The other day I found myself in a conversation with a lovely lady from a local coffee shop. I had gone in there to wait out some car repairs. She looked in awesome condition, physically. She was very muscular, and even exhibited vascularity, as if she were a bodybuilder. Few women, or even men, can reach physical condition like this, even when they work out regularly. As I had been a bodybuilder some years ago, I wondered what program she followed to get in such excellent condition. So I asked her.

She replied that she didn’t exercise at all. She mentioned she had been shoveling snow the day before, which was more exercise than she routinely gets.

When I marveled at her ability to stay fit without any effort, she replied that her sons were the same way, in that they had exuberant energy and were enrolled in many sports, as they had much to spare. She also said that when she gets ill, her skin breaks out, as if the disease is being pushed out from the inside, and then it just goes away. She does not have to deal with health issues.

I wondered at her ability to create such great health for herself. Clearly, she did not intend for physical challenges to be on her burden list for this lifetime! She apparently had a great many other issues, which she shared with me. I think few people would want her life, though many people would probably gladly exchange some of their fortune for her great health and physical strength. We often think that if only that issue were resolved, we could accomplish so much. We think that this one thing stands in our way, for example, health problems.

It doesn’t stand in our way at all. It is "the way" to where we are supposed to go, absolutely and without question. There is no other way we could have accomplished what we set out to do, or we would not have chosen it. While at the same time the body’s ails may represent karmic issues, it is processing through those issues that we will heal and become who were meant to be.

Our path is custom made for us. We choose our situation, our surroundings, our issues for a purpose only we can know. There are many and varied reasons for having a health problem. A simple explanation, as if things are ever simple, could mean that you are not meant to do something you would try to continue doing if you were healthy; for example, working hard or working for someone else. In that way you are being forced to find a path, or a job, or a means of making income, where you do not have to work in that fashion. You might have to work around a schedule, to give your body rest, or that works around your body’s rhythms. This is forcing you to carve out your own path. Would you have done it for any other reason? And while you are working to that point, I guarantee you will have to resolve the bucket of issues and misbelief systems you brought into this lifetime with you.

Sometimes we feel our path is difficult. Sometimes we might even feel that the obstacles are impossible. You should know that they are not. There is one guarantee you have in this life, and that is, you provided for yourself the ability to reach the goal you had intended yourself to reach. Know that. Often the biggest challenge is realizing what the goal looks like, or what our right and true path is. Once we have succeeded in doing that, we are well on our way to success.

One of the most challenging issues for many of us is finding our purpose. 

Unfortunately most of us we were raised on a cookie cutter recipe card, particularly the baby boomers and older. As time went on, I think greater individuality was permitted, if only for minimal issues, such as diaper training, or weaning off the breast or bottle. Aside from this, by a particular age, there are certain expectations for achievement. If you fall within a certain percentage points of the expected range, you move on, with regard to schooling. Few parents are able to work with their children on anything more than a minimal basis, unless there is an at-home parent, so it is up to the school to foster and nurture the creative spark. And they rarely do that, as that is not their purpose.

In any case, those in my reading audience would likely be from a time, like my own, when raising a child resembled something closer to cloning. We just weren’t encouraged to march to our own drummer back in those days. Maybe some were groomed for a career their parents picked out. Perhaps they weren’t groomed for anything at all, and wound up unprepared. Career may have been left to chance altogether.

Career, or our life’s work, should not be left to chance. Our purpose, or our dharma, is an integral part of our experience here. It is our contribution to society, our service to the greater whole, and at the same time, the activity we spend the greater portion of our lives performing. Who among us feels satisfied after a day of work? Precious few!

Lack of direction caused me quite a bit of anxiety for many, many years. Many times it felt that the easier thing had been to just go out to work and earn a paycheck. But, since I had successfully raised my daughter to seek her joy and follow it, I felt some re-parenting was needed, to find what I loved to do, and then to allow myself to do it.

When I began to contemplate what I wanted to do, aside from the many years of experience that I had, or the education I had paid for, I found that I was comparing myself to others who had picked a path, and succeeded. Obviously, I was comiing up short, as their path was not my own. It never helps to judge yourself in relation to others, especially in their area of specialty. There are always stories of people who experienced unexpected success doing some unusual or seemingly easy or fun thing. The general thought is "If they can do it, why not you?"

This is self-defeating. Their path is their own. Your path is uniquely yours. Together we all make up the puzzle of the whole, and each of us has a different gift and talent that we can utilize to contribute something very special, and very unique to the whole. If we don’t stop to figure out what that is, we will short-change ourselves of the experience and joy. We will also short-change others of this gift.

The problem with the cookie cutter society and our educational system is that we are accustomed to judging ourself in relation to others and in relation to a standard. Outside of schooling, we note that those who tend to stand out are those who have accomplished, or mastered their niche, or found their purpose. If you compared yourself to them, you would, almost universally, come up short. They found their niche and purpose, and you need to find yours.

There is something you are better at than anyone else in the world. You need to find this. When you find it, the work will be close to effortless. You may not recognize it as work, because you enjoy the activity. If you were raised with the idea that you had to work very hard, you might feel anxiety trying to pursue that path, unless you happen to also land into money at the same time. The anxiety will stem from those old programs within. You won’t feel that you can possibly be financially successful or even sustaining, as you were raised to feel that financial success and discomfort, or suffering, went hand-in-hand. If you find yourself doing something you love, unless you see the money come pouring in immediately, which is wholly unlikely, your mental programs will cause you a good deal of angst in response to this direction you’re taking. You may even find that well-meaning others try to steer you off this path as well, as they were raised the same way you were–believing that work should be suffering. After all, their parents did it!

Today, the conscious parent raises their children to develop their own creativity and skill. We want each individual to take the time to look within at what their passion is, and to expand their thinking beyond what is currently out in the world. Whether on the movie screen, the bestseller shelf at Barnes & Noble, the hit video on Youtube, or items or technology selling on the shelves, there could be a completely new idea, or a new product, or a new service that you have to offer. You need to look within for purpose, not without. When you’re looking at what is already out there, you could feel overwhelmed at the choices, and never stop to recognize your own unique offering. When you discover your talent, you may need to take the practical steps of marketing the skill, or re-shaping it, but the first step is not a logical one–it is an intuitive one.

Stop looking at others and their successes when seeking out your purpose. Begin to understand that you need to carve your own way, and you have your own path to follow. This concept should be of comfort to you, so do your best to see the negative voices and fear for what they are–old programming. Recognize that you are an important piece of the puzzle on this planet, and that your gifts are essential to others. Begin to listen to yourself, and your likes and dislikes, and try to get clear on where negative messages may be stemming from. As you develop your inner guidance, you will be able to discern the programs and negative thoughts from the instincts and messages that Self is sending you, and you will be well on your way to discovering your purpose.