Finding Purpose Through Being Inspired ('In Spirit')

Finding Purpose Through Being Inspired ('In Spirit')
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Ask yourself this simple question...

Are you inspired?

It's an amazingly simple question that can help us steer down our paths on purpose.

When we break apart the word "inspired," we find it comes from two words "in" and "spirit." The word literally means "in spirit." In other words, when you are inspired by something, it means that you are living in line with your spirit, says Dr. Wayne Dyer.

The idea goes that if you are inspired, you are walking your spirit's path, and that is when things just click. Work is easier. Coincidences happen that help you move further down the road.

It's just that simple.

What's interesting to me is that I've been asking this simple question to my students for the past ten years and I keep finding the same situation. Teenagers have a heck a time figuring out what inspires them.

But I don't think teenagers are alone because when I open this question up to other people in my community -- many in their forties and fifties -- there's still tremendous confusion.

The philosopher Krishnamurti suggests that it only makes sense why many people have trouble identifying what inspires them simply because we have grown up in a culture that seldom focuses on inspiration. Instead, we focus, says Krishnamurti, on taking a safe route of job security and live under the fear of failure. Instead of walking down a path of inspiration, we follow cultural dogma that keeps people in check and idolizes the shiny "next big thing" over following inspiration.

We're under the illusion that walking down The Path of Inspiration is the riskier path. Risky because no one has walked it yet. Risky because of the unknown.

But here's the thing, says Dyer, The Path of Inspiration ( walking "in spirit" ) is the safest path of all. Because when you follow your bliss and walk comfortably down a beautiful (albeit perhaps scary) untrodden path, God (and the universal powers that be) are on your side.

What am I currently inspired about?

This past week, I was featured on a new large media platform, The Good Men Project. On there, I wrote a piece that dives deep into a very personal story and what I'm learning about being a great husband.

I share what's been going on behind the scenes in my life over the past four years as my wife and I grow through her healing from Lyme disease.

The article has already gotten over 1,000 shares and I've received emails from people I've touched with my story -- one of which is a highly successful naturopathic doctor in the Seattle, Washington area.

At the same time as this article reaches virility on a major platform that focuses on modern masculinity, an idea my friend Mike and I have been throwing around for a few weeks just seems to be clicking so smoothly.

We're looking at putting together quarterly men's retreats throughout the world that stretch the masculine and feminine energies and focus on The Evolving Man.

Time will tell where this goes, but as I learn about becoming a better husband, I'm learning so much about what it means to be a man in our modern world.

I'm walking inspired and I invite you to join with me.

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What about you? What inspires you right now?

Like what you are reading? Here is a free copy of Your Life on Purpose: Ten Simple Tips to Live a Life with Impact (no, you don't have to give up your email). If you prefer to listen, here's my 10-minute daily podcast on living intentionally.

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