Moving Toward Purpose: Cheerleader Party of One?

As you begin to pursue your life’s purpose, you may find that you are the only one who believes in what you’re doing. This is 100% totally normal and you shouldn’t feel like a freak. Get your pompons out and get ready to cheer yourself on.
            Life purpose tasks often involve taking great risks and moving forward despite setbacks. Most people don’t have the tenacity to stick with life purpose tasks long enough to push through the tough times. Life purpose also involves believing the unbelievable. When Guglielmo Marconi discovered that you could send messages wirelessly through the air, his friends checked him into a psychiatric hospital because they thought he had gone mad. Louis Pasteur was denounced as a quack when he proposed that microorganisms or germs caused illness rather than evil spirits or the earth’s elements.
            When I had told my then husband that I was planning on studying yoga, meditation & Ayurveda with Deepak Chopra at his center in California and that I was going to make a career out of these three, he thought I was completely crazy. I think he said something to the sort of, “Good luck with that.” Yet I knew, deep inside my heart that I could make it work. The same thing happened when I sought to be a published author. When I told people about wanting to get my books published, people looked at me pitifully as if to say, “You poor thing. You have no idea how hard it is.” Yet, I still had to believe that it would happen.
            When you start living your life purpose, no one may believe in you. Most people will think you’re crazy. It doesn’t matter as long as you believe in you. You are your biggest fan anyway. Soon enough you’ll have another person who believes in you just as much. But meanwhile, you have to be enough to propel yourself forward.
            In my experience, I’ve found that if you have no supporters, it’s best not to tell anyone about your life purpose activities. It’s hard enough to be a cheerleader for yourself without cheerleaders for the opposing team drowning you out. People have various reasons for not encouraging you, including being disappointed in themselves for not pursuing their dreams. But most often, I’ve discovered that most people just live within their own limitations as well as societal limitations. And if they are “warning” you that you shouldn’t be doing something, they feel they are protecting you.
            But in the end, even though it feels lonely, stay strong. There are many of us out there working hard toward living a life of purpose without social support. Envision all of us cheering you on to a flourishing finish! J

I am one of the lucky ones

As far as living life purpose goes, I should be considered one of the lucky ones. Since I was a kid, I knew I was going to be a writer (I also thought I’d be a film actor too, hmmmm). It took me a long time to come back to writing after multiple detours, but I got back here. I say that I’m lucky because most people don’t even know why they are here or don’t have a clue as to their life’s purpose.
     When I was 36, I had the opportunity to explore other talents. I had the good fortune of studying yoga, meditation and Ayurveda in Carlsbad, California at the Chopra Center. I’ve taught at various Chopra Center events with Deepak Chopra, which was something I could only dream of just a few years prior to actually doing it. In fact, I’ve often had these streams of good luck. In 2000 to 2001, I wanted to study journalism and had the good fortune of interning at CNN and Fox 5 News in Washington D.C. I’ve done plenty of cool things but the road hasn’t been easy.
Being lucky will get to far to a point. But after that you must have hard work, tenacity and a bit of stubbornness to get further.
     Much of the time I’ve felt like a cat stuck inside an empty tall aquarium trying to paw my way up to the top to get out and maybe reaching the top but then sliding all the way back down.
     Another thing about being lucky is that it’s a double-edged sword. You know luck will take you places and when it does, you have a tendency to loosen the slack, goof off a little and try to sail toward your next lucky break.
     For example, when I “luckily” got my book contract with New World Library, I felt on top of the world. How many authors try for decades to get a contract and here I literally walked into Book Expo America in 2014 and most literally walked out with a book contract. Lucky huh?
    Well...little did I know that getting a book contract with a major publisher is great but it’s only the beginning. Marketing your book is an even higher mountain than getting the contract.  Lucky breaks get you to the top but then you slide right back down.
     After all this time, I’m learning that luck can be used as a surprise gift that you weren’t expecting. It’s the surprise party a great friend throws for you. Or it’s the bonus commission check you receive for being an extra good employee. But it’s not often the one thing that will thrust you forward into your life purpose. And like a Vegas casino gambler, the luckier you are, the harder you fall.
     I’m not saying to discount luck. Please keep wishing for great things to appear into your life. Lucky breaks, amazing people and surprise money can and should come your way. Yet, make sure you stay grounded and realize that your lucky breaks are not for you to count on but to count as your blessings from heaven. And in the other moments keep moving forward toward your life purpose.

            What kind of luck have you had toward your life purpose?