Being Purpose Driven in 2020

Posted on January 5, 2020 by Sabrina Renee

What is Your Purpose?

Such a loaded question for some and so simple for others. For all of us, finding your purpose equals finding meaning in your life and the moments you invest in. When you’ve identified your purpose life choices get narrow, the trajectory of your life becomes a bit more clear. Life’s purpose is not what you do but rather who you innately are.

My purpose is to be a healer, to heal myself so that I may teach others the tools to heal themselves. Although it took years and years to redefine it in such simple terms, it remained true through all occupations. As someone working the stock room in retail, as a server at Applebee’s, as a child care attendant and as a personal trainer, this was who I have always been at the core. So whether you know exactly what your purpose is or you have absolutely no clue, or even if you’re somewhere in between the two here is my advice to you: don’t allow your current life circumstance to define your purpose for you.

Creating a Purpose Driven Life

Creating a purpose-driven life means understanding the values that align with it. Once those values are identified they become the focal points of your thinking and decision making. Deciding to live a life on purpose sounds simple enough but it comes with the price of self-discipline. These values may reveal themselves or match easily with the life you visualize, but the hard work comes when those values clash with any current belief system. The biggest challenge for me was identifying that one of my values was respecting my self-worth which often meant putting my needs before others. Until an opportunity to help a friend, family member, or even someone I was dating went against that value. The belief system I had for so long made me feel that putting myself first was a form of betrayal of those I love. Therein lies the choice: change or familiarity?

Now, of course, each circumstance and person is different. There are no right answers across the board for any core values defined. But it will more often than not invite an inner conflict into your life. One that forces you to choose between who you’ve always been and who you wish to be. It’s about strengthening your intuition and trusting what feels like the best way to go. When this happens don’t judge yourself by labeling one answer right or wrong. Just remember only ONE choice can bring you closer to living a life on purpose. Choose wisely.

Not a Destination, A Way of Living

The more you challenge your belief system the more self-aware you become. Self-awareness is a tool that allows you to confront thoughts before they become actions. If practicing self-awareness becomes a habit than so does the opportunity to create change. Because change doesn’t happen once you declare you’re ready for it. Change doesn’t occur because you’ve clearly defined your core values or proclaimed a particular way of living. Life begins to change when you interrupt the pattern of behavior or thinking to shift the trajectory of your path. When you decide to trust your gut over the nostalgic and all too familiar choice that is insisting to be chosen. Change shows up in life when you constantly and consistently show up with the tool of self-awareness.

Here are 5 ways to show up on purpose:

Set intentions before taking actions
Check-in with your thoughts and experiences throughout the day
Question the beliefs that challenge your defined values
Say no to what does not align with your purpose
Be kind to yourself as you grow through each experience

Remaining True to Yourself

Staying the course will be filled with hard choices and lessons learned, so move forward with compassion. Taking responsibility for where you are in life is just as important as forgiving yourself for mistakes made. There will be parts of yourself that will be surfacing for the first time, invite them with kindness. Use that as a chance to study them with nonjudgmental awareness and make a purpose-driven decision. Appreciate the journey each day rather than focusing on the destination because the more you grow the further it becomes.

Being on purpose is a daily choice that invites more love, joy, fulfillment, and gratitude. Pay attention to what each day has to offer. Practice living a purpose-driven life through the 5 tips and grow through what you go through with awareness.

MindBody

How To Start Your Morning

Posted on October 14, 2019 by Sabrina Renee

The choices you make at the beginning of the day set the tone for the rest of your day. This is the most important time of your day to practice mindful awareness. First consider the initial thoughts as the day begins. Then consider the time you prioritize for getting ready, as well as transportation to work or school.

Is your attention focused on what you have to do or are you enjoying the first moments of your day? Do you stretch out your body or jump out of bed and into your routine? Are you allowing enough time between your alarm and the moment you need to arrive somewhere? At any point have you expressed gratitude for simply waking up and having the opportunity to begin again?

Mindset
Notice if your thoughts are focused on what needs to be done next and bring them back to right now. Your thoughts live in the future, taking you away from the present. If you find these thoughts are negative tell yourself “Today will be a great day because” and name three reasons.

Body
Check in with how you are feeling today. Notice the sensations in your body, any tightness or tension you’re holding. Take a deep breath and on the exhale relax your body. Bring attention to all five senses and practice gratitude for being able to use them all for another day.

Responsibilities
When looking ahead into your day do so with an attitude of gratitude. Instead of viewing your responsibilities as chores or burdens, appreciate all of the amenities these responsibilities have brought you. Give thanks for your job, for your ability to go to school, to drive or find transportation to anywhere you need to be.

