The statement you make will not be a spur of the moment thing. Rather, it will be something that comes from your heart – deep within your heart. It will be something you really want, not something someone else wants for you.
Along with your Life’s Purpose Now you will also have a step-by-step process of how to get there. You will have a plan. It will involve all your goals, supported by your values, and you will have ways of dealing with any fears and doubts that arise as a result of really going for your goal.
By choosing to pursue your true purpose in life you create energy and happiness. Sometimes your purpose can lie dormant within your spirit for many years. This book will show you how to polish your inner diamond so that all its facets can shine in splendorous beauty. Remember, it’s the journey towards your goal that brings happiness. This book gives you the tools to reach in, find your Life’s Purpose Now and create a flowing stream of happiness.
There are eight mind exercises spread throughout the book all designed to direct you towards your goals. It is necessary for you to take time and participate in these. You can do this by writing in the space provided, or by photocopying the pages and doing it that way. These exercises do deal with similar subject matter but the importance of each exercise is that it approaches the subject from a slightly different direction, a different perspective. By doing all the exercises conscientiously you will be able to identify the goals and values that keep recurring time and time again. You will find the common ground. These goals and values will include the ones most important to you.
The exercises involve processes using both the conscious and the subconscious mind. We use our mind energy, which focuses our life-force energy (this is what the Chinese call CHI energy) and in this way, you head towards a result where the subconscious mind and the conscious mind are mutually supporting each other. (It’s no coincidence that I called my seminar and book CHI – “Creating Happiness Intentionally”).
These mind exercises are:
1. Life’s Purpose – Creativity Meditation
(Subconscious mind)
2. Alone With My Deepest Thoughts
(Conscious mind)
3. Fr. Justin Belitz’s Seven F’s
(Conscious mind)
4. The Seven Questions
(Subconscious mind)
5. This is Me – Questionnaire
(Subconscious mind)
6. My Hopes and Aspirations
(Conscious mind)
7A. Why Are You Reading This Book?
(Subconscious mind)
7B. Experiencing What I Want
(Subconscious mind)
8. A Journey of a Thousand Miles
(Conscious mind)
Once you have recorded the results of all the exercises there will be a session in which you collate the results to determine what is most important to you.
The more times a similar goal has surfaced using both conscious and subconscious methods the more likely it is to be truly important to you.
Between these exercises there will be others such as meditation, reflection, silence, a walk and more. You are encouraged to do them all.
Engage wholeheartedly in the exercises in this book and think about the issues raised in your own life. Set aside time regularly to both read and do the exercises. Be bold enough to invest in yourself and “do” this book. The next couple of weeks as you read this book will be really significant. This will be a time when you can re-evaluate the big questions of where you are now, where you are going and how you are going to get there.
If you already spend time meditating or praying, do this book in conjunction with your current program.
As to the meditations in this book I suggest that you read the words (so that you know what’s in the meditation) and then play the tape. As an alternative, make your own tape using your own voice, reading the words slowly over the top of relaxation music (around 40 to 60 beats per minute) and then play that tape. Another thought is that a friend could read it for you. Whichever way you choose, it is important to do the meditations. The wording in the tapes referred to can be found on the following pages:
Tape: Page Number
PP1 – Instrumental(No wording)
PP2 –Guided Imagery 28
PP5 –Meditation 95
PP6 –Forgiveness138
PP7 –Tapping Your Creativity 38
PP9 –Letting Go Anger 51
PP10 – Self Worth & Confidence 209
PP13 – Inner Peace and Harmony257
PP14 – Improving Relationships248
PP15 – Overcoming Fear117
The tapes are available for purchase as a Special CHI pack which consists of the Peaceful Place (PP) Collection with the two tapes Accelerated Learning Music Tape 1 and PP3 Releasing Hurt being replaced with PP1 – Instrumental and PP2 – Guided Imagery (Refer Page 293)
Chapter 1
How We Crave Happiness
Every so often we all experience rare moments of exquisite happiness – pure and boundless joy. What is it about these moments that makes them so good? And why can’t life be like that all the time?
Are we forever at the mercy of Lady Luck? Is this what decides how much happiness we will have in our lives – and when? Or is there something we can do to switch on to the possibility of creating happiness by design, creating happiness intentionally?
As we look back on our lives we can see the happy moments standing out above all other moments like clear landmarks in an otherwise bare landscape. In every life there will be happiness as well as pain, suffering and sadness. But as we look back over all the events of our life, I believe the happy moments always have the power to eclipse the sad.
One fascinating thing about some of the happy times is that they often seem incidental, not earth shattering at all, as if they almost came by accident.
For me, one such moment of happiness came when I was very young, so young it must be one of my first memories. I recall it was on a broad, well-kept lawn in India. Surrounding the patch of lawn was a neat grove of trees and our house, a comfortable bungalow, was nearby, partially shaded by the trees. The whole of nature around me seemed lush and kind. My father was there giving me encouragement and other members of my family were looking on as well. I was riding my two-wheeler bicycle in wide circles around this lawn much to the approval of my father and much to my own excitement. The memory is so intense. It is one of those moments of pure happiness that, if I revisit it in my mind, always moves me to tears of joy.
We have all had such moments and, if you pause for reflection, you will easily see similar times in your life.
But what are the ingredients of these moments? For me in India, was it the fact I was riding a bicycle? Probably not. I’m sure if I went back to India, found the same lawn and rode the same bicycle, I could not re-create the moment.