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The "pneuma" that lifts you up is always present.
Although I live in Florida, I am not a surfer. Seeing "Jaws" as a
child haunts me to this day, but I still love the ocean. In
fact, my wardrobe mainly consists of shorts, t-shirts, and flip-
flops...which is a bit of a change from my Boston garb ;) Some people are cold weather people, I am not. I love the warm weather, the beach, and the smell of salt water. Had Kramer ever gotten his "Beach" cologne produced, I would have bought it (Seinfeld anyone?).
Last week during my vision day I spent some time at an area known as "kite beach." This is a popular local hang-out for kite-surfers. Kite-surfing is a newer water sport where you strap your feet into a surfboard with foot straps and then hold on to a giant kite (more of a parachute) that propels you across the water. On certain days you can see as many as 30 multi-colored kites dancing through the sky pulling their surfers below. The principle behind it is similar to windsurfing, but the height of the kite gives riders much more power to harness - allowing them to soar as high as 40-50 feet in the air depending on the elements.
So, I am thinking - here we are in 2007, yet there is still another
water sport just being discovered. There are no engines, no machines needed for this hobby - just a sense of creativity, ingenuity, and skill brought together to harness a resource that has always been there.
So why is this spiritual?
Think about it. Was the wind there before the kite-surfer? Were the
waves there before the surfer? Was the law of gravity there before
the first person tripped and fell down?
(Hopefully we answered "yes" to all the above)
As I was watching the kite-surfers flying across the water, it dawned on me that the wind is a lot like our personal purpose in life. It's always there - whether we use it or not.
In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy gives her own spiritual definition for wind:
WIND. That which indicates the might of omnipotence and the movements of God's spiritual government, encompassing all things.
She also clarifies that the Greek word for wind is "pneuma," which also means spirit.
Yet, when it comes to connecting to the "wind" we already possess, we spend a lot of time looking for it [purpose] "out there" - thinking it is a treasure we need to seek out and find. Or, we sit around and wait for someone to tell us our purpose. I feel both ways at times - but the wind showed me otherwise.
I think a lot of people still confuse their "purpose" with their
career. By doing this we get caught in the trap of believing we
cannot live our purpose unless we get a certain job, which also means there is a process we need to go through before we can obtain that career. We need to get certain grades, obtain certain degrees, and hope our ability is recognized so that we can receive promotions, etc. that will move us up the ladder. With this thinking - our purpose is delayed until a later date, a later date somewhere "out there."
Our purpose is not our career... but our career could/should be an
expression of our purpose. To better understand our purpose and to
have it become more clear in our lives we need to look inward,
not outward. We need to be able to articulate what things in our life
make us most happy and bring us the most satisfaction and
fulfillment. Once we can do that, we can now use those things as a
measuring stick to help us get on a track that brings them into our
lives even more.
The problem is, we begin to let fear, doubt, and "reality" tell us
that we cannot have those things because "we aren't smart enough,"
"there is no money in that work," or "I'll eventually get to that
when I retire."
Odds are, if this is your thinking, you'll never be smart enough, you won't be able to see money in that line of work, and by the time you retire - will you even remember what you were passionate about?
The wind...your purpose...is here right now. You are surrounded by it. It is not outside of you, and it is not something you need "to
get." You already have it - so isn't it time you use it? It might
take form in one career right now, and then transform into another
career 6 weeks, months, or years from now. But, when you harness the power of your purpose - you will always feel happiness, joy, and
fulfillment no matter where you are or what you are doing.
What is your wind? How have you harnessed it?
Remember, if you are keeping all of your wind bottled up - it's just
turning into hot air...and who wants to be full of that? ;)
I look forward to hearing from some of you and sharing what your
purpose looks like (post it in the comments). If you need a little
help - I'm just an e-mail or phone call away. Read more from this blogger at Travis Inc.
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