In the last module you created a list of activities that you loved to engage in when you were younger; before you started to buy into the belief that you, in your most authentic expression, aren’t good enough or worthy of living the life that you feel drawn to live. The purpose of that exercise is to get you out of your head and to stop overthinking your present circumstances by remembering times of fun, play, and joy. The second part of the practice was to identify how you felt when you were engaged in the joyful activity. When you call on the memories of the past that made you feel joyful, excited, passionate, free, or any other positive emotion, you begin to vibrate at the frequency of those emotions.

When you identify the things that brought you joy as a child and conjure within you the memory of the positive emotion, you will begin to spontaneously match those emotional frequencies. By matching the joyful emotional frequencies you begin to open a door of allowance for experiences on the same joyful frequency to present themselves in your conscious mind. In short, by revisiting the activities that lit you up as a child you create a portal through which you can carry that light, that you had once found, into your present day circumstances. It is literally a shortcut to finding your light now in this present moment.

The next step is to allow this risen joyful frequency to illuminate the things in your adult life that resonate with the bliss that you followed as a young child. You have probably already begun to find moments of play, or opportunities for your passions to come to life in ways that you had not entertained before you completed the exercise in the last module. Perhaps you have felt a pull to dust off the tennis racket that’s been collecting dust in the garage for the last five years. Perhaps you’ve entertained the idea of finally writing the book you’ve always wanted to write, or creating the non-profit that you feel so passionate about. When you align your thoughts with the positive emotions that you felt before your light was muted by the diminishment of your self-worth, creative possibilities begin to be noticeable in ways that they were not before. You will begin to feel more hopeful and inspired as you remember that you are, indeed, capable of experiencing joy by being yourself and doing things that you truly WANT to do.

Now, what does this have to do with living your purpose?

Did you know that the things that you enjoy doing, the things that you have a natural talent for, the things that light you up and you feel passionate about, the things that, when you do them, hours pass like minutes and time seems to stand still are not just random things that you’ve found to enjoy that makes the passing of time more enjoyable? Your passions are actually your calling. You enjoy the things that you enjoy because you were meant to. You are good at what you are good at because they are tools with which you came equipped in order to fulfil your purpose. You see, your life’s purpose resides at the intersection of your passion and service.

The sweet spot of purpose is where you can identify the doing of that which brings you joy, and then finding the place where living in that joy helps to elevate your life experience and the lives of those around you. When a person finds great fulfilment from creating stories and writing them down, they become an author. When the stories that they write create an emotional impact on their reader, perhaps inspiring them to become the best versions of themselves, or creating an opportunity for the reader’s reflection on their own life, inspiring them to live in a more joyful and satisfying way; the writer has found their purpose…inspiring the readers (service) by following their own joyful passion of writing (living their passion). When a person finds immense joy in creating delicious foods and they hone their craft as a chef (living their passion), they find themselves creating beautiful meals that people can gather together around, have a beautiful connection and interaction with others, bonded in the moment by the delicious food (service), this chef has found his purpose. When a person is extremely passionate about equipping children with the skills to develop into happy and fulfilled adults (service), they become a teacher (living their passion), then that person has found their purpose. Wherever your passion intersects with service to others or to the greater good of humanity, you will find your purpose. The secret is to find your joy; your joy is your light. When you find your light and stay in it, you will inevitably be given opportunities to shine that light into the lives of others.

In this module’s practice you will use the list you compiled in Module One to inform you to create a new list of your lifelong passions. After you have identified the things that bring you joy and that you feel most passionate about, take time to consider how those passions can be used in service to others, to elevate your life experience and the lives of those around you.

Next, take some time to meditate on, imagine, and visualize what your life would look like if you were following your joyful passions. Notice how these visualizations make you feel. Are the emotions that you feel when meditating on these passions aligned with two core emotions that you discovered during the guided meditation from Module One?