Passion and Purpose

Who are we, standing here on this planet, looking for a place to be? Are we the "forgotten ones" from a time gone by, a piece of pre-history perhaps, that lets itself unfold through the pages of time?

Are we here all alone, or are we part of something bigger, larger perhaps than we could ever imagine? Aren't we like children after all, looking out into the Universe, wondering what this purpose of ours is all about?

As children we had dozens of questions about this subject, didn't we? We wondered all the time where we were from and why we were here while we marveled about this place called Earth. There were grasshoppers, butterflies, leaping frogs, crawling snakes, annoying mosquitoes, dogs and cats, all sorts of strange things that we uncovered for ourselves each and every day. That was the period of our discovering this amazing environment in which we were enveloped. We wondered often then, looking up at the clouds, with a blade of grass stuck in our mouths: "who are we?" and "why are we here?"

We're going to answer this and other similar questions in this article entitled about Passion & Purpose, from a therapist's point of view. Because, I believe, we each must have access to, and require these fundamentals to feel truly alive and valuable. Looking back at our respective childhoods we can see the Passion in every day of our life, manifesting itself here, there and everywhere as we set about on our path of discovery. Yes, we were young then, but oh so passionate we were too. Somewhere along the line that "flame" got diminished, not going out completely; but reduced to a small ember, which we need to fan now to return it to the bright blue flame, we once were. Fires do come and go; but Passion, that is forever.

And what is Passion without Purpose? A car spinning its wheels perhaps? An electric motor running out of control, with nowhere to go? Passion needs Purpose to be attached to, to be drawn by, to be enlivened by and directed toward. If we have no purpose, then how can we have passion? Even if it's as simple as collecting stamps, we still need passion to get motivated. In the morning, when we rise, what gets us going? Yes, some will say "fear of getting fired" or "not making that next mortgage payment." But passion is there all the same, getting us excited about the day ahead, the challenges we face, the successes we aspire to. Yes, there are times when we'd rather stay in bed. But these are few and far between. Even a lazy person can be passionate about doing as little as possible. Maybe he or she are holding their breath for a new world record or to make a particular point. Does anyone remember John Lennon and Yoko Ono, in the early 70's, staying in bed in a Montreal Hotel for several days to bring attention to some important issue they were concerned with? How can we know what anyone is about without tapping into their passion or purpose?

The passionate life is a worthy life. It's exciting, even breathtaking at times. We are so captivated by the things we love that we can even run into walls while thinking about them. Just like the "siren call" to Ulysses, we are drawn toward this ever beckoning signal and it is inevitable that we'll get there if we learn to read the signs. These come from inside we begin to notice in later life. They are called "intuition" at times, "inner self" and even "higher self." These terms all refer to the same living entity, that pulse that lies within and throbs for only us to hear.

It's an exciting time when we do finally hear it, because it announces the birth of a new era. We are less motivated by what goes on outside of us and more concerned with the inner life. This is where we know the Gold is. This is our best possibility for future success. Without this inner guidance we are like a ship without a rudder. We have no direction; therefore, we have no purpose. And without purpose, where is our passion to be found?

So why then do we keep looking out into the world for this purpose, when all the wisdom seekers and prophets through history have told us repeatedly that it lies within. There, inside our hearts, that blue ember of passion smolders for us alone. It holds our purpose and our future. It is a letter that needs to be opened. Like a piece of long overlooked Email, it waits for us to click on it and then fan it back into a flame. So get down there, and open your mail friend. You have Passion and Purpose waiting for you too. Time to get cracking!

Mau