Ever found yourself during the holiday bustle – online shopping, rummaging through recipes, navigating invites to all the events — having one of those glimpses of clarity that momentarily puts it all into perspective?
I recently had a moment.
The notion of ‘purpose’ rushed into focus for a few breaths with such blinding obviousness that I found I was holding my breath.
The night before, after a few hours of scouring ideas for the ‘right gift’ for each family member, I’d finally sent off an Amazon order.
In the back of my head a tension tottered between thoughtfulness and befuddlement.
Why do we put ourselves through these rituals when the world is on fire?
That day, knee deep in writing, working with clients, prepping for a keynote, it came in a flash. Clear as a bell. Pristine and beautiful.
I saw a picture of a future that flows with greater steadiness and a calming hum of aliveness. It was visual – all felt – no thought.
Only feeling remained, then – ‘poof’ – it was gone!
I sat at my desk, pen in hand, stupefied and energized.
That glimpse of clarity offered up notions that remain elusive, even as I write now, yet reminding me of Rumi’s summoning poem.
One area of my work involves supporting folks to explore their purpose in life and work.
As such, I’ve spent time, too, exploring my life purpose. I even wrote about it in my book, The Leadership Pause.
But this, felt different in my bones.
Could it be that my psyche’s overwhelmed by all the chaos and upheaval in the world?
Or perhaps it’s simply my good fortune to be getting older. Could wisdom be influencing my insight?
No matter.
What it’s spurred me to do – timely as we near the end of the year – is to carve blocks of time to listen to the purposeful clarity that’s shown up.
I believe that we’re born into the positive energy of life with a personalized gift to offer to the world.
It’s our work to come to terms with our gift and create space for it to grow and flourish.
Our early life experiences, coupled with our unique interests, are foundational building blocks for where our life’s energies will be played out.
Yet many of us live our entire lives with a “borrowed” set of standards, beliefs, and values that we inherited—and are invisible to us—as we adopt and embody beliefs and values of our first family.
The process of our own inner listening can become faint: we can forget who we are.
Until we begin to get curious about what matters most. Because that’s what energizes and enlivens us even in tricky times like we’re living in today.
Taking time to revisit your purpose can help you to remember who you are right in the midst of bustling around this holiday season.
I’ll drop some ideas for exploring purpose in a couple of weeks. For now, I’d love to hear from you about your purpose – drop me a line here: DrChris@Q4-Consulting.com
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ABOUT THE CREATOR OF The Leadership Pause
I’m Dr. Chris Johnson, psychologist, executive coach and author of The Leadership Pause: Sharpen Your Attention, Deepen Your Presence and Navigate the Future available on Barnes & Noble, Bookshelf, and Amazon
I drew content from my book in crafting Calm the Chaos for Busy Professionals, an online course, and Are You Willing to Go First: Conversational Keys to Leadership Success, two of my popular course offers.I publish The Leadership Pause newsletter bi-weekly on LinkedIn. If you’re not already subscribed, click the Subscribe button to follow me too!