Oprah, couldn’t you have been a little clearer?

I remember when I first heard Oprah say “figure out what you were sent here to do and get to the business of doing it”.  I loved what she was referring to—living a purposeful life—but I hated how I didn’t know “what” I was supposed to be doing.

I wanted to yell back, “I’m ready to get to the business of doing what I was sent here to do but I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT IS!!!”

The underlying promise was that I would be happy if I could just “get to the business of doing what I was sent here to do”.

Oh, the search for happiness, how alluring it is…and how disappointing it is to be in pursuit of it only to come up empty-handed time and time again!  It’s infuriating!!!

The problem is that so many of us search for happiness without having any clue as to how to truly uncover it.  It’s a total trial and error approach (at least that’s how it was for me).  I would run after one shiny thing and check it out just to determine, “No, that’s not what I was sent here to do.”  And off I was again to the next shiny thing promising happiness…

I kept ending up back at square one…not knowing.  Has this been your experience?  I know I can’t be the only one who has gone this route!

I had a few core errors in my approach.  One, I was seeking happiness based in ego desires (more on this in a sec).  Two, I didn’t know I was doing this or that there was another type of desire to tune into.  And, three, I didn’t know how to tune into desires that lie deeper than my ego.  How could I, if I didn’t even know there was such a thing?

For many of us, this is how our initial search for happiness or fulfillment begins.  We feel unhappy or discontent so we start thinking of what might fill that hole.  Without any spiritual skills in place, our ego, the sneaky little thing that it is, quickly makes its move!

Remember, ego’s sole goal is to keep us from reaching and expressing the love and light that has been placed inside of us.

Just as our soul is doing a little peek-a-boo, letting us know that we need to tune in and make some changes to fully embrace our love and light, ego swoops in and says “I know what will make you feel better!”

The next thing you know, you’re thinking all would be better if you had the perfect job, partner, figure, more money, knew how to live purposefully (yep, ego can use this desire against our ability to find our purpose, if we’re not aware of how ego operates), etc.!

All of those things seem too overwhelming to materialize today, so the next thing you know you’re at Macy’s looking for new shoes!  “Ahh”, a little sign of relief.  The pain and frustration is gone for the moment…

Ego is KING at keeping us distracted from our soul’s yearning.  It does so in two major ways:

• The external search for happiness, and…
• Temporarily relief of pain and frustration through instant gratification (the shoes from Macy’s!)

The external search is designed to keep us running in circles, without actually getting anywhere when it comes to aligning with our love and light.  The happiness that we get from the new shoes (or whatever our instant gratification of choice tends to be) is fleeting.

What we are looking for is something much more permanent.  And in order to find it, we must learn to go within…

“Well, dangit, Oprah, why didn’t you just say so?  You’d have saved me a lot of wasted time!”

She probably said that part, but I missed it…to the tune of MUCH FRUSTATION!  Instead, my ego used the idea of aligning with my purpose to fuel my “external search”.  Pretty sneaky, huh?

Without knowing to go within, I kept “guessing” at what my purpose was.  I took action without any real way to focus my aim…something that comes from connecting to divine guidance by going within.

I don’t want you to miss this part of the message because it is key to actually figuring out why you were sent here, versus staying in a permanent state of chasing this seemingly elusive goal for happiness and fulfillment.

The shoes, perfect partner, figure, and money can most definitely be a by-product of doing your soul’s work (Oprah has lots of nice shoes!), but they are not, ultimately, what will result in you fully stepping into and expressing the love and light that has been placed inside of you.

So instead of heading off to Macy’s, commit to going within in order to listen to what your soul is really directing you to do.

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As always, the journey continues….

With love,

Shanna