Life is Purposeful

By Rev. Barry King, B.Sc(Hon.),O.M., PhD(TC.)

The other day I was talking to someone who wanted to know what their soul's purpose was in this life. They felt that they had been searching for a long time and they were concerned that they might not find it or achieve it. They had tried many things but none of them brought them the happiness or the fulfilment that they felt that achieving that special task should bring them. They hoped that I could contact their spirit guides and ask them what it was that they had set out to accomplish in this life. Spirit was able to give them relevant direction and guidance but fell short of telling them what their soul's purpose was in this life. I thought today, I would share with you some of the reasons why Spirit would choose not to tell them.

I believe that our lives are very purposeful and that we come into this life with specific goals and tasks to achieve. I also believe that we chose the family and the situation that we are born into. This enables us to have the experiences and circumstances necessary to provide the opportunities and challenges we need to achieve what we set out to do in this life. It is important to understand that achieving the goals we set for ourselves is only meaningful if we achieve them without the awareness that we must. To do something because you have to is quite different than doing something because it is natural or right. I believe that it is necessary for us to accomplish our soul's purposes or goals through right actions not because it is set out as a task that we must accomplish. This is one of the reasons why we do not remember what our goals are in this life.

Sometimes when life seems incomprehensible and we feel lost, it would be reassuring to be able to open the book and check the page that tells us where we should be and what we should be doing at that time. But life is to be lived and the way we find our way is by making the choices that move us towards happiness and fulfilment. Choices are often not easy but they provide the new opportunities we need to learn and grow in meaningful ways. It has been my experience that we do not make mistakes on our journey because whatever choice we made was grounded in our current awareness. Whatever challenge it brings to us is the opportunity we needed to learn some special thing. If we choose to learn it, then we will never need to have that challenge again. There are no short cuts and knowing our soul's purpose does not change the need we have to experience and learn. The journey through life is a spiritual journey because it is a journey made through our awareness of self and our need to grow and become.

A few years ago, two friends discovered that the "talking board"was their natural way to channel information from the Spirit side. One of the sessions that came through seemed particularly relevant to this question. Spirit titled it " The Many Roads to Happiness." It reads......

Know that life can have many different roads to happiness. There are many ways in which we are needed. The paths to any of these can lead to an exciting and fulfilling life.

The fork in the road we choose does not have to be right or wrong. You can often choose between the things that would provide happiness in different areas. When we think there is only one thing or person that can make us happy, we are putting limits on the God force within us. We are limitless, but by our own choosing, we can stay limited and powerless. This is usually done in ignorance of any other knowledge.

The knowledge is available - we have only to open our eyes and ears. The spirit within us that wants happiness is the force that makes us see and hear. The lessons get deeper as our understanding progresses. Think hard on this lesson. It is a timely one

I often feel that we are limiting ourselves when we search for a simple answer for our reason for being here in this life. We have been blessed with the opportunity to live in a wondrously diverse and beautiful place. In this life, every day, we realize many goals and accomplish many things. Each life - each day- presents us with opportunities to grow in new and exciting ways. If we believe that life is purposeful, then we should also believe that we are here in each life to achieve not one thing but many things. We must listen and trust the wisdom of our higher self to get it right.

I remember a number of years ago a young man who knew the face of his future bride. He felt a connection to this woman from a previous life and had met her in this life only through dreams. This knowledge limited his ability to live a normal and happy life because any other woman he met was not his true love. Until he met her, he was destined to be lonely and unhappy. This awareness affected his ability to make choices and may have even negatively affected his chances of meeting or being happy with this woman when he met her. This is an extreme case but it does illustrate how we can restrict ourselves from the many opportunities and many choices we have in life. When we do, this life is diminished and we no longer live in a limitless world.

Even though there is in my mind no question that life is purposeful, we must remain open to the many opportunities to grow and learn that life offers us. As the spirit reading says there are many roads to happiness. Know that when you come to the fork in the road whenever choice you make will take you to a greater understanding of yourself and of your journey. Let right actions be your guide and strive to be happy.

God Bless You

Rev. Barry King, OM, PhD(TC) is an interfaith minister and spiritual medium offering counselling and spiritual services in Charlottetown, PEI. He can be contacted at 902-629-1385, www.interfaithministry.com