Hiya Gorgeous,
There’s lots of advice out there on how to find your purpose, but most of it creates stress and, in my opinion, totally misses the mark.
That’s why I want to share this with you today.
Lately, I’ve been working on being softer towards myself. Kinder. Slower.
Why? Because it just feels so darn good, but also because I often feel anxious about the constant pressure to “improve”.
You might be feeling the same way. Every single day we receive messages telling us to eat better, work out more, lose weight, or be more productive.
And don’t get me wrong—there’s plenty of value in self-improvement. But is that constant pushing really the way to create a meaningful life? I’m talking here about the ultimate spiritual crisis: How to find your purpose.
We think our purpose is outside of ourselves.
Just thinking about how to find your life purpose can literally make folks sweat. We tie ourselves up in knots searching for answers to questions like: What’s my higher calling? How do I stop spinning my wheels and get down to business? And to be even more blunt: What the hell am I supposed to be doing with my life?!
I struggled with this too, until I finally found my purpose (spoiler alert: or so I thought) with Crazy Sexy Cancer and then Crazy Sexy everything else. At first, I felt very strong and proud. My feathers were fluffed. I had finally arrived spiritually.
My purpose was to help people live a healthy life, teach prevention and raise awareness about animal welfare. I used to tell myself, “Well, that’s one good thing that came from cancer…”
But here’s the rub: When our purpose is external, we may never find it. If we tie our purpose or meaning to our vocation, a goal or an activity, we’re likely setting ourselves up for discomfort and even failure down the line.
Mythbuster! Your purpose has nothing to do with what you do.
There, I said it.
Your purpose is actually quite simple, it’s to awaken. To discover and nurture who you truly are, to know and love yourself at the deepest level and to guide yourself back home when you lose your way.
The more you do this, the more aware and present you become, which creates more harmony in your life. Everything else is your burning passion, your inspired mission, your job, your love-fueled hobby, etc. Those things are powerful and very worthy, but they’re not your purpose. Your purpose is much, much bigger than that.
My deeper understanding of purpose feels right in the soul of my bones. It diffuses the ache of separateness I experience when my work isn’t appreciated or when my efforts are overlooked or criticized. Sometimes folks will treasure your work, sometimes they won’t.
In fact, sometimes you’ll get the gig, sometimes you won’t. You’ll be on the marquee, and you’ll be passé. You’ll be thanked and you’ll be taken for granted. You’ll give and you’ll get nothing in return. You’ll be “Liked” and you’ll be unfriended. That’s life.
But, does that mean your life has no purpose or meaning?
Absolutely, positively not. What it does mean is that tying your worth to that yo-yo circus will only make you feel depleted, depressed and resentful. Instead of looking for outer approval, anchor your sense of purpose within, sweet friend. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself drifting out at sea again and again.
What if your purpose is very different than what you’ve been taught to believe?
- What if your purpose is to build an everlasting relationship with yourself? To fall deeply in love with precious you? This isn’t self-centered or selfish, it’s self-expansive. Interconnected. Conscious.
- What if your purpose is to forgive yourself and others? And by doing so, to allow warm waves of compassion to wash over the entire planet (yourself included).
- What if your purpose is to gently heal all self-injury? And by doing so, to become a mentor and role model for others to do the same.
- What if your purpose is to release all shame and feelings of unworthiness? Guess what you’ll find behind those feelings? Vulnerability—where your true strength and courage reside.
- Shall we talk about perfection? Yes, I think we must. What if your purpose is to teach yourself that there is no such thing as perfection and that your never-ending pursuit of it is destroying your life and your relationships? Let it go.
- What if your purpose is to speak kindly to yourself so that you elevate your energy and the world around you?
- What if your purpose is to develop an everlasting faith in yourself? To remember your holiness and treat yourself accordingly. The deeper your faith gets, the stronger your connection to a higher power.
- What if your purpose is to take impeccable care of yourself so that you have the energy and joy to serve others?
- What if your purpose is to sit still and listen to the wise voice within? We all have a choice about whether or not to attach ourselves to the crazy swirling around in our heads, hearts and universe. Stay open to your inner guidance and choose another way when needed.
And lastly…
What if your purpose (or invitation) is to actually bear witness to your suffering?
To honor and acknowledge it in order to move through it? “They” say that “suffering is optional.” But I’m not so sure about that. Plus, I’m not so sure that the people who believe this have truly experienced suffering. I may have agreed with this at one point. But that was before my experience of loss, sickness and cancer.
Today, I know that suffering is inevitable and so is grief. (In fact, my next book is all about navigating grief and still welcoming joy, no matter how messy life gets.) The trick is to have the guts to actually experience that loss, learn its lessons and eventually make peace with the parts of life you can’t change. Note: Residual pain may remain, and that’s OK, but at some point we can begin to thaw it out in order to embrace our one great, brilliant life.
What if finding your purpose is about finding and nurturing yourself?
Not an external to-do or accomplishment, even if that to-do or accomplishment is the most important discovery of all time. Because if you are the one destined to find the most important ah-ha of all time, you will probably find it quicker and easier if you feel good, loved and happy. Start there. It’s that simple.
Now this doesn’t mean that I don’t love my job (or you) or that I’m going to quit in any way. I cherish my work and all of my readers. And it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t start an orphanage or save animals or empower women or teach people how to file taxes. It means that you no longer need to connect your personal self-worth with a plaque on the wall.
Your self-worth has nothing to do with your craft or calling and everything to do with how you treat yourself and others.
I’ve met brilliant and effective activists who I have gallons of respect for who are dirty messes inside. Mean messes. Bitter messes. Sad messes. Jaded, cranky-ass messes.
And guess what? Their reach and impact reflect their attitude. Imagine what they could accomplish if they moved from loathing to love. If they knew that no matter how important their mission, their inner purpose matters even more. Folks are like plants; we all lean towards the light.
You are the light.
Your true purpose is to connect with that light. Everything else will follow in time. If you are struggling with this topic, I hope this blog gives you peace. Love ya!
Your Turn: Does this take on purpose resonate with you? Anything you want to add?
Peace & purpose,
This is lovely. I’m going straight to work on seeking my new purpose. Thank you. You are brilliant, as usual.
Thank you for the kind words! Sending love!
5 July 2020
Kris you are officially my Go-To-Gal on matters of living an authentic, productive, healthy and meaningful life. Gratitude extends to your Crazy Sexy Team who helps to deliver your wisdom.
I’m adding this blog to my toolbox!
With purposeful gratitude & love for all that’s Crazy Sexy …
Karen ????????
You are so awesome Karen! We love you! <3
Dear Kris,
I absolutely love your thoughts about finding the purposes in our lives. It’s definitely elevating my energy & joy to serve others. Sending lots love and blessings. Thank you xo
Hey Jane, this is Jennifer from Team Crazy Sexy. Thank you so much for your kind words. You really made Kris smile; it’s comments like this that make all of our days even better. We’re all sending you so much love and blessings right back. Xo!
Thanks so much for these words! Finding my purpose has been nagging in my mind and after reading this I do feel a big sigh of relief! Lots of love ?
A big thanks from the Crazy Sexy team, Eta! So happy to hear the blog helped. Keep breathing. 🙂 Xo, Jennifer @ Team Crazy Sexy
Thank you, Kris,for helping us to self-reflect,even though that can be scary,sometimes.
A big “you’re welcome” from the whole team, Lucretia (especially the Queen Bee Kris herself!). ❤ (Xo, Jennifer @ Team Crazy Sexy)
Thank you for this incredible blog on The Myth of finding your Purpose Kris. It is so beautiful to read and did it resonate with me…like you were talking directly to me and I was hearing everything I believe in my heart. Thank you I’m so happy and grateful for you ???
Yes I resonate with this message! Nothing external can fulfil a person I believe it is all within us. Somehow we have to find that. I had a spiritual feminine awakening which is assisting me and I am very excited when I realized she was always part of me.
Love it! Read your bio and listened to your Pep Talk audio. I’m only confused about one thing. In your bio you say you have incurable cancer, but in the Pep Talk you say we have unlimited healing potential. So, is it possible that you can heal you incurable cancer?
I love this post – and especially this line: “Folks are like plants, we all lean towards the light.” It sums this article up for me … this past week I was struggling with a lot of pain of the past about being laid off … my position being cut while others’ weren’t … poor me kinda stuff! I feel like this post has so much insight as to what we really should be focusing on in life to create lasting happiness … thxs for sharing Kris, xxx.
it was amazing i really admire you
Amazing!!! Thank you so much for these wise words!!!
Beautiful. Thank you Kris.
Aaaaaah, finally now I can relax. Thank you for telling the truth. <3
You hit the nail on the head. Thank you. A mil thank you. This article has given me the nugget I needed. Bless your heart. Bless your soul. With love and appreciation.
This is exactly what I have been searching for… I appreciate you and gift of sharing your knowledge and words.
So much wisdom here today. Thank you Kris ! Please continue being as authentic and wise as you are
Just what I needed to hear as I was struggling to find my purpose! Superb, amazing wisdom. Thank you.
