Purpose

I was so inspired by today's wake up call, that I changed the message on my voicemail. It nows say, "Hi you've reached the Remmers family, and we are out living life with passion and purpose!"

THE STORY

Today's call continued the week's theme of the three P's: Passion, Purpose, and Practice.

Tony said again that you cannot practice (and by that he means doing, not rehearsing!) without having passion, and you cannot be passionate without a purpose.

Brian, Tony's guest, quoted Donald Trump when he said, "You have to love and be passionate about what you do or you will never be successful at it."

So yesterday I spent some time with my goals.

In the Beyond Freedom program, we are instructed to write a list of 101 things we would like to do before we die. This exercise was one of the most powerful things I have done yet.

I was amazed at how hard it was. When I first did it, I stuggled to come up with 19! And then, when I looked at the list, I was shocked to discover that most of my goals did not require any money (that is, it didn't require me to be rich) to do them! What was that all about? What was stopping me from just doing them?

I had to do some major soul searching to figure out what it was--but that's a journal entry for another time.

Back to my goals. I am happy to report that I am now up to 38--with several in progress and one officially completed! :o)

When I originally wrote them out, they were pretty jumbled, so I decided to group them together. They seemed to naturally fall out into the following categories: Daily Living (things that have to do with the house, garden, etc.), My Body, Skills to Develop, Trips/Travels, Philanthropy, and Misc.

Part of me looks at the list and wonders how I will EVER accomplish so many--and there are only 38! But if I did only one per year for the rest of my life, I would still have several years left of my life, so I just need to get busy focus on the actual doing.

Anyway, I was doing this goal exercise yesterday--the same day I wrote my entry about how my passion in life is the overcoming story--and I struggled with how these goals (my purpose) fit into my overreaching goal (my passion) of helping others overcome their own circumstances and live the life of their dreams.

And then it hit me.

THE LESSON

Perhaps it will take a hundred times before this answer--the same answer--comes to me naturally. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit? Maybe I need to ask this same question and then answer it for 21 consecutive days. Maybe then when I ask the question one more time, I won't have to work so hard to see the right answer.

Achieving my goals sets the example and shows others how to achieve theirs.

It's so simple! It's so obvious! And yet, for now, it doesn't come naturally. I must overcome years and years and generations and generations of programming that tells me I must sacrifice myself for the good of others.

No!

To continue the quotes I used yesterday:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." (Marianne Williamson, often incorrectly attributed to Nelson Mandela, my emphasis)

"14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

"15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

"16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

TAKE ACTION

• If you like what you read in this blog and would like to find out more about the Beyond Freedom program, please contact the person that sent you here. If you found this blog by accident (knowing, of course, that there are no accidents), you may contact me at beyondfreedom@theremmersfamily.com
• Do you know your purpose in life? You can find out by discovering your passion. What are you passionate about? God planted that in you, just like the parable of the talents. Do not bury it. Use it and multiply it.