Two-bit Guru - Finding your life's purpose - Photo of red sky and trees at dusk

If “Where is the toilet?” is the question most often asked by all human beings in all times, everywhere, then the second most popular question must be “Why are we here?” Not “here” looking for a toilet but ”here” on this planet looking for meaning in our lives. I do believe I have come upon an answer. It’s remarkably simple, if you get it. It’s remarkably stupid if you don’t. That’s okay. I’ve been stupid before.

When I was younger, and a college student for probably the third time, I tried to reason out what I should do with my life. One night I was lying awake in bed weighing career options. Should I become a mathematician? I was passably good at math, but was I good enough to get a PhD? Could I become a lawyer? Naw. Way too uncool. I was writing at the time. How about writer? But could I actually get paid to write? (HaHaHa, a writer getting paid!)

I was unable to settle on anything with any degree of conviction. The illusive purpose wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

We human beings strive to find meaning in our lives, whether it’s attaching exaggerated importance to our favorite football team, or insisting on the validity of beliefs fabricated by others, or worrying more about what the neighbors think than what we feel. We often depend on our cognitive mind to direct our lives even though the cognitive is ill-equipped to do so.

In that misguided state we become pawns, manipulated by arbitrary authorities, by advertising, by teachers, and by the collective beliefs of society in general. We lose track of our own Self. We become trapped in a conflict between what we’re doing and how we’re feeling about it.

After about 10 years of groping, I rediscovered some things that had been subdued in me since childhood: My intuition, my feelings, and ultimately, my purpose. This rediscovery has gone on continually throughout my life.

If we develop our intuition, and become aware of our feelings and our hunches, we get in tune with the universe. In so doing, we experience favorable coincidences in our lives, and a sense of well-being comes over us. Every day we realize more of the patterns that comprise our individual Self. Our ultimate purpose is to be guided by the unique wisdom we find on that inner journey.