As we move from the season of spring to summer, it’s a very good time to take an inner look at what brings Life to Life for you. What sets your soul on fire as you wander about your house, your job, your relationships, your outer most being? What do you still dream about that ups your energy and fires your imagination? This ‘what’, when you become aware of it, is connected to your ‘why’, the reason you’re here at this time in space. It’s the passionate energy that arises when you engage it. It’s the felt experience you look forward to while dreaming of your ideal life!

As you identify your ‘why’, your passion, sit with it to feel the enlivening energy, the power that comes from focusing on the wonder of what you love. Experience in the here and now a life giving transmission of this divine energy that resonates through your entire system. It’s  the energy you bring to what you do. You know the difference. You know the dullness that comes from the ho hum things that have to be done but don’t bring fire to life. You know what you do repeatedly without any passion or enthusiasm. You also know what fires your soul and enlivens your life.

As I’ve begun to monitor my passion and purpose over the past five years, I’ve come to see that the only person I’m destined to become is the one I decide to be. After decades of passionate service and soulful purpose, I went into semi-retirement thinking I could live a life with less passion, less purpose and less involvement in things I’d come to love. I was wrong. These past years have helped me see that in order to thrive, we have to continue to cultivate an awareness  of  why we’re still here. To retire from our purpose, our why, is to die a slow death.

I’ve worked in many types of jobs from menial labor to professional executive positions. Why I was doing the work rarely occurred to me. What did occur was the enjoyment and passion I had or didn’t have for the work. When I was just working for the money, I didn’t stay very long in the job. When I was working to fulfill a purpose, a vision, a why, I stayed on and thrived. So take a look at where you are and why you’re there. Notice where you’re enthused, fired up, wanting to engage, enjoying and bringing life to life; where your passion and purpose converge.  

If, when you look, you discover any apathy, regret or despondence STOP and ask why. Then ask what you could be doing internally to change the why. No matter what the circumstances, there is a why. It may not be the one that fires your imagination or brings passion into your life but in that why is another why that does. Look back at when you were the most enthusiastic, energetic and passionate. What were you doing and why? The answer could be as simple as: ‘It made me feel alive’ or’ I felt like I was making a difference’ or ‘I loved the sense of accomplishment’ or…? 

In the winter and spring of our lives we experiment with discovering our passions and purpose. In the summer of our lives we can then bask in the radiance of our purpose with passion to make a difference not only for ourselves but also for others. In the autumn of our lives we find solace in the knowledge of our purpose and  new ways of expressing it with a more refined passion. It all comes down to a felt sense of ‘Why am I here and what do I have yet to be?’ The soulful answer comes from the depths informed by experience. Here, the soulful marriage is complete.

• Irenaeus, a 2nd Century Greek Bishop said: ‘The joy of God is a person fully alive.’   As you awaken to the passage of time notice when, where and why you feel fully alive.  Allow your passion, your aliveness to direct your purpose. Discover the joy of aliveness.
• When you find yourself in a dour and depressive mood, close you eyes and go to a place deep inside yourself where you can feel alive, appreciative, inspired, harmonious and loving. Sit in the vortex of this divine energy and know it’s always here for you. Make a practice of resting in this space at least four times a day for a week and see what happens.