Kris! I absolutely love you and everything you write about and represent! I can’t tell you how much this article resonated with me. Figuring out “what I want to be when I grow up” has haunted me all my life. In the meantime ive managed to create a great life filled with serendipitous moments of magic and countless blessings and joyful moments of love and laughter for the 55 years I’ve been around! Still, always in the back of my mind I had that nagging feeling that made me feel like a failure at times only because I did not have a career that I felt made a difference or that I was passionate about. Your article gave it a new perspective and freedom! Do I bring grace and joy to those around me in my daily interactions? YES! Do I make a difference in others’ lives just by being my positive, easy going, happy self? YOU BETCHA! Do I do something daily that brings me joy and makes my heart smile no matter what’s going on? YEP! Everyday I feel a deep sense of gratitude for my life and my faith and my family! Happiness comes easily to me! That alone is a huge blessing! I am learning to be sweet to myself as I am to everyone around me! Thank you so much for your spunky beautiful nature! Finding you has been a blessing! Xoxoxoxox
I love this thoughtful blog post . . . I have spent a lifetime “doing” things to prove my value, my worthiness to others. No-one asked me to, I’m not even sure when this idea took hold of my psyche, but it did. The good news is I’ve spent the last few years becoming a human being, rather than a human doing. This is a phase my beloved therapist used to help me understand the difference between racking up a list of accomplishments and finding my greater purpose. Self love, self worth and forgiveness have been essential in my journey. Thanks for keeping me on track with this post. xoxoxoxo
Thank you Kris! loved your message and the energy of this website. God Bless. Look forward to be added to your mailing list. I am sorry i did not connect when i was in New York…… May our paths cross dear great spirit. Take care
Thank you for this blog Kris. You are such an inspiration to me!! I was having this conversation with my hubby yesterday and I must say that your perspective is really enlightening. For yours I tied my purpose to a to do list, and became so anxious about completing that list. This has really helped me that the work inside is more tied to my purpose.
Thanks, sweet friend
I’ve bookmarked this article and read it every time I feel overwhelmed by life (like now). It puts me back in my centre, appreciating what is truly important.
Thank you Kris. It’s with reason your most popular post of all time. <3
Thank you eternally, Kris! Well stated and all so true, no question. Imagine how beautiful a world this is when everyONE understands and follows their inner guidance. I am grateful for all you have experienced, for you wouldn’t be who you are now without it all. I’ve never personally met you physically, but I know without a doubt that you are the best you that you have ever been because of it all. That is true for us all. Who you are IS already perfect, and that perfection comes from within. Thank you for sharing your love and light and for following your path with such beauty and grace. A very happy thanksgiving to all and the most wonderful holiday season as well. God bless everyone! Thank you for this uplifting post!
I love this post. I’ve read it several times. It reminds me to take care of me so that I can be the best that I can be.
This is insightful and brilliant. Kris, you eloquently expressed the challenge and struggle that people who want to value life and make a difference feel. We think it is complicated and yet it is simple and straightforward. This was a huge ‘aha!’ for me and it brought me to tears. Thank you.
Thank you. This was very needed in my life and it is the truth. Wise words Kris! You are awesome. This is awesome. We are all awesome!
You made me think a little differently about my life, this year I’m going to keep this mindset and take the pressure off my shoulders. I’m going to heal mentally and love myself more and more each day. focus on healing my mental state and feeling better. Love you for this! Thank you! I trust you and your ideas.
Oh yes, I agree totally! Nice to have someone be honest about this. But your words come with a challenge. Things like “to awaken, to discover and nurture who you truly are, to know and love yourself at the deepest level . . . “–there’s no 3-Step Guidebook on how to DO those kinds of things. Maybe because they aren’t something you DO so much as discover. Maybe the best you can do is pursue those goals with humility and intention and see what unfolds. It’s squishy, it’s not always clear if you hit on an “answer,” but I think over time, when you look back, you see that something is different, that you have insights, that your paradigm has shifted. That’s how it’s been for me. Thanks again.
OMG, I have to say this blog saves me from disappointing about my newly founded business, which is to provide various services to Chinese International high school students studying in Canada. I thought I am doing them a huge favor by enhancing their livings in Canada in all aspects. However, high school kids are not very responsive, they don’t like to give “likes” and they usually don’t give feedback either. So sometimes I feel that my services are not being appreciated or valuable for them. However, I came across this blog, and right here right now, I feel relieved. I am gonna print this article out and paste on my journal pages in order to refer to later on.
This brought me to tears! I have been doing my best this past season to love more, forgive more, and be gentle and patience with myself and others. When I read, “What if your purpose is to actually bear witness to your suffering?” My eyes filled with tears and it was like a hidden and wounded part of myself was instantaneously allowed to be seen.
I have been affirming, “I am willing to forgive” for at least a year now. Expressing that forgiveness in the best way I know how. I realized that my resentment was killing me. After reading this I see a whole new dynamic of “being real” opening up before me.
Things have actually been going quite well for me, but occasionally I still vacillate between the old and new patterns, especially behavioral patterns. I have no idea what kind of impact today’s revelation will have on my life, but in my gut it feels as though I was provided another piece to the puzzle of my life.
Not that I am making plans to dwell on my suffering, but I am definitely going to acknowledge it and show myself a bit more compassion related to it.
This has been a very nourishing and needful word. I am grateful that you allow your light to shine in all the ways you do; I so appreciate your depth of sensitivity and generosity. Thank you. All good things to you, Kris. Xo, Sandra.
I love what you say. I love the work you do. I love you!
Thank you so much Chris. Yes I’m with you there. I have cancer and it is a blessing all the while a fair quotient of suffering. However it has made me go deeper and deeper and there seems to be no end to that deepness. I am surprised all the time with my sneaking self talk that is anything but self love and thankful I am now aware of this. I have more joy in my life. I feel life is a mystery and i am here to unravel it, peel the onion, awaken I’ve sent that intention and your blog today reaffirms that I’m not lazy/crazy/selfish or on the wrong track. Thank you thank you thank you. Namaste
Sending huge amounts of gratitude to Kris. I have been on the spiritual path for a while now and this must be one of the most profound writings I have read yet. Clear and heartfelt, I will print this out Kris. Many blessings to you, you have certainly made lemonade from your lemons, god/goddess are shining through you brightly. X
I needed this today. THANK YOU. Sending blessings of love and light your way.
I loved this. Thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful spirit with everyone so generously! My cancer has come back after 10 years and I’m undergoing treatment, but got your crazy sexy diet book! I saw your movie years ago and have been WFPB but am recommitted to changing the way I live and to learn to love and nurture myself and to live without the habit I’ve always carried with me “high stress people pleasing workaholism” jeepers! I need to change! Sending you love and much thanks for leading the way❤️
umm yea how timely, i mean chicken skin, goosebumps. i followed a HUGE nudge from universe, yea and i wrote this it was a surreal process, writing that on top of this mountain in puerto rico, all lights out, incense going, i sat down on my chaise, pulled my puter up to me, and stopped. deep breathing a few times i aligned with source energy, and to the literal beat of jennifer thomas’s rendition of ‘requim of a dream’ i let the telling of this story flow from the creator threw his obedient creatrix. so today as it went live online, i thought that there would be, i dunno .. some sort of something. fanfare? maybe not but .. something. (crickets) yup (crickets), so yea that humbled me AGAIN, just cuz i was told to write it does not mean anything more than write it. lol but there you have it.
my purpose is bigger than just writing it. my purpose is to embody love, to treat myself as if the creator/universe resides in my body, oh wait, it does. yea. thank you . cuz it’s trippy to see your pain in print. it’s trippy to fall back (still falling) knowing universe is going to catch you ..absolutely but you have yet to ‘feel’ his/her arms around you, and that is why self love is so imperative. it grounds us, keeps us centered and shiny, resonating in divinity with the song of the cosmos in our veins.
i am humbled, thank you so much. wow. yea this is ‘printable’ .. putting it on the ‘love’ wall in this small apt full of potential on top of this mountain in PR. yea i’m here getting my BA in psych with a concentration in children and adolescents. a year ago this month i was in holy family hospital in methuen, ma, in the psych unit with suicidal depression. yea it’s been a year of miracles as i have stayed out of the abyss and am off 11 medications utilizing meditation, self love, retraining of my synapses and many many tools to REMEMBER who i really am and what i am here for.
thank you
humbly
your siSTAR
Shanti
I confess I had never heard anything like it. Fantastic. I’ll follow your blog. Thank you in advance for the amount of questions that were thrown into my unconscious. The next few days will be analysis. Thanks
Thank you so much! I was meditating two days ago and this was what came up in my heart, I’m so happy to read the same thing my inner voice told me, it means that we all now the truth inside of us if we just stop and listen. Much love♡
Thank You so much for the amazing insight. Have shared this post on my page
Again nothing but tears Kris’s am i a big baby, Jeremy Michael Tobias
Brilliant article and so timely to confirm what I have been personally awakening to.?
Kris, this resonates with me so much and is perfect timing! I always feel the January pressure exactly as you mentioned. Thankyou so much…you rock; crazy sexy lady; I so look forward to your emails, they are my little pick me ups! ?
This is the answer i was waiting for so long.
I feel at peace after reading this. Thank you so much Kris !
Love from Paris (France)
Gratitude and love! Thank you!
It’s funny that as soon as you start to bring spirituality and some awareness into your life you start worrying about what your purpose is. I would try so hard to to figure it out with no avail and just feel so much anxiety. So thank you for this post it has really helped me take another look at what my purpose really is. ?
