1 Huge Step To Live In Purpose

When I was young teen we moved to edge of the suburbs. So far out to the edge that we were in the undeveloped area and really could call it “country”. There were still lush fields of corn (or maybe it was wheat) that were grown on huge acres behind us. Out our front door was undeveloped woodlands, where on full moon evening you could hear the coyotes baying to the moon sending moonlight signals to the packs far away. And to the other side of us was an area of land where an old time rancher still had an dilapidated, weather beaten, old lean-to barn. Mind you, the area had been uninhabited by any stock for years. It was over grown and a jungle of underbrush, wild sagebrush, low limbs and tall Texas weeds.

It was the perfect place for a young teenage lady who enjoyed being to herself who loved to explore. We discovered that there was a deserted stock-pond far away from the main fence line. You wouldn’t know it was there unless you had explored.

The rancher decided to bring some stock to his land and soon a couple of cows and a donkey became our neighbors. Over the course of time, those animals beat down and cleared out the area by just wandering around. They also found the pond. In fact, in about 12 months time, those animals wore down a very defined and narrow pathway to the pond. The journey to the pond that had once been impossible now was very defined and easy to navigate. In the country we call it a “cow path”.

I don’t really know if those animals just stumbled upon the pond. Or maybe they found their way by catching the scent of other wildlife that already knew the pond was there and ventured on their own exploring to find it. Who knows, maybe the cows where descendents of previous cows that had been raised on that piece of land and their was just an instinctive knowledge of how to find the pond.

Whatever happened, they formed their own cow-paths to that pond. In country talk, a cow-path is a trail that the herd of cattle follows to either the watering hole or the feeding hole. It’s a very worn and defined path.

The other day I shared with you the journey you can take in order to figure out if you are living your live according to your values. If you didn’t read that or do the exercises I highly encourage you to do so.

Your LIFE depends on it.

I know, that sounds pretty strong. But I truly believe that a huge, root problem to so many folks going through life feeling as though they have no purpose or direction is that they haven’t truly defined their personal core, heart, values.

It’s not a bunch of mumbo-jumbo.

Do you wander through the day running after a to-do list and at the end of the day you are dead-dog tired, but what did I DO today?”

Do you have a nagging voice in your head saying “There HAS to be more to life than this.”

Do you find yourself desperately praying each day “GOD, what is my PURPOSE?”

Believe me – I know the feeling.

Knowing Your Purpose

I truly believe that everyone has a purpose.
From birth.
We each have special, God given talents.
We also each have our own personal traits and things we hold so dear to our hearts they are our life blood.

Our “lack of purpose” problem as an adult sometimes stems from the fact that we lose connection with those talents and traits.

Perhaps the busy-ness of life takes over. We lead busy lives working 40+ hours a week, are evenings are filled with family activities with each family member running in different direction and often times mom is the courier to all those activities. We fill remaining time with obligations from other family, friends, social, and things we feel as though we “have” to do.

Then, something happens.

We have a stirring deep within.

Maybe there is inner instinctive “sense” like my cows earlier. A sense that there is “more”. Some water beyond the thick woods.
Maybe there is a curiousness to poke your head in the darkness and see what may be behind that tree and the thick underbrush.
Maybe you see someone else taking life by the horns and living is such complete and inner joy with a zest for life that you say to yourself “I want what they have.”

That is an inner urging. Your personal values and traits are tapping on your heart and ready to come out and be nurtured again – and loved.

I encourage you to follow your heart and discover what makes you tick. Please read and DO the 4 steps to discover what makes you tick.

I’ll be honest with you. It may be a painful process.
You may find yourself in tears of self discovery.
And then, you will have your “AHA” moments of discovering some missing pieces to your heart’s puzzle.
When you have discovered your values and traits and clearly defined them, you can them see where you have gaps in your life. You can the clearly see where your days may feel “empty” because you aren’t DOING the things that are at your core and the essence of what makes you YOU.

That’s what happened with me and I know it will with you as well.  But it’s really going to take doing the homework and self-discovery.

Then, you can come to the end of your busy day.  Your REGULAR busy day.  But you too can end the day with a sigh of self-fulfillment because you will have discovered the things that you needed to add to your day to feel more whole.

I’ll share with you later the steps you should follow….

But until then, be thinking about your heart values and the HUGE step you need to take to get there.

Design Your Awesome You – Discover and Life Your Life IN Purpose today.  It won’t cost you a thing but time…..and loving yourself enough to DO it.

Hugs and feathers from the nest~~()~~

Kim Steadman is the COOP (Chief Online Operating Person) for The Re-Feathered Nest. A place of encouragement for moms entering the Empty Nest Zone who find they need to RePurpose and ReDesign their lives now that the kids have flown the coop. Kim can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheRefeatheredNest and on Google+ at +Kim.