God’s Plan for You; Your Purpose in Building God’s Kingdom
God has a reason for you to be here. There is a purpose for your life. And God knows what that is. That is why He brought you here. That is why you were born.
You have a mission to accomplish, your perfect work is waiting, you have a true calling. Deep down inside, you already know this, but perhaps you have forgotten — or maybe — you never knew.
God has a purpose for you. There is something special He wants you to do and He gave it to a special person — You! — to do. There is only one person in the whole earth that can do this. Out of over 6 billion souls, only one person is qualified for this task. That person is you.
God has given you a dream that you and you alone are uniquely qualified to fulfill. God has arranged your life to prepare you for your mission. Everything that has happened to you throughout your life, every good thing, every bad thing, every everyday thing, every mediocre or mundane thing, each and every thing was put there by God. Each and every thing you have experienced in your life was given to you by God to teach you, to reach you, to build strength, to build understanding, to increase compassion, for love, to make you wiser, smarter, more knowledgeable. Everything that has ever occurred in your life is like a little signpost pointing you to where you should be going.
EXERCISES
Complete each of the following exercises. Take your time, consider your answers and write them down.
1. 101 Things — list 101 things you want in your life. These could be goals, toys, clothes, cars, people, classes, vacations, holidays, cruises, activities, hobbies, people you would like to meet (or date), health, spirituality, music, artwork — anything.
2. What Did You Always Want To Be When You Grew Up? — self-explanatory, just write down everything, all the things, that one thing (if you only had one) that you wanted to do when you grew up.
3. Eulogy — Write a eulogy about this great, wonderful, intelligent person who has recently passed on (you). You must describe this person in detail, listing their accomplishments and how you feel they (you) would want to be remembered.
4. Life Would Be Perfect If It Weren’t/Wasn’t For…
- List everything wrong in your life
- List everything that holds you back
- List all your fears
- List all your worries and concerns
- List all the people who disturb you, anger you, bother you, worry you, hold you back
- List all your health problems
- List everything that isn’t working in your life
5. The Opposite — For each thing you wrote down in the previous exercise, write down its opposite.
6. 10 Million Dollars In the Bank — You have a magical 10 million dollars in the bank. No matter how much you spend, there will always be 10 million dollars in the bank. You could spend it all in one moment, but then when you review your balance you will have — Voila! — 10 million dollars.
If you had this magical 10 million dollars in your bank account;
- Describe your perfect day
- Describe your perfect life
- What would you do with 10 million dollars?
- How would you spend it?
- How would your life be different?
- What would you be doing for work, career, charity, family, community, nation, God, yourself?
7. Feelings
Review your list of 101 Things. To each assign a feeling or several feelings about how doing that, being that or having that would make you feel.
A feeling is either a need you must fill or a means of self-expression. If it is something you need to fill; a hole somewhere within, you will never fill that hole.
If your feeling is a form of expansion or of self-expression it represents your true self, the spiritual being within and it could be your purpose or part of your purpose in your life. This could be your mission, your true calling, your reason for living.
Review your list, take your time, consider how each thing will make you feel. Imagine that thing in your mind, close your eyes, get into the experience. What feelings come up for you? What emotions do you experience? What is happening in your body, your mind and your soul? Identify your feelings and write them down.
How many people have already discovered or figured out your purpose in life? Usually, there is always a few.
8. Group Your Feelings — Go through your lists and identify common feelings, those that show up more than once.
- Write each one down on a separate line
- Put a number next to each feeling for the number of times it shows up on your lists
- Maybe a feeling just shows up once or twice, but you feel it is very important, write it down
9. Pull Out Negative and Positive
- Identify “to feel” feelings
- Identify “I am feeling” feelings
These may be difficult to differentiate. “To feel” feelings indicate a hole you need to fill. They represent an imbalance in your energy, they are “stuck” energy and they represent a hurtful memory or a painful experience such as the loss of a loved one or the loss of a pet. They could be a passed or current illness or accident. They may be hurtful words, physical, sexual or emotional abuse, an addiction or a moment of anger, judgment or ill-advised recrimination against someone else or even yourself.