Yeah, I think you got it. That search for the inner me has been a long and at times frustrating search. Often went looking elsewhere and wondered where I was. After all it was me looking but seemed to be others I turned to for recognition. It’s an interesting conundrum that now I have someone pointing at me, saying you are you and look there. Build, bless and love that unique creature. Thanks I will. Thanks for the permission, for the reminder, for the love. Damn crazy sexy you from damn crazy sexy me. Saying that makes me smile.
Thank you dear Kris – profound and beautiful, yet simple. I’m going to share this with some wonderful friends as a new year’s gift. Happy, healthy 2017 to you and us all. Peace love and blessings xx
I am so glad this is still up on your website. Even after a year, I needed to read this all over again.
If you had no loving, supportive significant other or one totally self absorbed, would you be able to reach this place of peacefulness and self love?
I am not sure if you are asking me or Kris, but if you are asking me, the answer is definitely yes. I am not currently in a relationship with a significant other. I think that is probably easier than having a significant other from whom I expect support and who is very self-absorbed.
Like all thoughts and emotions, the peace I experience comes and goes. The less I strive/work for it, the more often it comes over me. Learning from people like Kris, Rick Hansen, John Yates and countless others I have met through meditation has had the biggest benefit.
The common theme is learning loving kindness towards myself and others. A part of my meditation practice is thinking, “May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I be safe. May I be at peace.” I then think of others and think, “May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be safe. May you be at peace.” This can be tough when I am feeling anything BUT happy, etc. That is when I look to Kris or Rick or friends who speak loving words until I can feel them myself.
I hope you keep seeking and find peace within yourself, Shannon. You are the true source of that peace. Others are just here to remind you.
Susan, you are so kind. You made my night! I think I need to go somewhere for a weekend or longer meditation or yoga experience or class of some sort. To find myself or my tribe. For almost 90 days I have been doing all the self care stuff and not drinking, but I feel so isolated and disconnected despite being around people at work, church and home. Anyone have a suggestion?
Dear Kris,
Thank you so much for this inspiring, thought-provoking article. I am truly inspired by your journey, the courage, strength and determination to cure yourself and your ability to inspire and help others on the way to lead healthier lives. You have helped me see things I haven’t seen before. I have decided to gear shifts in my career and turn into health & wellness. I feel called to help others lead healthier lives be it through better nutrition, training, coaching, listening and I’m looking for the right way to do so. There’s so much going on in the health space that my head is spinning from all the options. I know you’re an incredibly busy woman, however, if I could use 5 min of your time, I would love to pick your brain on how to get started. Thank you for all the great work you’ve done and keep doing. God bless you.
Thank you thank you thank you!! I will reread this over and over, I so agree with everything you say. To live it on a daily basis is the challenge. I have forwarded this to my friends and family. Love you.
Karen
Hi I enjoyed this purpose article on target for me this morning.
Thx
This is my absolute truth. I love my work, but I feel relieved that I no longer will look at it as a part of my purpose. My purpose is my awakening and evolving self. I love that, and I can see how my work is connected to my spirit and perhaps an expression of my awakening and evolving self. But, so clearly now I draw a distinction. My work is not my purpose! Thank you Kris!
Thank you for this! It’s so true! I’ve been developing a personal GPS that I call The wHolyShift that provides the “directions” for coming home to yourSelf. Ultimately offering the directions for navigating in the uncharted territory called life on earth. It’s a transformational process that can be practiced daily for fulfilling your purpose…coming home to yourSelf. The healing and empowerment are the yin/yang of wholeness that happens when you are in right relationship with yourSelf. This blog post is very affirming of this process. Feeling Great-Full, with Love
“Your self-worth has nothing to do with your craft or calling and everything to do with how you treat yourself and others.” – I love this! Thank you dear Kris for the most inspirational and deeply motivating post, your words really resonate with me, I am eternally thankful!! Love and light to you xxxx
And Very nice post on a purpose of Life. The methods described are easy to use, and you have explained it so well.
People are put into our paths at the right time and place. I have ‘re’-discovered you and your blog, and this one has come at the exact perfect moment (of course!). I’ve been stressing lately, wondering what my purpose is and how to best figure it out… and then how to follow that purposeful path. Your message has given me much needed peace of mind and a quiet settling in my heart <3 Thank you Kris xo
I needed this, thank you Kris! Last night I was having a meltdown, hyperventilating and sobbing over and over about not knowing what to do with my life (I was also jet lagged having travelled for 12 hours that day, so my emotional state was pretty raw). My husband and I are both adventurous free spirits and are basically starting out together from scratch, both of us in our mid 30’s and neither with careers, having both moved around and travelled a lot in the past few years. I have a lot of anxiety about figuring out how we are going to get our lives together so we can settle down and start a family without any savings or any idea of where we want to even live (I’m Canadian and he is American). This article was a great reminder to step back and reconnect with myself and stop searching out ‘there’ for answers.
I really truely loved this part:
Your purpose is actually quite simple, it’s to awaken. To discover and nurture who you truly are, to know and love yourself at the deepest level and to guide yourself back home when you lose your way. The more you do this, the more aware and present you become, which creates more harmony in your life.
I think is easy when we are very passionate about delivering results, to lose track of this powerful definition of purpose…..and the call that every human being have to awaken.
Your lovely life has resumed mine over and over and to keep drinking at the well and never thank the teacher is not my best.
Thank you so much Kris Carr, every time I have needed a hand-up or amental kind thought or a deep and soft place to fall it has been you.Please know how very much I appreciate you…Thank you.
You are right. No one has ever explained so clearly the trap I keep putting myself in. Now that I know my passion is not my purpose, I can let go of feeling so bad if someone does not like me or what I do. So my purpose , the people pleaser, is to please mySELF. Wow. I’m sitting here hoping to find abundance and now I realize all I have to do is tap my ruby slippers together and I will be HOME. Awesome!
And P.S. That makes so much sense that the pop culture of “find your purpose” keeps a person in seeking it outside themselves. That is not to diminish the value of liking ones wirk and feeling satisfaction in accomplishment, but I think that it is easy to bypass the work of having a good and loving relationship with oneself because one thinks “it’s this thing and that thing that I need to do and be”.
I resinate with your message and point of view. I’ve known suffering and now as I get older loss begins to add to that as well as just keeping your chin up in a harsh world. I was once so disappointed when an acupuncturist said to me “if you had to make a choice between happiness and being thrown in a pit of snakes you would find happy really quick”. I was disappointed. Why would so many people end their lives every year if it was that easy. I think that everyone is so different with different circumstances and so much ignorance abounds. You do have to take responsibility but it might not be as easy for some as others.! The tools, insight and experience you offer mean very much. I need to download your meditations, I’ve been meaning to for a while now!
Made me cry too, my daughter just joined the military and I am at a loss as to my purpose in all of this
I am finally finding myself at the age of 63 soon to be 64. I am finally treating myself as the most important person in my life and even though at times it is a little scary, (putting myself first) it is also fun! I am eating much better, exercising and taking much better care of myself. Now, this means that on occasion I have ice cream, and maybe a few chips but as a rule I eat pretty darn good and I am learning not to berate myself if I have a bowl of ice cream once in a while. I am learning to lighten up on myself some. I love what you said about purpose as I feel my purpose is to become my BFF.
I’m so glad I clicked! I will admit that I almost avoided this post because of, exactly as you say, “it literally makes me sweat.” But wow, this is so spot on! Although I’ve been “working on myself” for over 20 years, and have made so much progress, I have never really thought of it this way before – that awakening to our true selves is our ultimate one true purpose. Ahh, simultaneously a relief from forever searching for that external purpose, and and an inspiration to recommit and focus on my true purpose of awakening. Thank you so much for this.
That was exactly what I needed to hear! I knew it in my bones, but then the doubt crept in and I accepted that it must be something I have to do instead of being with who I am. Thanks, Kris! You brought me relief, release, validation and understanding. Blessings to you.
Kris,
You nailed it! I admire so many of the new age entrepreneurs out there for their courage and focus especially now that I’m in my third chapter. But I’m brought back time and time again to the focus of what’s in your message here. Choose love….it’s a winner. Start there, go back to there, end there, start there……..that’s what brings me hope. Love awakens the planet. It lights the world. Keep on keeping on, dear Kris. You’re an angel.
Carole
Thankyou so much for the reminder! Dealing with cancer for the 2nd time(70 years on the planet!) is annoying to say the least. But again it has its gifts. Dealing with issues, thought long ago resolved , has been awakening. As was this article. How easy it is to be distracted from the real work, to shrink into the smaller picture. That’s the trap. Thanks again, love???paula
Exactly what I was looking for! Makes total sense now! Thank you for writing this!
Beautiful blog! Beautiful being! Thanks for putting into words your blessed perspective and reminding us about it now. Perfect timing. Well said. When we are awaken and glowing it shines through everything we do. Have a lovely day!
I love this, thanks for sharing it Kris. You are precious.
Thank you, Kris! <3
Love it. Thank you <3
Brilliant! Thank you, I will take the road “less traveled by, and that…” will make “… all the difference.”
Kris I love this – thank you for reminding me exactly what I am doing right now!!!
