“Reverse Engineering Spirituality”
by Kelvin Chin
Life After Life Expert
Life purpose? I’m often asked about this concept.
“But Kel, look at what you’re doing, you’re helping so many people, (etc., etc.)…You have truly found your life purpose!”
First of all, who says that what qualifies as being called “life purpose” has to be directly helping others?
Second, what about everything else I’ve done in my life? Has that “not been my life purpose”???
I think many people look at others who are happy with what they’re doing and think, “See, THEY’VE found THEIR life purpose!”
As if happiness equates with life purpose. That only if you’ve found whatever the elusive “life purpose” is, then and ONLY THEN can you be happy.
No. No. No.
Did I say, “No”…???
That is a myth.
And if you’re being really honest and candid with yourself, when you’re having those self doubts about whether you’re on the path to finding that final portal to “Shangri-La”…your life purpose…you’re usually feeling insecure, dissatisfied, unhappy…maybe even envious of others who seem happier than you.
So, I think that often leads to “reverse engineering.”
We look at what we want. Happiness. And for us at that moment happiness appears to be what that other person has that we don’t. Work that makes them happy.
And we conclude: they’ve found their life purpose!
Instead, maybe they’ve been trying out this and trying out that to see what makes them happiest. And they’ve “followed the bread crumbs” — the “do they meet and fulfill my desires” breadcrumbs — and after many such trial and errors, they’ve arrived at where you see them now.
That’s the more likely scenario.
Not the usual one taught in many spiritual workshops or YouTube videos where the teacher is guiding you through some exercise to “discover your life purpose.”
That type of workshop appeals to those who believe that there is some preordained “plan” that is somehow written in stone and that if we can only find the “magic key” like we’re in some real life “Indiana Jones” movie playing Harrison Ford, we’ll be happy. Finally.
That approach assumes there is “an answer,” a state of Perfection, a final goal. And that approach, ironically, breeds continued unhappiness. Because there’s always “more”…and that guarantee of “always more” (whatever, fill in the blank) means “never satisfied.” Never happy.
So I suggest we shift our priorities and our approach to seeking more contentment by looking more closely at our desires. And determine whether those life choices we have made align with and promote the fulfillment of those desires.
I suggest we make THAT our “life purpose.” That process. Not some one-off job, that is subject to change when our desires shift.
That process has helped me become more and more contented with what I’m doing with my life. Perhaps it might help you — and others you may come in contact with — in your eternal journey.
Kelvin H. Chin is a Meditation Teacher, Life After Life Expert, and Author of “Overcoming the Fear of Death,” “Marcus Aurelius Updated: 21st Century Meditations On Living Life” and “After the Afterlife: Memories of My Past Lives.” He learned to meditate at age 19, and has been teaching Turning Within Meditation and coaching others in their self-growth for 40 years. He helps people understand their life challenges through their individual belief systems, and helps them find their own solutions. His past life memories reach back many centuries, and he accesses those memories in his teaching and his coaching in the same way all coaches draw on their own available experiences for perspective and effective analogies. He can be reached at www.TurningWithin.org.