Questions that will move your life towards meaning and purpose
Follow the breadcrumbs of what feels meaningful to you in your life.
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If you missed my last newsletter, we have a new name - High Road to Healing, which represents a different view of emotional and physical healing. It is a radically different approach to healing—born from a near-death experience (NDE). In my NDE, I chose the high road during my near-death experience and used love and gratitude to heal. Surviving a near-fatal wreck and six surgeries, I discovered consciousness and mindset as medicine—unlocking gratitude, resilience, and love.
This week, I’m in Atlanta visiting my 98-year-old mother who lives in memory care in a senior community. Her caregivers are loving and kind to her and call her Miss America. Mom wakes up in the morning and the first thing she says to her caregivers is, “I love you.”
As I sat with her yesterday afternoon, she looked at me and said, “I love you.” I think it’s a blessing that she’s living much of the time in a place of love although now she sleeps much of the day except when meals are served. Since I was here four months ago, she’s become more frail and is now in a wheelchair during the day.
I’ve been coming to visit her every three to four months for more than a decade. I’ve always worried about how I’d feel when she is gone. I’ve heard other women talk about the loss of their mothers. I know I’m one of the lucky ones to have my mother at my age. My material grandmother lived at home until she was 100 and passed when she was 101!
My time with her this week is precious. We have healed a lot in the last decade and are living in a world of love now. It’s a beautiful thing, but it wasn’t always that way.
Now onwards to the questions that will move our life in the direction of meaning and purpose!
We learn as children to override the promptings of our psyche (soul) because as a child, we know what we want and what’s right for us. But as an adult, we have to mediate that with the real world. Yet we do that often at the cost of and neglect of our soul.
“When we violate our psyche over time, it will refuse to cooperate with us,” said James Hollis, PhD, Jungian Analyst. “It will rob us of energy, purpose and meaning. It will keep pushing until the symptoms get deeper.”
When you begin asking, Why have do I have these physical and emotional symptoms, it opens up a dialogue with your depths.
“We live in a superficial world where getting and spending seems to be the whole motive of life,” said Hollis said.
Underneath is your soul that expresses itself on a daily basis. What happens to your life when you don’t listen to it?
Hollis says when we don’t listen, something sickens and dies inside of us.
It can take something difficult or challenging to get our attention to begin asking, what is psyche asking of me?
Meaning and connection matter to us. Below are some questions for you to journal and think about this week.
Is what I am spending my time doing meaningful to me?
What activities make me feel useful, alive, and strong?
When do I feel like a gifted contributor, or a really useful human being that is purposeful?
What do I want to be known for?
What is my soul asking of me?
What is it that is wishing expression in the world through me?
Hollis encourages us to focus on what sparks curiosity and what one is truly in service to, rather than external validation like wealth or status.
I’d love to hear from you if these questions are useful to help you dig deep for meaning and purpose. Let me know in the comments below. Thanks!
xo, Sherold