Thank you Kris for being such a blessing! This is so beautiful! It feels, like a “reminder”…
Dear Kris, you have inspired me and I am taking small steps to follow your lead. Your love shines, you are brave, fearless and embrace life in a way that I’ve always wanted to. I want more people to smile, I want them to love life and be passionate about it. Thankyou for being a great trailblazer love Merridy
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I love this and feel like I can take a deep breath after reading it. The one I had to write down was “What if your purpose is to release all shame and feelings of unworthiness?” I’m going to need to spend some time with this one. The other one I’d add is what if your purpose is to see more things with love than with fear. Thank you for this wisdom Kris!
This article really hit home at the perfect timing. I’ve been trying so hard to focus on my purpose, to find my true calling and just keep getting frustrated over and over because I never seem to find it, or maybe figure out to make it work. Where is this magic everyone else seems to be finding and why can’t I? I would of never thought it was about awakening my soul, however when I look back on life, meditating, exercising, etc. Everything seemed to fall into place. Then life goes on kids come into play and we get sucked into careers that pay bills, yet don’t make us happy, but at mid-life where are we to go? You’re one of the only articles that states this- how refreshing! I hope this will help to awaken my life and get me back on the path where I’m meant to be. Thank you Kris, you are awakening so many of us. Keep it coming.
Kind Regards,
Erin
Hey Kris
Loved this one. Was having a day where I was getting lost in the swirling thoughts and the numerous things to do and ‘should’ be doing and reading this lifted me out of that. Thanks.
Christy 🙂
Eloquently written from your oh-so-beautiful and wise heart. Thank you for sharing, Kris! xoxo
OMG..This is really the best post ever about finding or struggling with your purpose..WOW, reading this was really an AHA moment for me! Thank you Kris!!!
I really thankyou kris love you Bernard
I needed this more than you can ever imagine. Thank you!
As long as I can remember I’ve been hard on myself, judging myself, thinking bad of myself, not loving me for me… How I perceive myself in the mirror determines a lot of myself worth. I have struggled with my weight/health for a long time and despite working so hard both in the kitchen and in the gym, I have never reached my goal. With all that failure comes a lot of depression, self-loathing, bitterness, etc.
With the new year, I was trying to figure out why I keep failing time and time again so I can come up with a new game plan, maybe something different, something I haven’t tried. I started to think about why I want to reach these goals, what it will mean to me and for me. Then I realized that even if I did lose all the weight and had the fit, strong body of my dreams, I would still struggle with self-confidence, self-worth and self-love. Getting rid of fat and building muscle isn’t going to fix who I am at my core. Is the health of my body more important than the health of my mind and soul? No. Is the health of my mind more important than the health of my body? No. They’re both equally important just for different reasons. For so long I have thought my physical health was more important. Now I realize both are equally important. I need to take care of my mind, my purpose, just as much as I’ve been taking care of my body. And maybe, just maybe, both will work together and I’ll reach my goal.
Thank you again, Kris. Your beautiful, amazing words have filled me with hope. Love you.
~ Melissa
Beautiful post and so true. Thank you for sharing this.
Amen, Kris! I agree 1000% with you and it’s such a great message. I talk about this on my blog as well. You are an amazing light. I find that as I follow my inner light, things flow more effortlessly:-) Blessings, Tandy
*sigh* Thank you.
It’s 24 days into the New Year, just about the time when resolutions begin to dwindle. Then I stumbled on this post and it floored me! Simple wisdom always does! Thank you for sharing and continue to share it every year (another wise decision). I’ve decided to shared this link on my new page. Though I’m just starting out, I think including your words is a perfect start!
Thanks so much for this beautiful and practical approach to self respect and love. I hope to apply it to my life.
This is the best thing I have read in a long time. It resonates so much. You are so clever. Thank you.
Completely and utterly true. And well written.
Thank you ?
This is true Gold! Amen to all of that Kriss! Love, Love, Love it! xo
Thank you Kris 🙂 I recently read an article in a holistic magazine about saying ‘yes’ and finding your life’s purpose..since then I’ve been racking my brain and feeling bad because I’m truly struggling to really answer that question deep within me. Can we have multiple purposes? I have a lot of things I’m passionate about and no one thing I feel I should be ‘doing’ with my life. Your post has given me a sense of release and a truly joyful appreciation of my existence just as it is..only through experiencing kindness and love for myself can I share this with others and be in tune with any such external ‘purpose’. So I will start with being more conscious, and listening to my inner dialogue to help guide me in the decisions I make in my life. That’s all I can really do isn’t it! And I feel ok about it.
You “get” it. It’s so hard to remember what we all inherently know about purpose. It’s easier to revert to the habitual rat race towards perfection or something else, somewhere else, missing our lives in the process. It often feels more comfortable to strive than to be. Thank you for the reminder. I think we all need to be reminded of this often. Xo
Thank you XOXO
Thank you Kris! This blog was just what I needed about suffering. It’s not cancer causing suffering, which I am grateful for, but for the past two years of another hell. If I could share pix I would.
I’m loosing patience but I’m not. I want to quit trying but I’m not. It’s inspirational people like you and your crazy books that help me cling to hope.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Living in hope,
Karen
Chris, you met my daughter, Mary at the Omega Institute in 2011 and again when you spoke at a luncheon in Rochester Michigan sponsored by The Pink Fund when you gave her almost a half hour of personal undivided attention ( and a hug for me mentioning how important your mother had been to you). Your writings and video on cancer inspired her no end to live her life to the fullest. Sadly, she died 4 years ago today after a remarkable life cut short by colon cancer at age 47. I have been flooded with so many memories: smiling and crying. A co-worker yesterday mentioned your writing on purpose. I just read it Thank you. The right words at the right time. Your inspiration to Mary 5 1/5 years ago have fanned out to so many she knew.
Thanks Kris! You inspire us all.
This. Is. Beautiful.
And just what I needed to hear today.
Love this Kris, your “backing up” to beginning again feels so natural and loving. To be purposeful and serve we have to stand in our truth and that can feel raw but that is where our ” light” is. Then and only then can we inspire. Thank you for reminding me to be my own soulmate and to always be my soft place to land .
This resoundedly (I think I’ve made up that word) resonated with me right now! Last year I was striving to find my purpose as a therapist; healer; daughter; friend…just in life in general. I wanted to know why I am here; what great things am I meant to be doing? But after working on myself using EFT and having coaching and finally having some hypnotherapy myself (and I offer all of these things), I have come to realise that my main goal is to love myself. I now feel like a blank canvas, ready and waiting for whatever is to come to arrive. I accept and honour myself just as I am and my only resolution (and I don’t usually do resolutions) is to do whatever I need to nourish and nurture my mind, body and spirit…whatever that is, to listen to my intuition. I love this article…it speaks hugely to me and is very timely for me. Thank you. Namaste!
So beautiful, honest and true… I knew it in my heart and you spoke it! You do have a way of bringing out the wispers from the depth of my heart so I can hear ithem. Thank you Kris! Love
Wow thank you soo much, exactly what I needed ❤ this has brought me hope In trying to find meaning In My Life. I SO will put those points on my Wall for me to se everyday.
Lots of love from Tez in Sweden ?
This is exactly what I needed to read. So powerful and full of meaning. Thank you Kris!
I wanted to print this but page 2 was not there as it was blank.
Thank you! This was perfect timing for me although truth be told I have struggled my entire adult life with finding my purpose. I have loved you since watching your documentary and who better than you to inspire me and help guide me to my purpose 🙂 You are a gift to me and many!
Thank you. Your message resonates with me very much. I have experienced great loss and disillusionment over the past few years that have cracked me open to reveal the pain of old wounds. As I struggle through this, nothing has felt like it matters as a purpose other than becoming whole again. As I heal, I have come to know, in rare moments, the pure bliss of that unconditional love for myself that I never knew growing up, loving myself quite apart from my accomplishments or achievements. When we are suffering like this it is difficult to feel passion for or purpose in anything else. So, to say that your words feel validating to me is quite an understatement. They are a gift, a balm to my soul. Thank you. <3
Thank you! There are still too many tears in my heart, my body, my soul. Your post helped me to think about the next steps into the right direction – and to go! A little feeling of coming home! xxx
Loved reading your article today. So relevant for me too…especially at this time of year. Thank you
This realt resonates with me. I know that I have to take care of myself before I can take care of anyone or anything else. Yet it can be hard to do so. I totally believe in connecting with my higher self and listening inward to let that higher self be my guide. And in addition to love I think joy is key, just finding joy and let yourself do whatever brings you joy. I think that uplifts you and everyone around you.
Thank you for writing the things that you do. Your perspective and advice is so helpful and appreciated.
The love, hope and courage you give and share is truly inspiring, so honest and true. You always seem to remind me of all I need to remember in the moment. Thank you Kris, I’m so grateful….. Your guidance is precious. You light up this world ? xoxo
This completely resonates with me right now – I’m reading Finding Your North Star and reading your post just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy and relaxed. ? I agree with it all and am so glad to be here right now.
Hi! Kris.. Thank you for this message.. It brought me back to myself. I was struggling badly with this disconnect as I was attaching my purpose to external factors.. And I was losing myself in the process. Sometimes I feel I need the Himalayas to go within and get totally glued in there and then come out to face the world. It is a challenge when you are in the process and in the world as you go in and come out all too soon…because one is still learning. Any thoughts on that… But thanks a ton!! God bless!!
Thank you, Kris. I needed so much to read such words today, especially about forgiving ourselves. Your courage, energy, and purpose are great inspirations to me as I start over, battling chronic illnesses and loneliness far from my loved ones. You are a true spiritual warrior!