Some healing modalities suggest that you must relive these experiences in order to heal from them. That may be true for some people and it may be true for you. Other modalities suggest that you only need to get the energy unstuck and flowing again to heal.
When you are healed, you no longer need the “to feel” feelings, you will find yourself seeking to express who you are, to expand yourself into other avenues, into other channels, not “to feel”, but “To Be.”
All research indicates that in order to achieve the results and success you deserve in life, you must heal of the pain within. This pain, these hurtful memories are like anchors on a ship. When these anchors are dug deep into the sand, you can’t move forward, you are stuck in a rut. For some people, maybe these anchors aren’t embedded in the sea bottom, they are just hanging off your ship, but they sure slow you down. They impede your progress.
10. Explore Your Lists — include the “I am feeling” list.
- Is there anything on any list that doing it or being it would make you feel the happiest?
- Is there anything that would make your heart jump?
- Is there anything on any list that would make you Explode! in love, joy, happiness, passion, power, faith, bliss?
- Is there anything that you always wanted to be when you grew up that you now know you Have to do?
11. My Mission and Purpose in Life Is…
Did you find it? Do you now know what it is you are here for? Have you now found the meaning and purpose of your life? Have you discovered your perfect work and your true calling?
For many people, these exercises are all that is needed. But your job isn’t over yet. Your purpose may change over time. People are dynamic. Lives change. Interests change. Abilities change. What you once could do you may not be able to do anymore. Perhaps there is something you could never have done, that you find you now could do easily.
Repeat these exercises every 6 months. Your mission and purpose in life will clarify and modify over time. You will define it and refine it. Each time you complete these exercises, your true purpose will become clearer and clearer, more distinct and more exact.
But wait! We aren’t done yet. There is one more exercise.
12. The Meditation
God has a reason for you to be here. There is a purpose for your life. And God knows what that is. That is why He brought you here. That is why you were born.
You have a mission to accomplish, your perfect work is waiting, you have a true calling. Deep down inside, you already know this, but perhaps you have forgotten — or maybe — you never knew.
God has a purpose for you. There is something special He wants you to do and He gave it to a special person — You! — to do. There is only one person in the whole earth that can do this. Out of over 6 billion souls, only one person is qualified for this task. That person is you.
God has given you a dream that you and you alone are uniquely qualified to fulfill. God has arranged your life to prepare you for your mission. Everything that has happened to you throughout your life, every good thing, every bad thing, every everyday thing, every mediocre or mundane thing, each and every thing was put there by God. Each and every thing you have experienced in your life was given to you by God to teach you, to reach you, to build strength, to build understanding, to increase compassion, for love, to make you wiser, smarter, more knowledgeable. Everything that has ever occurred in your life is like a little signpost pointing you to where you should be going.
But maybe you learned the wrong lesson. Maybe what you got out of any one experience was the opposite of what was intended. Maybe? That’s ok. God uses everything for the good. The original lesson is still in there somewhere. All you have to do is locate it, find it, feel it, recall the experience and then seek the opposite meaning.
And if you can’t — that’s ok.
So you are going to assemble your experiences. You are going to recall the events of your life. You are going to go back into the recesses of your mind — and remember.
Begin by meditating. Get comfortable. Close your eyes. If seated on a chair, put your feet flat on the floor. Uncross your arms and legs. Relax. If on the floor, sit or lay in any way that is comfortable for you. Do not cross your arms or legs, but lotus position is ok. Your back should be straight.
Slow your breathing. Close your eyes. Relax. Relax your hands, relax your toes. Relax your feet and your legs. Relax your arms, neck and shoulders. Feel the tension drift away from your face, head and chest. Relax your mind. Let go any concerns or worries. Forget about whether or not the dog is out, what errands you need to run or groceries you need to buy. Forget all that. Allow the worries and concerns of the day to drift away. Allow them to go away and just relax. Forget about all those things and just relax and focus on your breathing.
