Purpose – Recognize Your Calling: The 6th Care Degree

Do you know that Hummingbirds beat their wings up to 80 times a second, creating the soft humming sound that earns them their name [National Geographic ]?

Unimaginable isn’t it, but real.  Sometimes when the unexpected happens in our lives, we wish we could hum into the abyss and not concede to reality. Setbacks.  It’s not a matter of if they are going to happen, it is how you deal with them when they occur.  Mistakes are inevitable and when they do happen, triumph by staying grounded as best as you can, stay true to your calling.

The easiest way to deal with setbacks is to remind yourself of your life’s purpose.  We call this “recognizing your calling” – the central motivating aims of your life – the reason you are here on this planet.   This will offer you a sense of direction and help you get back on track.

Life as we know it today is increasingly defined by our ability to consistently adapt to constant change. Like the hummingbird, it requires us to be agile and creative. The best of us adopt to change well, when we stay grounded. Whether change is real or anticipated, it creates stressors in our lives that cloud our judgement and stifles creativity.

In the world of business coaching, Laura and I are drawing inspiration from the hummingbird and its tendencies, to deliver training to a group of coaches over an 8-week period. The hummingbird symbolizes lightness of life, being more present, playfulness and joy, lifting up negativity, swiftness and, resilience to be able to travel great distances tirelessly. 

Laura draws a parallel to Julia Cameron’s “The Artist Way” and encourages the need for us to start the journey to our inner child, the light inside us,  to call it out and share it with the world. How? With sweeping strokes and humming.

Given the current environment and its demand, you are likely dealing with stress at home and work that is making you less collaborative, less creative, less efficient.  It is taking the joy and playfulness out of your life. Focus on dispelling the negative energies, news and conversations around you. 

In James Redfield “The Celestine Prophecies”, he stresses the importance of not underplaying chance encounters. Every encounter we have, whether pleasant or unpleasant, there is a lesson to be extracted from that experience.  Laura calls it “becoming the seeker of truth”.  When you know and embrace your purpose, it helps to solidify your life’s journey and puts you in a better mindset. 

The story is told of a father who sent his daughter out on a mission to find a treasure. During the journey, the daughter was so consumed with the mission that she forgot to enjoy the great encounters and people she met. She got to the destination and did not find the treasure and was terribly disappointed. Dejected, she started to make her way back, but this time, feeling less burdened, she made the best of her interactions and established great friendships.  The change in thinking made all the difference. Her hummingbird came alive.  As you look to recognize your calling, do so with purpose, joy and lightness. Let this shift in mindset radiate off you and everybody else around you. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “the purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”

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