I have been struggling lately with finding my purpose and I have to say I love this! I recently lost 50 lbs and have noticed now that I can take better care of myself I take better care of others. I haven’t realized it till I read this. Thank you
Kris, I cherish your wise, honest approach to life’s most difficult questions. Thank you for sharing your heart and wisdom with the world. Your words touch my soul and resonate the deepest truth. You are making a love-filled impact. Thank you!
So wonderfully said. Your words really resonate with me and remind me that life is an adventure. Thank you!!
Thank you so much for this post! I have been learning that I am not my degree or job or abilities. I am myself. It is taking me along time to see myself, find myself, love myself. It has been tough, but worth it. Thank you, again.
Thank you! This arrived at the right moment. looking forward to more inspiration sweet lady.
Beautiful ! Thank You so much
Thank you. I needed this. My daughter died 6 months ago.
Absolutely perfect timing (the Universe seems to work that way lately)! I’ve been reading “The Great Work of Your Life” and the current chapter had me feeling overwhelmed because I couldn’t see myself finding my great (really big) purpose/dharma. Reading this made me focus back on who I am and my self worth. Thank you!
This message of love couldn’t have been more timely! I was beating myself up over thinking I don’t have a purpose. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I have longed for your spiritual ponderings and insights, this is great! Much love , as always, from Jejja in Sweden
Thank you Kris. I am with you 🙂
I made myself a priority starting in 2011 after a diagnosis and I haven’t resorted back to my old ways since then. I help others in this area now too.
Hugs and health,
Ellie xx
Most profound information I’ve read!
Wunderbar! <3
that’s so true iam very confused about my life and I still didn’t found it
Kris,
You are so wonderful! I love you so much! Thank you for being who you are!
Thank you <3 all the love to you and yours
Love this blog!!!
Thank you for sharing this! It gives me some sense of peace & I plan on keeping it as a reminder.
Looking forward to meeting you Sunday in NYC! You have been such an inspiration to me on this journey of life & of not letting this disease dictate our lives but yet learning from it.
Namaste
Amen, sistah! And . . . Ahhh . . .
Well said Kris. This blog is so insightful and inspiring!! It confirmed everything I already knew. I will definitely carry this with me in my heart. Cheers! 🙂 Xxo
Oh my! Thank you so much Kris for this!! BIg sigh of relief… I have been stressed about this for awhile and beating myself up for not really finding my purpose or my calling. This resonates so much with me.
Thank you!!! Love and light to you Kris! Happy and healthy 2016
Hope you don’t mind that I print this out, to hold in my hands and read it over and over.
Thanks for what you do for me..er us. It is important and nurturing,
Happy healthy 2016
xo
Thank you so much for this post. I feel better just reading it!
Your comments on moving through suffering really struck a chord. I have a similar health journey as yours. And I too believe that one can never truly understand the physical and emotional pain and upheaval that this diagnosis brings unless you’ve lived it. Having said that, you are so right in trying to move out of it or make peace with it. I struggle with that daily. I will keep in mind your perspective on finding a purpose in my life that has nothing to do with externals. I am relieved that your acknowledge the residual pain, because I don’t see how this kind of “pain” ever truly dissipates. I will try to set my focus inward to create a more centered, peaceful world around me and push through the other stuff.
Just when i needed to read this it was here for me.
Jan 2016 today, right before bed, little to many thoughts of the stressfull kind. You have a way to explain it so gentle, kind, clean and simple. I will sleep with some great calm and thank you ❣
This made me cry. I got sick today and couldn’t go to work. Now I know it was because I needed to slow down and read your post. Thank you so much for saying this. I’ve been asking for a message. This was it. <3
I was also in tears after reading. Such wonderful insights.
LOVE THIS! Thank you Kris, this will be my morning intention.
Hugs,
Carolyn
I love this! Kris, you are wise beyond your years!
I love this! It completely resonates with me. I used to worry because I didn’t know what my purpose was. I always knew being a mother was my greatest gift and calling but thought my purpose was to be found in the “work” I did.
I was so happy when I discovered that my purpose was more about how I showed up and lived in each moment rather than what my job or career was.
I love your idea of our purpose being “to awaken” That touched my heart and feels true for me. I’m so excited about it! Thank you for sharing. My heart feels light and joyful after reading this.
Hugs & Blessings,
Tammy
Basically this is what my entire Image concept & mission are about. My 3 books “52 Weeks to a New You”, “365 Daiky Devotional” & “The 7 Pillars of Image” and my seminars speak directly to this. You’re sensational Kris Carr. Abundant blessings for 2016 & beyond xx
Thank you Kris for putting it into words…i feel so free. I do not have to beat myself up about my purpose. I get it now. Thank you for the insight.
Thank you Kris! This is so in line with my own journey today, and I am meeting so many dear people who have similar realizations to share. Thank you for making it beautiful, gentle and kind!!! Warm Hug, sparkle smiles,
Katherine
Wow. So beautiful. So perfect for this time of year. I got chills reading this!! thank you so much for sharing your heart.
Thank you so much for this beautifully expressed slant on our “purpose”. Very timely for me in many ways…felt the exhale I needed! Blessings!
I’ve spent my whole life (52 years) with a firework in my belly… what am i doing here?… what am i supposed to do? you know the song and dance! i kept trying to live this purposeful life ON purpose… “oh this is it, Im supposed to do this!” after many careers and other meaningful adventures… I’m on the path with you my friend! looking to my divine (and the Divine) to find my authentic, best and most lovable self and share that with the world… working through regrets, shame, unworthiness and loss is painful, but i can already feel the healing and i cant wait to meet that happy little girl who just wants to love and be loved! (I heard you talk recently) Not only am I learning to say yes to my life… perhaps i might inspire others ( as do you) to say Yes to theirs! yes to love,yes to joy, yes to no regrets, yes to the truth (and not the bulls**t stories we tell ourselves) and yes to being vulnerable and compassionate to myself and others! thank you for sharing your inSPIRed life.
Beautifully stated.
Brava! This piece came at the perfect time for me. Just this morning I was saying how ridiculous it is to feel like I have to do certain things just because it’s January. Then I decided to meditate and afterwords I found your pertinent piece in my e-mail. Thanks for helping to bring clarity back in my life! Happy New Year!
Okay, wow….This is exactly what I needed to read. For the first time today (and probably the first time all week of this new year), I feel RELIEVED. Thank you KC. You are amazing and I dig you!
W
Brava! This piece came at the perfect time for me. Just this morning I was feeling how ridiculous it is to do certain things just because it’s January. After sitting down and meditating, I found your message in my e-mail. Thanks for helping to restore my clarity. You’re the best!
Thanks Kris–your message allowed me to breathe fully and remember to love myself no matter what I do for a living, no matter what other people think of me. I’m middle-aged and am stuck in a “career” that no one would choose for themselves…and often wallow in shame and guilt related to my long list of “failures,” duh. Thanks for the life-affirming reminders…I’ll re-read this again today to bolster my spirits. Love and light! <3
Kris, you nailed it! I am 59 years old and have been searching for my life’s purpose forever. After an extraordinarily physically healthy life I had a heart attack in 2012. Shocking to all who knew me – including my Dr & myself. Since that time I have been on yet another level of a self discover journey which involved becoming a Certified Health Coach and being exposed to so many voices of experience and wisdom. You have been one of the lights I have been following and have bought all of your books. What you wrote today was such a simple and profound truth, as to be brilliant and bold. Thank you for helping me finally be at peace with that question. Much Love & Prayers to you always!
Shall I risk be redundant by saying “Beautifully simply stated.” I love what you do but if you do nothing all year but re-post that message the world will be infinitely better. Your message definitely spoke to me as I sit here 3 months after having quit my job and pursuing my calling, wondering why some days I still feel what’s missing? Thanks for breaking it down so simply and eloquently as only you can. Have a very blessed day!
I am almost never moved to make a comment. But this post is a high resonator, there is a lot of sparkly gold here and I appreciate you Kris Carr. I appreciate your struggles and your wisdom and the way in which you share and communicate. You make us all better. This post is such a true and deep reminder of what it is to be human. I felt my heart opening as I read it. Powerful stuff. Wishing you all good things.
Thank you so so much Kimberly. 🙂 x
I LOVE what you said and it resonates at a profound level with me bc this is what I discovered… That I need to find and truly love myself. However, am I missing something? You didn’t guide us on “how” to do this….. This is where I need help.
Thank you! xo
Just one last “PS” … at the end of my first response to this incredible and insightful article I said “I found you by accident.” I wanted to add this, but hesitated because I thought it might sound soooo corny, but then I decided, why not, who cares! so here it is … I don’t believe I found you by accident. I believe the Gods have paths, ways of showing us how to find our true self … to be truly happy and find that inner peace that makes our life beautiful and bearable. So no, it wasn’t by accident … the Gods lead me to you. :):) & if I could draw a big Heart I would! Thank you, carol
Thank you Carol. 🙂 And the same holds true for me to you. I appreciate your words as much as you do mine. xo
Thank you Kris, this is really beautifully thought out and expressed. It has also been my realization that this is truly our purpose on Earth, to awaken. It is so wonderful to hear this again. Thank you!
