"Creating A Life You Love"

by Karen Teeters

Have you ever thought about your life purpose or taking the time to create a life you love? Think back on your successes and failures, your career, your family, your interests and relationships. Where is peace of mind, complete contentment, a sense of fulfillment? Something deeper seems to be missing, doesn’t it?

Many people are awakening to this idea that there is something more. The answer doesn’t seem to be external. The bigger house, the promotion produces a temporary rush. People are starting to look at their inner lives, at spiritually connecting to make everyday living more meaningful.

One of my favorite cable shows is on HGTV (Home and Garden TV). It is called “The Good Life”. People from all over the country decide to downsize, change their life focus and simplify. Many transform by changing from a fast paced career and urban life to a less stressful job and a home in the country. Some decide to contribute to the community or start their own businesses. The change is always meaningful to them in a personal, spiritual way. There are many ways of finding one’s self. Quieting that inner chatter and listening to your higher self is one way to start your journey to a life you love.

Anyone can do this to a smaller extent, on a daily basis. You can simplify your daily routine and make the time to meditate, go on nature walks, or just sit quietly and think about what you really want.

In her book, Living the Simple Life, Elaine St James encourages us to, “not fall into the trap of thinking that if you’re not now doing what you love to do, it’s too late to figure it out.” She continues, “…everything I did previously prepared me for what I’m doing now. And what I’m doing now is no doubt preparing me for whatever I may do differently in the future.”

Taking time to first discover who you really are and then doing what you need to do so you can have what you want sounds simple, but it may get you the life you love. Doing inner work to clean out the negative stuff from the past is often a first step to remembering who you truly are. Counseling, spiritual work, reading, classes and studies, 12 step programs and personal growth seminars and workshops are just a few possibilities to help you see your true potential.

After this introspective effort, your inner peace and the voice of your higher self will evolve to lead you to your life purpose. Connecting with your true essence, your creative soul allows you to start living the life you were born to live.

A good, practical exercise to open you to your possibilities involves writing down everything you really love or would like to experience. You write and describe where you’d like to live, who you would like to spend time with, what kind of work and activities you truly love, what you’d like to be remembered for accomplishing.

Look at these ideas as if there were no blocks to achieve them. After you’ve written your ideal life, review it to see what you could realistically start to make happen right now.

Write down concrete steps that would help you accomplish your desires. Sometimes working with supportive people and friends can help you brainstorm to see possibilities you might normally overlook.

Written goals with daily action steps help you start living the life you love. As part of the process, you may also want to write and post positive affirmations such as, “I am a successful book store owner making a good living with a loving family and interesting friends.”

Deciding to have the life you were born to live and a life you truly love is a big part of getting it. Another key is the commitment to take action to actually create it. Why spend your life in a job or situation you are indifferent about just so you can earn retirement to finally afford to do what you really want or to please other people and not your self? You could decide to make the changes, to create your possibility to live the life you really want, right now!

To help you get started on your life purpose discovery path, I recommend reading Living the Simple Life by Elaine St James. Living simply, peacefully and purposefully is a great first step and this book helps you lift that foot! Another inspiring book to read is by Dan Millman, well known for his spiritual classic, Way of the Peaceful Warrior. His book is titled, The Life You Were Born to Live, A Guide to Finding Your Life Purpose. The insights in this book helped me to deeply examine my life purpose and to commit my life to helping others on their paths to discovery.

We all start our lives as very creative beings. Getting on the path of creating a life you love helps you to rediscover your true self. You may discover that the real reward is not in the destination itself, but in the joy of the journey.