There’s always a plan in life, but whether we can see it and trust it is another matter. For example, it’s usually only after a difficult period that we realize it was good for something and, in the grand scheme of things, brought us closer to something we didn’t know we wanted, but that we needed. In the midst of that period, it’s hard to see that. Instead, we feel discomfort because things aren’t going according to plan. It’s very difficult to trust life’s bigger plan in that moment.
Sticking to our plans gives us a sense of security, but that security is temporary. Just as in the workplace, a permanent employment contract is an illusion of the security that a salaried job might provide. A permanent employment contract simply means that we do not YET know the end date.
What can we rely on when external certainties disappear or change, and the plan that has worked so far no longer leads us forward? While discussing this with a client, the topic of pursuing one’s OWN PATH and the desire to discover that path came up. The client expressed this desire using the word “longing,” and that gave us an excellent clue.
Isn’t it true that we can only long for what we know—or what we’ve had some experience with? We don’t long for anything about which we have no information whatsoever. We just need to reconnect; we need to take a step back and look at ourselves from an outsider’s perspective.
Perhaps this “longing” to find our own purpose and, so to speak, the meaning of life, means that this meaning and purpose are already familiar to us. Perhaps it exists somewhere within us. The seed is always there, because we didn’t just come into this world for no reason. We were born with some kind of potential to grow into something.
Various authors have referred to it in different ways, from “soul code” to “life purpose.” In nature, everything has its place and purpose. But we can only see this by looking at the whole picture. Often, the object itself is unaware of this plan.
Since nothing in nature exists without a purpose or role, no human being can be born here without a purpose or potential within their “seed.” So, coming back to this longing for our own purpose, it is always present within us, because otherwise we wouldn’t be able to long for it or seek it out.
This, in turn, brings us to the topic of SELF-CONFIDENCE. In other words, how confident am I in pursuing my goals, and how boldly do I actually act to achieve what I truly desire? In other words, what is that inner force, power, and motivation within the seed that causes an acorn to grow into an oak and a tulip bulb into a tulip, to put it figuratively? Self-confidence, however, requires self-acceptance, which in turn requires self-awareness and getting to know oneself.
To realize this, you sometimes need to take a step back and look at your relationship with life from a distance. And that’s very difficult to do when you’re focused on your plans. Aside from making plans, what seems to help the most is taking the next step even when you don’t know everything yet. The bigger picture begins to emerge when we let life take the lead over our plans and don’t take life—or ourselves—too seriously.