With love…
Kris, this moved me to tears. Your words are inspirational, incredibly wise, reassuring, and much needed. You are a blessing and a true light in this world. Thank-you!!!!
I love that it is “okay” for my purpose to be to nurture and love myself. There isn’t much left for anything else when I am not doing this anyway. What a revelation. Thank you so much! <3
Thank you … this is what I so needed … it’s perfect … brilliant … spot on! Peace, joy, love and accomplishment is in ourselves — IS OURSELVES! Thank you a million times for these incredible words of wisdom and guidance … thank you, carol
PS: I found you by accident, what a beautiful accident! How lucky am I!!!
Thank you for posting this great insight! I had an ah,ha moment reading this blog today and instantly felt at peace. Also, thanks for continually sharing your beautiful light with your readers and the world.
P.S. I love love love my deck of of Crazy Sexy Love Notes. Not only do the illustrations make me smile, but the cards just always seem to say what I needed to hear.
Quite possibly one of the most inspiring and hopeful reads for me. Absolutely fantastic! A thousand thank yous for this, Kris. Brilliant!
Gave me chills and tears while reading because it is all TRUTH. Thank you thank you thank you. I am incorporating this into my life and then passing it along to my children.
XXOO
Wow! This is really what finding your purpose is!! Awakening!! For every year after searching and searching, it’s mind rattling..life rattling really!! Thank you so much for sharing this. This is my New Years resolution to remember and stick with this. Stick with loving myself and the rest will follow! It always does. 🙂
Wow! Kris!!
I have been struggling with this for some time and you put it so beautifully, I am in the construction industry and I have always felt that my purpose was to bring in more sales and increase my bottom line ( that is why they hired me). but lately I have slowed down and taken a different path, I have started to take time for myself and have chosen not to work with certain clientele and have stood up for my true self. it has made me an odd duckling within the company that I work for, but I do not care because I am being true to myself and not just fitting in and being herded like cows. I never realized how difficult it was to truly know and love myself,
Thank you for your inspirations
Michele
Happy New Year Kris! I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I’m currently on day 9 of your Crazy Sexy Cleanse and so many things are starting to awaken for me. Thank you for all you do to help us little humans find our way!
Kris, you are a miracle in so many ways. Thank you for posting this today. I just meditated this morning and was feeling very lost and very confused and very uninspired. Your article about finding our purpose was exactly what I needed. I can’t tell you what a difference it’s made for me. Thank you so much for being you! Much love and blessings, Cheryl
This is amazing! Thank you!
Beautiful, absolutely beautiful Kris! So elegantly stated and now I also realise – so true! I have been “looking for my purpose” for many years – after reading your blog I believe I have finally “found it” – thank you a million times over! Reading this is a very timely “digging up gold” as I was searching for not only my purpose, but how to be kinder and more loving to myself and create an “internal locus of control” whilst on a healing journey and trying to expand my spiritual journey at the same time – you have just beautifully given me the answer to all of that – and more – with these very wise words! Thank you just doesn’t cover it, but it’s a great start! Sending you love & best wishes and muchsuccess & joy to you Kris!
Lean to the light… I always love to read you but today you outdid yourself! Thank you, this was just what I needed.
Kris, thank you for this beautiful, bright, light-life giving message! Such important and enlightening ideas to “wake up to” (just woke up, so literally and metaphorically.) 😉 What a shift in perspective and belief you’ve offered here, and I accept the challenge to change my perspective gratefully and gracefully. You are SO beautiful in every way Kris, thank you for sharing your light + heart and for Being in the world. I love you! Namaste. <3
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is exactly what I needed to hear because I have been struggling with this question for some time now. Bingo! You hit it right on the nail and I couldn’t agree with you more. Internally is where the beginning is to finding purpose because everything else will blossom from there.
Best,
Renae
I have read this several times and keep getting more out of it. I have a burning desire to help other women feel happy, healthy and hot, and that’s why I started my blog. But I realize that my real purpose is to be the way possible version of me in every way so that I can in turn be there for others. Love what you do Kris!
WOW! I was just focusing on self-forgiveness! I had also determined that my purpose in life is self awareness and here I read your blog right after!
Thank you!
By far my favorite “New Year’s Resolution” themed post of all time. Love, love, love this. I felt really felt this. Thank you so much x
This is one of the best gifts I have received so far in 2016! Thank you Kris! Your soul was talking to mine and everything made sense. It is time to forgive, to give, to treasure, to appreciate and to discover ourselves. I’ll keep this article in my special mailbox and I’ll go back to it when I need to be reminded what the highest purpose in my life should be. You’re the best, sister.
This totally is the biggest TRUTH I’ve read lately! I absolutely needed to hear this to reaffirm exactly what I have been feeling! Thank you for this beautiful blog❤️
This was awesome and just what I neede this morning. I am a Mom to three wonderful human beings! I have been a caretaker my whole life for my mother, father, and now my mentally disabled brother. My youngest son was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma this past summer and an adrenal tumor. Chemo just finished, and now we are working toward surgery for his adrenal gland. My oldest is in recovery and doing well, but it has been a long road. I have not had a “career” in a while. I have brought up my children and cared for our extended families. I don’t take care of myself as I should, and many times I feel worthless, over weight, and a failure. After reading this, I realize that my life has been exactly where I am meant to be. I need to take pride in the fact that we have survived heartaches and hardship. I have grown inside so much and with each day I find something to be grateful for. I have been able to help both of my sons because of what each has been through and because I have grown on the inside. I continue to look for the path, and I continue to search for growth. But the difference is I know do it with love. Love for myself and each and every soul I meet along the way. Thank you for your words! xoxo
Your beautiful take on purpose is timely and resonates with me. Where once I was struggling to figure out my purpose, I can now let go and focus on becoming more light more love. The rest will take care of itself!
This is an amazing article, which left me to think about what is my purpose. I have many, but my main one is to take care of myself so that I can take care of my 4- year old son. I have had high amount of white blood cells, and other issues stomach issues (not very appropriate to mention in detail) since I was 20 years old. I am now 27 still have the same issues. I try to follow a plan- based life style, but it is hard when someone who you live with always makes you feel guilty for “wasting” money on vegetables and fruits. Afterwards, I revert to bad eating habits, which as a result doesn’t sit well with my stomach issues. I try to explain the reason why I started the life style in first place, but it doesn’t seem to get through. How can I have a plant based- life style, when I always have someone who makes me feel guilty for the healthy choices I make. (NOTE: The person is my son’s father).
Spot on. I have been traveling down my road of big self discovery after many de-reailments (including cancer and many deaths in the family). I have felt the nagging “you aren’t good enough because you never found your life’s calling. I’m trying to make peace with this and this article is just what I needed. Through my storm, I have realized that the greatest gift we can give ourselves is to love ourselves and one another. If all I am capable of is a great amount of empathy and compassion to ourselves and others, than so be it. Great read Kris. Thanks for putting this read out there.
Kris, this is EXACTLY what I needed this morning and this year. Thank you. You have set me on my mission to open my heart to myself. I’m very grateful.
I do love this. It resonates, big time. Thank you for this astute, clear message. On point – love it!!
This fits perfectly with my focus for this month. Thank you, Kris. You have guided me since I first saw your documentary. Your morsels of wisdom and practice bob in and out of my life with some adhering like glue.
I loved this blog post, Kris. I think I wrote “kind of” the same thing in mine … “to fall deeply in love with precious you.” Blessings! https://mezuniga.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/love-you/
Kris: I can’t tell you how much this blog resonated with me. I literally was doing another one of my many internal work exercises. The most interesting part was that what came to the surface was caring for myself. Keeping myself in the light was about loving myself and just plan old taking care of myself. Much of that was to participate in one of my many practices that brings me joy. Those practices are yoga, meditation, rest, walking in nature, being with my family, being with my dog, running with my dog, getting a facial, getting a pedicure, watching a funny movie, watching a romance, going to the zoo. When I feed my soul, I can feed everyone around me. I’m trying to let go and trust my soul. Thank you so much for sharing.
I feel like a big weight has lifted off me. I need to learn to be gentle on myself and not to set impossible goals at the beginning of every New Year. Your advice is always so measured, sensible and incredibly loving. Yes this article resonates with me and I am grateful for it. Thank you Kris for your wonderful advice and friendship.
Have a healthy, happy and very peaceful 2016.
Kind regards Bev.
I feel like a big weight has lifted off me. I need to learn to be gentle on myself and not to set impossible goals at the beginning of every New Year. Your advise is always so measured, sensible and incredibly loving. Yes this article resonates with me and I am grateful for it. Thank you Kris for your wonderful advice and friendship.
Have a healthy, happy and very peaceful 2016.
Kind regards Bev.
Thanks so much, Kris! You have no idea how much I needed to hear this right now.
Kris,
Your New Year post really spoke to me. When I was lying in bed last night I was thinking that exact thing. What was my purpose? What is the point to every day, year that is the same? How is my life contributing anything?
I am currently battling stage 4 breast cancer. I have embraced your book and radically changed my eating and outlook on life. My last scan showed great improvement. I felt euphoric but have since been feeling down and scared that I can’t keep this up. During the night, last night, I woke up and realized my purpose was to stay alive. I don’t need to worry about what I accomplish or that I’m not volunteering for some great cause. My purpose is to keep myself as healthy as possible which directly speaks to your blog. I will continue to pursue self-love and healing this year, eat right, meditate, strengthen my personal Faith and hopefully have my inner spirit shine out to others. Regardless of where it leads, I am on a path of inner exploration and healing. While the changes in me may not be obvious, I feel them everyday.
