In last week’s article I wrote about how many of society’s problems (including the problem of illegal drugs being trafficked to the teenagers in our neighborhoods) will be resolved by individuals who connect with their (divine, inner) power, and fulfill their “Higher Purpose.” But how do you find your higher purpose and how do you know when you’re on the path of your higher purpose, as opposed to just going through your “normal” operating state? How do you know you’re actually doing your higher purpose, as opposed to just going through your “default” way of being, going through the motions of your job or career?

Over the course of a few decades of seeking I have discovered that you will know that you’re on the path of your higher purpose when “the Universe” / God / the Divine (pick whichever name works best for you) provides you with guidance as well as amazing feedback that you are not able to ignore. Of course, before that happens you need to be ready and willing to follow that guidance. You need to make a commitment to fulfill your greater purpose, to make changes, to follow your inner passion.

But how do you find your higher purpose? How do you know what that is? I have discovered that you do not know what your higher purpose is, and neither does anyone else know what your higher purpose is, no matter how psychic or learned they are.

Of course I’m talking about your individual, specific purpose here, because the “general” purpose of each and every one of us is to learn and grow, to evolve, to discover who we are and what we’re capable of, to help create a “golden age,” to become more compassionate, more loving, more appreciative, more joyful, and so on. (And the “general” purpose of us parents is to love, to care for, to teach by example, and to discipline our children so that they are ready for adulthood and can lead functional, successful lives.)

So I’m saying that you do not know what your specific higher purpose is. Your ego mind (meaning your normal consciousness mind / socially conditioned mind / only-10%-of-the-brain accessing mind) does not know what your higher purpose is. How can it? Only your soul / higher self knows your higher purpose, and your conscious mind doesn’t have access to that, at least not all at once.

I remember at my first job after college at an electronics company a colleague once told me that he was “intuitive” and that he knew that at some point in the future I would “help a lot of people by doing something new.” This got me to develop an interest in learning about my purpose in life. Having an important life purpose was a new concept to someone who was brought up with perhaps not the best of Catholic teachings but it resonated with me and my interest was piqued. I asked him what my purpose was and he, of course, didn’t have a clue. He pointed me to some Christian pamphlets on life purpose and I went through them, I even re-read the Bible at his request, but after doing all that reading it became obvious to me that I wasn’t any closer to discovering my life purpose.

Decades later, after following my inner guidance consistently and experiencing a lot of new insights and synchronicities (and sometimes crazy, amazing feedback) from the “Universe,” I have discovered that it works like this: You access your higher purpose one little teeny baby step at a time when you follow through with your inner guidance in the moment and pay attention to what happens as a result. When you do this you’re taking action and making changes that are more aligned with your soul, with the divine part of you, with the “Christ Consciousness” in you. You’re bringing more and more of your true self into the mundane, rather than just continuing on with your normal, default way of being (which is and has been conditioned by forces outside yourself–the media, your parents, teachers, peers, religions, painful memories and experiences and of course vested interests, groups and entities who have a vested interest in keeping things the way they are. Such as, for example, keeping illegal drugs flowing into your neighborhoods).

Sometimes you can have a higher purpose that is totally unrelated to your educational or career path. For example, I know that part of my higher purpose–so far–was to write two books that explain Love, and “how things work here on this planet.” Writing books was not something that my “ego mind” had ever planned on doing. My college education was in materials engineering, not in writing, and I had considered myself a terrible writer. Frankly, writing scared me! Yet when I made the commitment to follow my inner guidance amazing things began to happen that suddenly were worth writing about. Over time, my writings and notes began to evolve into a book; everyday I followed through and something interesting or even amazing would happen that forwarded my book project.

You access your higher purpose when you bring in the wisdom and guidance of the part of you that’s been around forever–your soul–in a very deliberate and committed way. How do you access that guidance? By asking for it and patiently waiting for an answer. The following are some ways you may receive guidance from Spirit / your higher self:

Different Ways You Can Receive Guidance

1. Through signs and synchronicities you can’t ignore

2. When you awaken at night with insights and knowings

3. Sometimes you are guided through your dreams

4. Through hearing the still, small voice within (often when you’re least expecting it)

5. Sometimes people say things “out of the blue” that are meaningful to you and point you in a certain direction (and they are completely unaware of your request for guidance)

I have experienced all of these many, many times, and I have to admit I’ve also had a number of people tell me some peculiar things about myself, like the time I was at a local “Music in the Park” concert with my husband and my kids. I had been asking God / the Universe for guidance about my life purpose (was I really supposed to write?) when a woman, a complete stranger came up to me after her daughter befriended my two daughters. After introducing herself, she said, “You’re an author, aren’t you?” I asked here where did she get such an idea, she said she “knew she was going to meet an author that day” and that we should “help each other with our books.”

When you have aligned your life with your deepest being and followed through with that guidance promptly and consistently for weeks and months on end, what happens is that the little clues, synchronicities and insights you have experienced begin to come together in such a way that you now have a better idea of what your higher purpose may be. You feel as though the puzzles pieces are coming together. You’re experiencing new insights almost daily. You have some amazing results and you feel “in tune” with your higher self. Your life is beginning to make more sense. During this time, you also notice that some of your beliefs have changed and that your mind feels like it’s being “rewired.” That’s because you’re tapping more into Truth, into the Divine, into your inner power.

It’s not special information that has the power to transform our world. It’s you who have the power to transform your world, and this–when added to the millions of others who are also transforming their world–will result in the transformation of our world.