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Does your vocation match your Soul's calling? You can tell if your work isn't fully aligned with your Soul if it depletes you, if you dread waking up, or if you feel like going to work is a Soul-crushing chore. It is your creative birthright to align your vocation with your Soul's calling, if you so choose. You are a unique individual that came bearing unique gifts! We have all been blessed with a divine blueprint, or destiny, in which we can live out our highest potential and feel deeply fulfilled.
Here are a few traps that keep people from living their destiny: Lack of Clarity, lack of Imagination, lack of energy, and lack of trust. There's nothing I want to see more than a world full of people lit up and living their destiny, so below, I share some ways to rise above these traps.
(1) Write a list of your interests and gifts
When people come to me feeling frustrated because they don't know their Soul's calling, I always ask them to write a list of their personal interests. Sometimes people get confused about what their own interests are because of other peoples' agendas! Our parents, for example, may be very well-meaning... but they do not, I repeat, they do not always know what deeply moves our Soul. Only you know that! Think about all the things that captivate your thoughts. Consider all the things that made you happy as a child.
When you write down your interests and gifts, you will gain more clarity about what lights you up. You will get a clearer idea of what you bring to the table.
Suppose that you actually do feel the job you are in is the right fit for you, but it's become a bit mundane... Writing down what makes you unique can inspire you to infuse these qualities into your present work, sparking your creativity and making it feel like a new job again.
(2) Override Fate through Visualization
Here's a secret that many people don't know... Fate and destiny are NOT the same things! Fate is based on the past. Fate is looking at what always was, and then projecting it into the future by submitting to an undesired life because 'that's how it's always been.' Destiny is wide open, spontaneous, and self-honoring. Destiny is unfolding as you co-create with the Universe. Destiny feels like a happy service and all parts of you are firing.
Although external realities such as finances, family, education, etc., do play a factor in the choices we have available to us, we do not have to let them dictate how we approach our life. And even better yet, we do not have to let these things dictate what goes on in our minds; how we value ourselves, how we perceive what is possible, etc.
For example, I remember a time in my life when part of my job description was to scrub toilets. I loathe cleaning my own toilet, so, I knew this wasn't' my Soul's calling. But, I showed up, because I needed the money, and every time I was on my knees doing that grunt work, I was dreaming. I let my mind expand to what I could be doing a year from that time, and since I had a deep love for playing music, I usually envisioned myself playing and recording. It was actually probably more like five years from that point before playing music became a source of income, but it happened, and I know one of the reasons why is because I visualized it.
If you have clarity about what you want to do but lack the imagination, then it's time to work on expanding the parameters of your mind. Turn your thoughts to what IS possible. A daily meditation practice is like taking a mental shower and can change your way of thinking from a limited perspective to a limitless perspective! And if meditation is not your cup of tea, get out that old box of crayons and literally start drawing what you want your life to look and feel like.
(3) Gain Momentum through Movement
Expanding the mind and changing our thought patterns also requires ENERGY! Get out, get your body moving, dancing, or go for a run! Shake your entire body for several minutes. That extra life force energy, or prana, will shake off the negative thoughts and give you the spark needed to shift your perspective. Get moving every day because every day, we accumulate, which leads to stagnation and stress. Your nervous system will thank you for it.
(4) Be Consistent and Build Trust
Trust is an inside job. We have to build it from the inside, out. When we are consistent, we build faith and then nothing can stop you when those doors of opportunity fly open. That old expression, 'Rome wasn't built in a day', applies here. When we are persistent, consistent, and unwavering with our time and focus, we build confidence in our gifts. This confidence is the bedrock of self-trust.
We also must be consistent with our word. If we are building, and then simultaneously using negative self-talk, we create dissonance. We also have to be mindful that we KEEP our word. Word is God. If we say we are going to do something, and then keep going back on our word, that compromises the integrity of our self-trust.
Trust also equals surrender. There is a certain amount of work we have to put in, and then the rest of it is alignment. How do we come into alignment? By surrendering. By letting go of the need to control and by being in a state of prayer.
Connection to breath, or pranayama, is something that has become non-negotiable in my daily life because, as the ancient yogis taught us, the breath is the guru. Connecting to breath is connecting to that source of energy that sustains all life, and in strengthening that connection, we strengthen our ability to surrender to the unknown, where the real magic happens.
Remember that your destiny WANTS to be lived, as much as YOU want to live it!
It's time to share your uniqueness, your gifts, your ideas, and your dreams because the world is made better by it. It calls to mind a quote by the environmental scientist, David Orr (though often wrongly accredited to the Dalai Lama): "The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it."
This article was written by Naomi Charanpal, musician, and world-renowned Kundalini Yoga Instructor. Naomi found her way into my heart when I began taking her yoga classes
online and then we found each other on social media. I am profoundly grateful to Naomi for agreeing to write this very important article. Thank you, Naomi. Sat Nam!
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