Thank you for all you do, Kris. You have really inspired me that I can have some control over my life and lead a purposeful life despite my circumstances.
God Bless you and keep you strong.
Peggy Armstrong
P.S. I really feel that God led me to your Crazy Sexy books. They are definitely part of the path I am on.
Spot on Peggy. Incredible insights from an incredible woman. xo!
Beautiful. Thank You!
Wow! Just wow. Exactly what I needed to read today. So beautifully written. Thank you Kris!
Dear kris. Thank you for that very. beautiful and inspirational message. This by far is the most important one of your blog. I was beginning to disengage because of all the commercialism. Thanks for bringing it back home!
Peace, love, and infinite blessings.
Minnie
Thank you! Thank you!! For sharing your light with us! You are a sweet soul sister and I truly feed off your inspiration. It leads me to keep searching for more. Always getting closer to the source and returning to LOVE as the answer!
I loved hearing you live in NYC in November at “I Can do it!” Is there a chance of re-savoring a video recording of that soul-touching inspirational talk? I would love to retaste and continue to ponder and digest.
You are the best, Kris!
Namaste’
Janet
Love…. speak kindly to yourself! Great read every year,actually I think we need this quarterly! Women are so hard on themselves,
Thank you .
Thank you Kris. I’ve been following your blog for a while now and you’re always been honnest, true, loving toward your readers. You inspired me to love myself and cherish what I am and have in moments when i couldn’t even look at myself anymore. It’s pretty amazing how you changed alot of how I see life and myself just by little thoughs and kind words. I will look for my inner light this year! I wish you all a happy new year!
Again, thank you for what you do.
Love, Vero
I felt every sentence of this blog in my being, and I will re-read it as often as needed. Every line resonated, but especially this one: “…you no longer need to connect your personal self-worth with a plaque on the wall.” I have been feeling frustrated because my graduation from grad school keeps getting delayed for reasons beyond my control, and now I’m just letting it go. It will happen when it happens. I definitely need to ease up on myself, as I have a lot to deal with that is messy and complicated and sometimes downright scary. I know that taking care of myself at the deepest level is the best thing that I can do for all involved. Self-love is all the purpose any of us really needs, and it feeds everything else.
Ahhhhhhh-HAW!!! That is me exhaling and having an ah-ha moment all at once… Thank you so much for this Kris! I needed this so very much. I moved past the weird perfectionism in our culture around resolutions long ago but the residual nagging of “what is my purpose?” hangs around like a bad hangover. Yesterday I thought, “What if my purpose is to merely continue to live, learn and love?? And that’s it?” It seemed revolutionary and like a remembering all at once. And then I woke up to see your timely blog. It’s like you live in my head sometimes. In my own personal crazy sexy cancer journey, but more importantly, LIFE school/journey, you remain a guru, heroine, mentor and true inspiration to me practically every day. Thank you for work and for shining your light and giving voice to genuine positivity, self love, prevention, kindness to all creatures on our planet and for sharing your journey with us. Love and light to you!!
this resonated so much, and makes a lot of sense. thank you for breaking it down for us, Kris!
xo
Kris, I LOVE what you write here. It’s such a breath of fresh air. Every cell of me is cheering ‘yes! yes! yes!’.
Hurray for you!
Dear Kris,
This morning I went to class and all the work we have to do the coming weeks got me all stressed out, feeling extremely anxious and sad. Then I received your email and read your blog. It was exactly what I needed, as always with your blogs and emails.
Thank you for writing this, thank you for helping me realize that it is okay to feel this feeling of stress but that university and exams are not my purpose, and that I can find inner peace even though there is a lot going on. Thank you for your accurate words, your love and your ability to make all your readers feel worthy and perfect as they are. You are a true mentor and an incredible person, even for 20 year old, Dutch women!
Lots of love,
Wilke
Perfect!! Peace and love to all.
Thank you SO much Kris. For years I have felt like I have been ‘on the edge’ of figuring out why I am actually here. Something just didn’t seem to fit but I couldn’t find the words to describe what it was. I have been trying hard to get my business going and although I have so much love, experience and training behind me, there was still that feeling that it was me who still had a lot of work to do inside to heal. You hit the nail on the head….I almost cried when I read this. This is ME too!! Now it is clear….thank you for putting this in to words. Bless your sweet heart. Stay well. xxxx
Thank you so much, I have been struggling with this for years. Since my cancer diagnosis I have wanted to save the world, but really haven’t done much. I love you and appreciate you so much Kris. I am sharing this article with my Facebook friends. Much peace, good health and blessings.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
This is so fantastic and the timing couldn’t be better. I intend to read this regularly.
You are a bright light!
xoxo
Whitney
Still motivating in 2016. I love you too! 🙂
I love the release! Thank you! How essential to progress!
Thanks I needed this so badly tonight. As a hospice nurse I am giving out all the time. I run from one house to the next being there for not only the patient but also the family. Today was extra stressful. I realize from management I am expected to work extra hours for free daily because I am salary, for families I want to support them and when I get home often there is nothing left to give me. I so needed this. thank you. I see this post must be old since comments are from 3 years ago so I am taking it as a special message for me
Quite simply, thank you.
my view is similar to yours yet slightly different… I think. To me your life purpose is to be you. Loving yourself means letting yourself be you… I mean fully you, with no exceptions. Doing those things that bring you the greatest joy/emancipation/love etc. Singing your song is another way of putting it. To me that is life purpose…so in a way it could include what you do…as long as what you do brings you greatest joy and love.
To get there, means shedding programming imposed by the state, religion, parents, schools, and even peers. It means removing barriers to being you. Because deep down inside…you are, you have always been, and always will be.
Thank you for the words you wrote. I am 64 and have been traveling a very hilly path all my life. At this moment your words are what I feel, but more then that. I cannot find the words to express it. I am trying to love myself so that I can love others. I realized I was what at times a controlling person, partly because of what happened to me, but partly because that was what I was. The moment I let go of control I began to to feel love for myself and possibly others. I try to be the watcher of my own verbal inner comments. I know I am something more.
Thank you for an inspirational message. You are so right, this is a very busy time of the year and we can get lost in the business.
Your insightful and beautiful message has reminded me to realize my potential so that I can be a better me to help others be better themselves. Merry Christmas and God Bless you.
Roxie
Oh, wow… this is a GREAT one. I need to re-read it about a thousand times. And then read it again. I agree with it whole-heartedly. The more I look for external purpose, the more it seems I’m looking for external validation, and I’m learning that doing that only makes me doubt myself more. I need to look for my purpose within myself, and realizing fully who I am and what I stand for and what’s important to me (and making sure to make choices that honor that). Boy, is it tough sometimes, especially when we’ve been taught to think a completely different way!
Thanks so much for this article, Kris. I may need to print it out and slap it up on the wall so I see it every day. 🙂
Happiest of holidays to you and your husband!
Thank you thank you thank you
What you wrote^ was exactly what I needed.
As the tires spin and my search continues on “finding my purpose” I needed that soft gentle reminder -look inside- be complete inside and my light will shine.
Be kind with myself. Be gentle. Love, forgive and trust.
I believe you are spot on Kris. Thank you for recognizing and for gently letting the rest of us know of your discovery. It is a discovery each one of us must come to as individuals. Lately, I’ve been more aware of my inner life – the one only I know about, the one I am responsible for, the one I need to protect, love, nurture, and rely upon, for there really is no one else who can or will do these things for me — only myself.
My problems — which are enormously challenging — are not the real issues -nor solving them, my purpose, my purpose is to learn to be happy from the inside which naturally radiates to the outside around me. This is not easy for me as I have a lifetime of defaulting to victimization and futility — but I recognize that now and no matter what happens — this life is mine to live and to make of it as I choose.
It gets easier as I age and as my ability to let go increases.
I hope your new year is filled with peace and wellness. Thank you for guiding me and others.
Dear Kris- Happy Holidays to you and yours! I read your articles often and they keep me sane and help with my depression. I’m a single dad and have been for over 23 years. My daughter was 3 when my ex left me. After the divorce we shared custody but I had my daughter all the time- usually 4-5 days per week because she was and is the greatest gift I ever had and I wanted her in my life more. She moved out of my home this Summer to live with her boyfriend and I am alone now and suffer with intense loneliness and to top it off I live with Lyme disease and fibromyalgia. I rarely sleep more than 5 hrs per night- but I do my best to live the best I can- but I miss my daughter very much. She visits me a few times a week but I miss the days we would wake up and share a breakfast and a good movie and suppers. Those days will never be here again- and feeling lousy all the time I don’t feel I would be a good partner to any woman out there. I’m vegan to boot and that is even harder to find! I do want to say that your words help me to survive and live. Thank You and Happy Holidays.
I read as much as I can regarding you and your outlook. I just love you to bits and enjoy everything that I have read so far. You have certainly had a lovely impact on my life and I thank you. Right now I am on a mission to find happiness in many places and try to be my best . This article about purpose and passion is very eye opening and I really needed to hear this. Thank you so very much.
My 28 year old daughter was just diagnosed with a very rare form of non hodgkins lymphoma. I heard about you and your work so I decided to send my daughter your books. In the meantime I just read this blog about finding your purpose.