Setting Intentions for The Day

Overwhelm is experienced when you lack preparation. Plan the day out first thing in the morning with an intention. An intention is an attitude or way of being that you aim for throughout the day. The most fitting intention is to become aware, starting with your thoughts.

A few other intentions that would help you optimize your day:

Patience
Positive outlook
Gratitude
Kindness
Confidence
Productivity
Practice pause
Practice stillness
Focus
Clarity

If you’re reading this in the middle of the day you can still set an intention for the remainder of your day. Change doesn’t happen when you get a fresh start. It happens when you become aware of your choices and make a conscious effort to choose something better for your mental and physical health. Start by setting an intention, by checking in with your thoughts, by being grateful for this very moment. Just start.

Spirituality

Changing Seasons and Setting Intentions

Posted on September 30, 2019 by Sabrina Renee

Changing of the Seasons

In nature and in our lives the seasons change. Some bring warmth while others bring chills. Others are a sign of detachment followed by the birth of something new. The commencement of a season provides the opportunity to reflect on all that you experienced and the ways in which you grew. As life transitions from one phase to another, it’s important to consider the impact of the past few months, weeks, or years had on the person you’ve become. Only with reflection could you move forward with clarity and intention to love deeper, heal old wounds, and grow stronger more resilient for the next chapter.

Aligning With Seasons

The seasons bring different feelings, lessons, purposes, and versions of the life you live. Reflection is a tool to develop insight to all that has occurred, providing you the chance to develop mental strength for whatever may lie ahead. The circumstances aren’t what you control, but the attitudes, intentions, awareness, and preparation are all in your hands.

Unpredictability will cause you to be thrown off whatever path you’re walking. Distractions will pull you into unnecessary detours without warning or remorse. People will have demands with unrealistic expectations of you. The environments you find yourself in will dictate how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking, and where your energy is going. Walking into a new season of your life without a grounding force to what truly matters will allow you to sway back and forth to other people’s agendas.

Setting an intention is the anchor keeping you rooted in the main focus. If you decide the upcoming season is one of service then you’ll anchor yourself into giving, listening, and being there for those who need you most. On the other end, you’ll release what keeps you from serving your higher self and the community that needs you. You’ll begin creating clear boundaries of what does and does not serve your main thing.

There are also seasons that hit you hard, the unexpected season of pain, turmoil and hardship. Even this season deserves an anchor, keeping you aware of what is most important at that time. Perhaps it’s an anchor of awareness, patience, forgiveness, compassion, or love for yourself. Whatever season you are in the middle of or about to enter, consider the person you are walking into it and how you wish to feel walking out the other side.

How to Set Intentions

Life will present you with struggles, seasons of suffering, challenges so deep you’ll doubt your capability of surviving. It’s not enough to bring awareness to the season you’re in or the feelings you’re experiencing as a result. It’s not enough to believe “this too shall pass”, and passively accept the roadblocks presented in your life. It’s not enough to wish for change without showing up with the tools to take action. There is a time to feel the emotions and a time to root yourself back into the vision you have for your life. There is a time for observation and time for the conscious choice to create change.

Applying any habit, thought, choice or behavior into your life is always easy when things are going well. However, it’s still just as essential, if not more so, during the challenging times. An intention is meant to align with how purposeful, conscious, and impactful you wish to be. Whether you choose to set intentions for moon phases, seasonal changes, monthly changes, or yearly changes-you can apply this process. Sit down with a piece of paper divided in half: what you wish to release and what you wish to embrace.

Practice

Write down 5 things you wish to let go of that you have been carrying for many seasons or this past one. This could be attitudes, negative habits, ways of thinking, people or environments that are not bringing out the best version of who you could be. After you’ve come up with at least 5 things, write one sentence that completely expresses all that you are leaving behind.

Next, you’ll be focusing on the 5 things you wish to embrace, add, or start doing. A good way to write this out is finding the counterpart of the 5 things you are releasing. For instance, if you are going to stop being lazy then you can embrace exercise each day. Once you’ve matched what you’re saying good-bye to with what you are welcoming, it’s time to create a phrase that embodies all of the positive changes. Express gratitude over these words, say a prayer or take time to visualize what this life looks like on you, and trust it’s already on its way.

There are two important factors to this intention setting process: showing up and trusting the other half will. Writing things down on a piece of paper makes them real, but action brings them to life. Realistically you cannot expect change without showing up to make changes for yourself. Stay focused and grounded in the words you’ve written, follow that up with trusting in divine timing. Change doesn’t happen overnight because the journey is where the lessons you need to grow are waiting. The path is overflowing with exactly what you need to experience so that you may apply it later on in your life. Learn to appreciate every step, every day, every moment of this self-improvement voyage and trust that the goal is waiting on the other end.