Breathe slowly. Imagine you are breathing in using just one nostril. Breathe in slowly. Let the air fill your stomach. Pull the air into your stomach so that your navel rises with each breath. Hold for just a moment. Then exhale through your mouth — or your nose if you prefer. Inhale again through the same nostril. Fill your stomach with air. Wait a moment and then exhale.
Switch nostrils. In through your other nostril, hold a moment, out. In through the same nostril, hold, exhale.
Switch nostrils. In. Hold. Exhale. In, hold, exhale. Switch. In, hold, exhale, in, hold, exhale. Switch. Repeat. Do this slowly. Empty your mind. Focus on your breathing. Feel comfortable. Feel sleepy. Drowsy. Allow yourself to relax. Let all the stress, tension, doubt, worries and concerns melt away. Feel warm, comfortable and relaxed. Breathe in. Hold. Exhale. Repeat.
Continue this for a few minutes, allowing yourself to grow more and more comfortable, more and more relaxed. Keep focused on your breathing, thinking of nothing else but your breath.
As you become accustomed to this process, as it becomes automatic, allow your mind to review your life. Your life has a pattern and meaning to it. Things that seemed totally out of place, strange unexpected events are all there for a reason, they have their place and purpose. They are there for a reason.
Allow your mind to drift across the events and experiences of your life. Keep your eyes closed. Imagine you are alone in a private movie theater and allow the events and experiences to play out on the screen before you. You are not reliving these events. They are just memories playing on the screen. They cannot hurt you or harm you anymore. Make them in black and white.
Recall events from your childhood. Allow your mind to bring forth events and experiences and memories as it chooses. Don’t try to force it, just allow your mind to recall events and experiences as it so chooses. Recall events from your teenage years. Continue up through your adult years. Recall experiences from your 20’s, your 30’s, your 40’s, up to the present day.
Now wander through your memories. Allow your mind to bring forth any memory or experience it chooses. These memories can be from any period of your life. They can be any event or experience. They can be good or bad. They can be funny, silly, out of place, ironic, ordinary, mundane, everyday.
Allow your mind to pick and choose those experiences and memories that will make it easy for you to assemble together and identify a meaning, a message to show you a direction, to give you hope, to give you power, to give you energy, to give you a reason.
Your purpose is hidden in the everyday events of your life. It is hidden in the mundane as well as the extraordinary. It is buried away in the out of place things as well as those which are full of passion, power and emotion.
Allow your mind to pull all the events of your life and select those that will reveal to you your purpose. The meaning, reason or purpose of any one event or experience is not needed here. You want the overall message that the sum of your experiences represent.
When you are ready, slowly and gently to yourself write down a few words about those memories or experiences that seem to stand out somehow. They may not seem significant in and of themselves but in the overall scheme of your life, they have purpose and meaning. Do not try to ascertain the meaning of any event, just jot down a few words that describe the event, that will help you to recall it easily at a later time.
Write down at least 20 experiences. 30 is better, 50 would be ideal. Do this slowly. Your memories may come rushing all at once. That’s ok. Do not try to harness them or control them. Allow them to be, just as they are. Select those that you can. Write down those that you can capture. Jot down just a few words about each, just enough to recall the memory again later.
Try to recall at least 20 experiences, at least 20 events from your life. Whatever your mind brings forth, trust it to be right and appropriate for the purpose of this exercise. Try to find 30 experiences if possible. Go for 40 if you can. But stop at 50 or so. 50 is enough for now. When you do this exercise again at home you may wish to recall up to 100 memories, but for now, 50 is enough.
Then relax. Meditate. Breathe in. Hold. Exhale. Focus on your breathing. Allow yourself to relax again. Let yourself get comfortable once more. After a few moments, consider the events you wrote down. Do not try to assign a specific meaning or message to any of them. Instead, the message and meaning you are searching for is what do they all mean together. What common frame of reference do all these experiences suggest? What common purpose does every experience share? What meaning do they all have in common? How are all these events, happenings and experiences related? What message are they trying to convey to you?
You may not get it this time. Or, maybe you will. If you do, it’s ok to cry. It’s ok to feel whatever emotion comes up for you. It’s ok to feel it with your voice, body, mind or soul. But respect your neighbors. Do not touch or interfere with those around you. Allow them their experience. Respect their journey. Do not divert them from their journey by speaking to them, touching them or holding them.
