is always appreciated.
Society has always taught us that to have a good life we have to have x, y, and z; and that we have to know a, b, and c. In reality, you just have to be present.
That is all life is asking of you. Life wants you to lean into every moment with gratitude. It cannot promise you a future. None of us can know for certain what the next moment will hold.
However, when you cease to worry about the next moment and commit to the now, your life will become full of meaning because you make each moment meaningful. Success and feelings of deep fulfillment come when our actions are infused with the timeless quality of Being. Instead of going through the motions, work to:
Tolle reminds us that our greatest power lies within the present moment. He asks “Can the whole use the human mind to create things or bring about situations that are in alignment with its purpose?”
Yes. Indeed. Especially when we work towards cultivating more space in our minds and our schedules, to be still, to be more present, to be quiet, to breathe mindfully. Remember, getting out in nature helps us re-connect with the beauty and powerful rhythms of the Universe. Then, there is no fear, confusion or anxiety. Then our Inner Purpose can and will emerge.
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