What do you think is the number one reason that causes people to be unhappy? Money Problems? Relationships? Work?
None of the above. Why? Because rich people can be unhappy. Couples that are very much in love can still be unhappy. A person with the greatest job in the world can still be frustrated and unhappy.
The number one reason for unhappiness is a lack of personal fulfillment. When we are not fulfilling our purpose on this planet, we may not realize it, but it leaves us adrift — idle. Sort of in a state of “waiting” for “it” to happen. That thing that makes it all come together, makes life worth living, centers us, calms us, motivates us to get up every morning with a spring in our step.
That’s the hardest thing in life to find.
And very few people on this planet ever find it. There are a number of reasons why.
Of course, we cannot go into the full discourse here in a blog, that’s best left for a longer version, perhaps a book later on.
Basically, we tend to get caught up early on with the basics of life. Finding a “job”, marriage, children. And we never take the time to find out what we’re supposed to be doing. And that is the vital ingredient for being here on this planet.
No one tells us that. College is an opportunity to search for that perfect career, to earn a good salary, and create a solid foundation. But most of the time, graduates end up taking jobs that have nothing to do with their major, or minor. They are not much better off than the high school graduate who accepts the first full time job. Only more in debt.
Personal fulfillment requires something most people are too impatient to try: Stopping everything, Sitting down quietly, alone, and brainstorming. That’s because we live in an instant gratification, now now now faster faster faster world.
We don’t believe we can afford to stop and sit down and listen to our hearts. The truth is, we can’t afford not to. The consequences already prove how disastrous our lives and the world at large have become.
Idle hands are the devil’s workshop. Ever hear that before? We take that to mean laziness, or slackers. What it means is what most people are — miserable souls. Souls in misery are souls unfulfilled.
You may be busy, but busy doing things you don’t really want to do. Or, you may not be busy enough. Both cause frustration. And frustration causes all kinds of trouble. Meddling, pettiness, vindictiveness, controlling, manipulation, jealousy, excessive behaviours like addictions or eating disorders, crime and violence, and the list goes on. It’s on the News every day.
Unfulfilled Souls are yearning for what they came here to do. And we mistake that to mean we’re all supposed to be Brad Pitt’s or George Clooney’s, or Jay-Z’s, or Obama’s. Or Oprah’s. Famous, rich, beautiful, and powerful.
If fame, wealth, beauty, and power were the answer, Princess Diana would never have had a moment of unhappiness in her short life. Neither would John F. Kennedy, Jr. Yet, we all know they had many dark days. Just like the rest of us.
And if you achieve that perfect career, that dream relationship, and have all the creature comforts, and still find something missing…it’s because there’s something else you’re supposed to be doing.
Yes, we have to do things we don’t want to do a lot of the time, but the key is finding that one thing you’re supposed to be doing and try to find a way to get to do it, at least some of the time.
How do we find it? It’s easy and it’s hard. We look inside and we look outside of ourselves. We observe the things we do easiest, without thought, that perhaps we’ve sort of been doing all of our lives. We pray about it, we meditate on it, and the mystery will start to unfold.
Your purpose will reveal itself. Most probably, you’ll ask, “that’s it?” But you’ll also discover, “yeah, that’s it.”
And your world will forever be changed.
There is a scripture in the Chrisian NIV Bible, which reads:
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.” Jeremiah 29:12-14
And the verse right before that states:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jer.29:11
That was a declaration! Which means to “make known formally, or explicity!” I am sure all other religious texts possess something similarly. Search for it. Ask your spiritual advisers about it. It’s there, somewhere.
Our Spirit Souls may be invisible to us, but they are real. As real as our thoughts. And we know our thoughts are invisible, but just as real because we have them 24/7, even while asleep. They never leave us.
Our Spirit Souls know something that perhaps we once knew, but forgot on the journey here. Therefore, it’s not really a secret. It’s just buried, lost in the harddrives of our memory banks by the recesses of time. It’s there. Your purpose.
Find it, and you’ll find happiness. And all true happiness comes down to is personal fulfillment.
Boredom, frustration, anger, fear, loss and lack and all the negative things we encounter in our lives and our thought world, all come from an idle Soul yearning for peace. That peace will come when the Soul knows it has found it’s true purpose.
“Listen to the Soul” Card – Available at “Word by Jabari”