It is only a natural human reaction to comfort someone who is going through pain. It is also often the wrong thing to do because sometimes when we hold another, when we touch someone, when we hug someone, when we speak a word to try to comfort someone, to try to ease their pain we do the opposite. Whatever we do or say may stop their energy from flowing and cause it to get stuck again somewhere else in their body, often at the place where we touched them.
Allow them to experience their lives. Allow them to experience their pain. Let them relive their hurt, pain and anger. As they relive it it is being released. As they review the events of their lives, the meaning of their life will become clear. Allow each of us the clarity we need.
Review your life. The message is there. The meaning of your life is there. The reason and purpose of your life is there. Why you are here is there. Your true calling is there. Your perfect work is there. When it is revealed to you, when you recognize it, as it is shown to you, express it. Shout it out, laugh, cry, jump. Be happy. Then write it down.
You have discovered your purpose. Purposes change. God is dynamic. You are dynamic. For some people their purpose and mission may change over time. As you have different experiences, acquire new skills and education, obtain greater understanding, compassion and wisdom, your purpose may change.
13. Alternate Exercise– My Purpose Is..
1. Take out a sheet of paper or use your computer.
2. At the top write: “What is my purpose in life? What is my mission, my true calling”?
3. Answer the question with the first thought that comes to mind. Don’t censor it, think about what to write or attempt to force it. Just write down whatever immediately comes to mind.
4. Repeat step 3 until the answer makes you cry. That will be your purpose. Write each new answer on a separate line.
It may take you 50 or 100 answers to find your true purpose. You may find some that seem to cause a surge of emotion within you but do not make you cry. Those are close and may be something that is related to something you must do. Circle those, then keep going until you write the one that makes you cry.
It could take 100, 200, 300 or even 500 or 1000 answers until you come across the one that makes you cry. But don’t stop until you find it. When you do, you will cry and that will be your purpose in life.
God set that purpose there for you. It is why you are here. It is the mission you were meant to achieve, it is the dream within your heart. Now it is up to you to begin doing it, living it, breathing it.
As a youth you may have had one purpose, as a teenager maybe another. As you entered your adult years perhaps another purpose was revealed, then in your middle years yet another purpose began to manifest. In your elder years still another purpose may come to pass. Some people may have only one purpose or true calling their whole life, some may have two or three, others may have several. Don’t get stuck on one purpose.
This exercise is only the first exercise of its kind. It may have revealed your purpose, your perfect work and your true calling. Or, perhaps, it has brought you just a step or two closer to discovering the purpose of your life. Or maybe it just brought up your own conditioning, repeating old habits, old thoughts and old behaviors. The only way to know for sure is to repeat this exercise every 6 to 12 months.
You have a reason for living. You have a dream to fulfill. God has given you a purpose and has arranged your life to prepare you for that purpose. Your life has true meaning, you have true value. You are love, you are spirit. God loves you and part of the reason behind every event and experience in your life — the good and the bad — was to reveal to you how much God loves you. That message is often misunderstood and obscured by our limited mental capacity and our errant programming. But God loves you and everything that has happened to you is showing that love to you although you may not perceive it as such. In the same manner, every event has been a building block for your purpose. Each and every experience of your life has been preparing you to live out your purpose, to fulfill your destiny, to carry out your dream, to live the life that God is challenging you to live. And that life is bold, beautiful and blessed with love, beauty, prosperity, happiness, joy and abundance.
You have a mission to fulfill. You have a true calling, a perfect work. God has given you a dream that you and you alone are qualified to present to the world. That is why you are here. That is your purpose.
Hopefully these exercises have revealed to you your purpose and shown you your mission and true calling. Hopefully you are now able to step into the role that God is calling you to. Hopefully, you are now aware of the greatness that lies buried within your heart and finally, you can let it out.
Go forth and from this day onward, live your purpose. Carry out that mission that God has given you to do. Dream that dream that only you can dream. Give it to the world and your whole life will change.
Peace, love and long life. -Perry
