BE YOU A PERSON WHO CAN DO BOTH

Full spectrum nourishment starts with life purpose and values, which is why we are really spending time setting this foundation.

Once you have identified and proclaimed your life purpose (click here for that article) and have considered whether you are living your purpose (click here for that article), it is time to consider: what is supporting me and what is blocking me in my purpose.

If you identify anything blocking your purpose, the first thought needs to be: “Is there anything I can do about it?”. This is so critical because feeling frustrated at circumstances outside of your control or influence is a great way to deplete your energy and disempower you. If the answer is no, you cannot do anything about it, then there is no need to berate yourself. Like a cow standing in the middle of the road, yelling or honking the horn often doesn’t make her move. Life be like that sometimes. You can work towards accepting it: drink some water while you wait for the cow to get a good look and decide to keep moving. Sometimes there are a lot of very slow cows on the road and patience can feel very tenuous. Things that put us back onto the basic physiological or survival needs of Maslow’s hierarchy (click here for that article) are often in this category. You or a loved one becomes sick. Your finances take a turn and you cannot pay your rent. At these times, the focus needs to just be on survival. You can get back on your life purpose road later, when you are back to baseline nourishment.

But, often the answer is yes, you can do something about the block. You might be able to remove the block: get out of the car and walk the cow to the side of the road with a carrot. You might be able to go around the cow by backing up and taking a side street. Or you could enhance or diversify your support: your passenger speaks cow and they kindly ask her to keep moving, the farmer is a friend of yours and you call them to come get yo’ cow, you put on some music and go dance with the cow in the street.

(must not put in any stupid cow puns, hem hem)

Photo by Bhavesh Jain

Let’s get more granular and less bovine. Let’s say your life purpose is to live sustainably and inspire others to do so. You live with your family or housemates and they do not share your purpose or even those values. This could definitely be a source of frustration (shouting at the cow? -yes, I am getting every drop out of this cow metaphor). Look, shout if you need to, but then you could go find a local community group to join, like a community garden, or an online community, perhaps following some sustainability YouTube channels like Shelbizleee. You can educate yourself with books from the library, blogs and online articles, and do what you actually can do. You can engage in respectful conversations with your co-inhabitants and maybe things could shift, but maybe they won’t. Acceptance.

If your life purpose is to love and care for your family, and you are finding yourself very tired with not a lot of actual quality time available, is there anything you can do? If you work, can you change the structure, hours, or switch jobs to something that works better and feels more harmonious? Maybe you can move nearer to other family who are willing so share or help with tasks or childcare (with a zillion other benefits which we will discuss down the track on here). Maybe it just starts with a “no devices at the dinner table” rule or “Thursday night is pizza and game night” to begin cultivating deeper connections and demonstrating that care.

Find a way that works for you, right now, to stay aligned on your life purpose road. Start small, be mindful of your energy.