The Myth and Truth of Balance and Purpose

Today I’m celebrating how meaningful and fun the three workshops I taught last week were, and I want you to benefit from what we experienced. So I hope to take you on a (fairly) quick exercise to get a sense of what we discovered.

If you’d rather listen than read, check out this week’s Jess on the Mountain podcast, episode 18. 

The online workshop was called Life on Purpose: Chakra Yoga for Tuning in and Finding Yours, and that’s exactly what we did! 

After checking in and learning why everyone was there, I asked this question:

When was a time in your life when things were going great? When life was clicking along, you felt balanced and connected, relationships, work, or school was on track and everything felt harmonious.

 Can you tune into that feeling? 

This little exercise shows us that the experience of balance is achievable–you’ve felt it before. This is not some outlandish ideal, it’s real life. 

When you take the Chakra Savvy Quickie Quiz, at jessgoulding.com/quiz, you’ll get three simple questions that bring awareness to what’s clicking now and what’s feeling a little blocked–you can use those answers in this exercise as well.  

So now it’s time for the first draft of our When/Then statement.

This is a little something I picked up from Dr Deb Kern, and I tweaked it a bit for our purposes, and this is where a new truth was revealed.

Thinking about that great time, your happy memory, what was going on at the moment that made you feel balanced? What were you doing, thinking, or saying to yourself or others that supported this harmonious time? Those who came to the workshop said things like:

Wasn’t over-scheduled

Had healthy boundaries

Was connected to my honest truth

Serving others

Laughing and playing a lot

Spending time in nature

Exercising regularly

Doing daily yoga and meditation

So now we take that phrase–that thing you were doing when you felt awesome–and we put it in a when/then statement. Try this with me:

When _________________________, then I'll feel balanced again.

For example, When I exercise regularly, then I'll feel balanced again.

So here’s a chance for you to do some myth busting in your life.

Here’s the myth: 

Once I feel balanced, I will find my purpose.

Here's the truth:

Living on purpose creates balance, and my balanced self reveals my deeper purpose.

(Read that again.)

So rather than waiting until that time when you can laugh and play, or let go of busyness, or spend time in nature, or have healthy boundaries–whatever that is for you–THAT is your purpose. Balance will come when you apply right effort to the area that is feeling out of whack. 

So your purpose doesn’t start with a grand statement of what you’re here to do–it starts with what you can do, think, or say right now that brings you closer to that awesome memory. That’s your purpose.

When we’re balanced, due to spending time doing those things that create balance, our system quiets. Our mind settles and our inner wisdom reveals our deepest truths. We can actually HEAR what our soul has to say about the direction of our lives. It will lead us down the correct path. We can then see the synchronicities, the “God winks,” and the stars line up that validate our intuition and pull us along.  Our big purpose becomes almost effortless to discern. (Not necessarily effortless to DO, but that’s a story for a different time.)

So now we create a NEW When/Then statement, flipping the whole thing on its head.  Instead of When (fill in the blank), then I’ll feel balanced, fill in this:

When my life has more balance, it's because I ______________________________.

What are you doing, thinking, or saying when your life has balance? This new statement doesn’t let you wait around or future-hope yourself about one day maybe feeling harmonious again and discovering your purpose. You see it right there: When I do this thing on purpose or with purpose, then I’m balanced. You have autonomy!  From there it’s the balanced self that reveals the deeper purpose.

It can be hard to wrap your head around, so take your time. Or, if you’re interested, you could grab your journal and do the workshop replay, which will be available until June 18 in the Chakra Savvy free trial. 

From there we created a mantra, placed it on our breath, and installed it in the appropriate chakras, so the inner wisdom engine is revving up! 

So I leave you to ponder again: What will you do to foster balance? How will you think that is more harmonious? What will you say to yourself or others that will bring you back into steadiness and ease when you do this practice with dedication over a long period of time? 

May you relive your greatest memory as an experience of now, and may your path become harmonious, clear, and joyful.

Much love