Today is my 40th birthday. Like many people turning 40, I feel a kind of incredulity that this is real! But mainly, I feel so blessed to be following my life purpose more fully than ever before and full of excitement about the decades to come!
As I look back at my journey, I see now in reverse the meaning of different experiences along the way. I see how I was gathering all the skills, experiences and contacts to follow my life purpose and grow a conscious business that changes lives. When life is tough, it can be easy to become disheartened, to lose faith in the Universe, to wonder why these challenges are happening. Yet afterwards, it’s almost always possible to see why those experiences needed to happen. And so, as we get older, we learn to rest in the knowledge that there is a purpose, even though we might not always understand why at the time.
My journey has taken me from corporate London and Dubai to the remotest corners of Africa and now to a beautiful forest in Wales. I’ve sat in meetings in Boardrooms and under mango trees. I’ve drunk champagne in rooftop bars and danced barefoot on the beach under the stars. I’ve stayed in amazing hotels and slept on flea ridden mattresses in basic shacks. I’ve worked with children with special needs and with the elderly. I’ve advised rural African small business owners, Governments and huge companies. I’ve explored Latin American, Middle Eastern and African cultures. I’ve learned and forgotten several languages. I’ve meditated with the Karmapa, drunk tea with a Crown Prince, been hijacked in South Africa and quarantined in a Chinese military hospital. I’ve set foot on Everest, trekked in the Amazon, floated in the Dead Sea and paddled in the Euphrates. I have driven thousands of miles through the African bush, along land-mined roads, past herds of wild elephants. I’ve birthed two incredible, free range children. I’ve succeeded beyond my wildest dreams, and failed completely. I’ve laughed at the sunrise and cried by moonlight. Whatever I have done, I have done with my whole heart and my whole being.
Today I am so grateful for all these experiences.
I used to think that our life purpose was something we had to figure out; that somehow, by exploring the notion fully enough, I would come to realise my life purpose, and then I could follow it. But I’m no longer sure that it works like that. Rather, by following our passions, values and beliefs every day, we find – almost without realising it – that we have discovered our life purpose and are already living it. So there is no need to over-think, no need to over-analyse. Simply by being fully ourselves in each moment, we find ourselves on the best possible path we could be taking.
We know that we are following our life purpose when we feel twinges of excitement just at the sheer joy of living. We know that we are following our life purpose when we notice coincidences that push us forward on our pathway almost effortlessly. We know that we are following our life purpose when we feel so determined that nothing can stand in our way, and our only reaction to challenges that arise is to sit down and figure out how to address them and move forward.
Alongside determination, I have found trust and gratitude to be essential on my journey. Trust in the Universe that everything is always ok. And gratitude for every precious moment we experience.
Whatever shape it may take, our life purpose is always about service to others. We are all here to make the best impact we can on the lives of others and the wider world around us. Let’s take the opportunity to re-commit to that today.
If your life is not that of an adventure, of a search into the unknown, then you are living in vain. – Osho
Eco Retreats is an off-grid forest retreat where you can give your soul an opportunity to reset and start consciously designing the life you want to live. Re-discover your authentic self and find inspiration to realise your future life goals with private or group meditation and (coming soon) conscious living workshops. Eco Retreats can also be booked for group workshops if you want to try your hand at organising a unique escape for your friends, your company or your coaching clients.
