What Is Your Life Purpose? What Is Your Calling?

Do you ever feel that your work is taking up more and more of your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual energy? On top of that you may be chauffeuring the kids or grandkids to their ballet classes, birthday parties, or soccer games. You might also be looking after an elderly parent. Perhaps you attempt to have date night once a week (okay, let’s be real… make that once a month!) so you don’t forget what your partner looks like. All this… but for what?

Life Purpose Addresses the “For what?” Question.

It’s what inspires you to jump out of bed every morning… what helps you stay sane and keep going when the road gets tough… what really engages you and fills you with excitement and enthusiasm.

Your Life Purpose is Your Calling?

For me, my first career as a dancer was a “calling” as much as a profession. In fact, I have often heard dancers say they never really felt they had a choice. There was a passion and purpose that burned in their soul and it had to express itself. Otherwise they may not have done what it takes to succeed. The lifestyle of a professional dancer is a very demanding and arduous one.

Perhaps that’s why George Balanchine, the famous choreographer, said “I don’t want dancers who want to dance. I want dancers who have to dance.”

What are you called to do? What burns in your soul? What do you have to do?

One of my favorite dancers, Michael Flatley, who created Riverdance, said that he believes every person has one thing they just have to do, and for him it was dancing. He went on to say that it is in finding that one thing and in engaging with it fully that one becomes most dynamically alive.

Your Life Purpose is Your Soul’s Destiny

I agree completely, because your life purpose is your Soul’s destiny. It’s like a blueprint or plan for your life. That’s why when we access it, it feels so right. And when we get off track, it feels like something is missing from our lives.

I meet with coaching clients, some of whom are working so hard to make their career or business a success. They may be doing very well financially. Perhaps they finally reached “the pinnacle” of their career and received the coveted position they always wanted with the corner office on the top floor. Or maybe the business they started has now been recognized by their industry and peers as being the “best of the best.”

Yet instead of feeling engaged and excited about these accomplishments, they are miserable. They feel that they have lost themselves along the way. What started out as a passion has become their prison.

But how did they get so off track? How did they go from following their passion to feeling trapped by it? Often, they didn’t take the time to figure out what they truly wanted, not only from their career or business, but also what they wanted from their life. No wonder their lights are on dim!

We all get so busy trying to balance work, family, and other commitments. In the process, it’s important to step back from time to time and ask yourself if your life is taking you where you want to go… where you feel called to go. If not, what changes need to be made?