The purpose of life is to grow into your perfection. The joy in life comes as you tap into your own gifts. That means you are to become yourself, not anyone else. You don’t need what other people have. You need only what lies within you. Everything is within you. You have heard about how Michelangelo carved the statue of David by chiseling away all that wasn’t him. That is the same thing for you. To discover your perfection, you begin the process of shedding the layers that are not the Divine you. Where do you begin?

The Course of Miracles says your task is not to seek love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that have been built against it. Are you loving yourself? Who are you? The task then is to remove blocks, whether they are obstacles in the forms of hurts, un-forgiveness, outdated beliefs or resentments. Our growth occurs as the result of removing these obstacles and not actually from the need to acquire anything new. Yet, many of us think we have to have another degree, a certain job, hang out with a certain group of people, our bank account to be a certain amount of money before we are worthy or good enough. For me, I thought it was the other way around. I thought if I had it all together, then I would be worthy enough to have what I desired. The truth is that my Ph.D. and promotions filled some desires that I had but not the aching of my heart. The desire for those achievements was more to prove myself rather than seeing them as a tool to help me fulfill my heart’s passion. Where can you shift your thinking to align with discovering your perfection, to follow your heart?

You are shaped by the hopes and aspirations of your parents and the world around you. As you enter adulthood and begin living your own life, are you living your dreams or someone else’s dreams? Do you know you have a choice to live the life you want and deserve? Discover if you are living the life you wish to live. Each phase of your life is meant to be fulfilling not just going through the motion of moving into the next day doing the same things.  Begin to discover the life you desire rather than one you feel others expect of you. Are you a pleaser? Are you competing to show someone that you are better than a sibling you were compared to growing up? Are you proving yourself worthy? What grudges are you holding that you can remove? Where do you need to forgive yourself as well as where do you need to forgive others? Begin to see where you need to remove obstacles or shed layers of your past life that are no longer serving you to grow into your perfection. Discover what it is that you need at this time in your life to feel your heart’s desires. Have the courage to take steps towards reaching it. This is your life. You were given the present of your life at this time and place to fulfill a need. You will discover more and more about yourself as you pay attention to what feels right for you. Just like a garden, you need to cultivate the soil to allow plants to grow. Let go of all that is no longer serving you, claim that which is right for you today. You were meant for great things.  Keep the flame burning and keep your thoughts focused on what you desire.