Although every word makes so much sense and so meaningful, I would like to know HOW. Knowing and doing are very different.
Thanks for your support!
Dearest dearest Kris,
I am also a Cancer survivor. I also found something magnificent in that experience. I am also writing a book, which might serve as an inspiration for others 🙂 and what you are writing here today reflects my own thoughts completely. Today, as I was walking to work, a job that is not my passion, but which i am doing for the money and the free time it provides me with, I was envisioning a happy me doing something I really love. I don’t know what it is yet. And maybe, as you say, that is totally unimportant. A new cool job will not give me what i am looking for, which is that smile within, that soft feeling in the face of everything, that wondrous ability to be an incarnate being, here, on this planet, living as embodied, happy Love. Yes, some of us are here to practice just that, to shift the human paradigm. Would be great to have a conversation with you one day 🙂 I live in Europe, but one never knows 🙂 ciao Kris
Thanks, I really needed this, I’ve been struggling with ‘my purpose’ lately, now I don’t have to anymore 🙂
Dear Kris. This is beautiful. Can you tell me whom you work with for getting to know your true self? Much love
YES!! LOVE this!!!!!!
<3
Thank you for publishing this. I was much in need of these wise words in a time where I dont know what to do with my life and I feel dread because after finishing my MBA I cant take the courage to start something on my own or feel motivated to work for someone. I have always tied my self-worth with what I do, I now know that my purpose here on earth is to learn and to love. Love myself first and live a mindfull life.
This is so very well said. I am grateful for you and your wisdoms. Its on my wavelength often. Bless your truthfulness.
Thank you
REMEMBER, that’s what I am reminded of. Thank you Kris!
Dear Kim:
All of what you said resonates with me at such a spiriutal level. For me, this freedom of breaking from all the trappings of the world, came to me in a new found relationship with the God of the universe, Jesus Christ. Through Him and with Him, all things are possible and my life has taken on an incredible joyfulness that cannot be explained, only experienced. I no longer suffer from emotional highs and lows, a dizzying rollercoaster of a ride that very often left me feeling out of control and exhausted. Now that I have put God first and myself second, every thing effortless falls into place. I know testifying of this great love does not appeal to everyone, some would rather follow other spiriutal leaders Bhudda, Muhammad, the many gods of Hinduism, but none of these “gods” wilingly sacrificed their lives, so that we may have eternal life. How many of them rose from the dead? Only Jesus Christ. He is my Savior, my Heavenly Father and I am honored to be a daugther of the King. And the good news is we are all part of this Kingdom when we realize that our true purpose in life, is not about us, but about Him.
Thank you so, so much for this, Kris. I’ve been reading your blog, along with the writing of other lovelies I admire, for a while – partly in the hope of setting myself on a path that will lead to my life’s purpose. I’m twenty-five, still unsure, and starting to panic that I won’t figure it out before it’s too late. To hear you say that that purpose is nothing more than cultivating an inner light feels so right, and so freeing, that even after a long-time habit of accumulating as much of other people’s wisdom as possible, this still felt like a jolt and a breath of fresh air. Thank you!! Much love ~
Thanks for a great article. I found this resource helpful too.
http://www.howtofindyourpurposeinlife.com
Finaly! This is the answer I was looking for! The first time that a vision about passion resonates with me! Thank you so much!
Dear Kris,
I’ve”met” you when a year ago, newly diagnosed with breast cancer, I was consulting the 7th specialist, seeking the best way to proceed- and she recommended your book. A friend offered to get it for me as a gift-already a small miracle, as it was complicated and expensive for me here. Later I discovered your blog,did not always agree or like you recipes… It was a year of ‘full spa’ cancer treatment ( chemo, surgery&radio), full of suffering, waiting,hoping and of disappointment (loss of treatment buddies, new surgeries). Whole time I was haunted by my “lack of purpose “,which only added to the suffering.. I started to feel though, that purpose of life is… Life! And had a premonition of what you have beautifully put into words- that I am the purpose. .. So incredible that I came up on this article today, just home from a very painful surgery, still in pain and anxious of the findings-today these words sound like a revelation to me, gift for coming home- in both senses. Thank you, Kris, I cannot express how much it means to me-that someone put into words-into world- exactly what I felt but didn’t know how – or dare – to express. This one article makes ur work purposeful, even if you stopped at this. Please, don’t! THANK YOU…
..really insightful post and I stumbled upon it at a time when I am searching for answers..thank you for sharing your thoughts, insight and experience..my journey begins…and honestly..at 52 it feels scary to realize I know not what my purpose is right now…yet, I am grateful to have read your words..you truly are an inspiration..
I know that this is an older post, but boy did I need it today. I feel like I will keep coming back to it to remind myself and to put me back on the right track. Thank you.
Kris,
I found your blog resonated with me this morning as I lay here “recovering” from what ails me. I’m not sure whether I’m sick in my body or my head, but I am choosing to pullback and to permit myself to just BE, as unsavoury as I may find that.
I’m do connected to my BEing, being all about DOING. Internally I’m all about the performance and about ALWAYS bringing my best to everything. Clearly I’m not always able to do that and sufficiently beat myself up for it. Seeking and accepting my purpose for the inside job that it is, is liberating. I know and see how every time I truly appreciate all that I am/ am not/ do/ don’t do, I have much more peace and love in my heart and soul for myself and for others too. It is a much lighter and lighted way to live.
Thank you for this blog.
Thank you thank you thank you Kris! This was EXACTLY what I have needed to hear! For a while I have been stressing over what I was meant to be doing, yet had a deep instinct that my life purpose was not so much around what I would be doing, but how I would be FEELING, HEALING and EVOLVING. So you have reaffirmed that for me. Thank you!
I have struggled most of my young adult life trying to figure out “my purpose.” I have read articles, taken quizzes and tests, interviewed friends and family members, read books and articles, and even attended not one but two separate I CAN DO IT Hay House conferences (and other motivational conferences) where I have heard you and many others speak. I have done all of this hoping that a spark of inspiration would help me discover this illusive thing called “my purpose.” It wasn’t until I read this specific blog that I finally got it. I understand now. It’s not about a job title, or specific passion. My concrete way of thinking made me feel like I had to narrow it down and call it SOMETHING. Make it a verb, a noun, a THING I DO. But it’s a myth. I think society has tried to make this intangible concept into something tangible- which is impossible. As a result, so many struggle with trying to “achieve” this internal way-of-being through external means. But today I think you have said something that will resonate with many people. You have put into words what we couldn’t even seem to figure out. I wish I could write you an email to thank you (but couldn’t figure out how to contact you). So if you are reading this I just want to say thank you for sharing this. It has brought me (and I am sure so many others) peace. This message has helped ease the pressure of today’s standard way of thinking and provided us with an alternative– a much more positive, healthy, loving, and (very personal) alternative. 🙂 XO
Amazing, thank you!
so.very.timely. Thank you 🙂
Thank you for this article. It validated what I’ve come to realize in recent months. I’ve felt like a loser all of my life not having found my purpose or my passion, wondering what was wrong with me that I couldn’t figure it out. The negative part of me had been growing stronger, and all my struggling and fighting against it added to its strength. Then I was drawn to spiritual readings about kindness and gentleness to oneself, becoming one’s own friend, and accepting EVERY part of ourselves. I could never hope to treat others respectfully if I couldn’t do that to myself. So this is what I am to do. It is extremely hard after so many years of beating myself up, but I believe it is the only way for me to feel truly alive. Thank you again.
Wow. This hit me so deep I teared up. Thank You!!
Kris this blog struck a deep cord within me, Thank you, thank you, thank you:) For your honesty and sharing your insights, it was just what I needed at just the right time, the universe is truly amazing! Much love and Christmas blessings, Sharon xxx
Every single word you said spoke to me. But HOW do I get there??? Can you recommend any practical sources (other than a therapist) for guidance? PS. You. Are. Amazing. <3
Thank you Kris! Beautiful and perfectly timed. xo kt
Wow, absolutely loved that! Thank you! A perfect way to start teaching my girls and one I will try and reflect on more often. Wishing you a wonderful new year!
I love this! I think we all need to love ourselves and feel worthy. It seems to be so universal. If we all loved ourselves, we would be able to love each other and all beings and live in beauty. Thanks so much Kris!! : )
I struggle with this on a daily basis. Thank you for shedding light on this subject. By doing so, it helps to see where my thinking has become twisted. I am so hard on myself, comparing myself to others…friends and complete strangers, and it has to stop. I am going to print out this blog post and read it over and over again until I can “feel it.” Right now, logically, intellectually speaking, I understand and agree with everything you’ve written. Embracing and integrating it into my life will take some time. Peace and enjoy the holidays!
Thank you, Kris. Your words are the light at this moment … very timely.
This is beautiful and so timely for me. I get it, yet I know I don’t fully get it. How do you come to love yourself, forgive yourself, and release yourself from unworthiness? I know this is the key but it just seems to elude me.
Absolutaly amazing words! I feel that you, Kris, have gone through this experience and I appreciate you for your authenticity and honesty!
This is a post I needed to read. I struggle with many of the topics that you stated when it comes to finding my purpose. I’ve been on this journey for some time now and as I sit here that age of 30 I realize now that its about ME… not what I do or how people may want things to appear… its about living out a life that resonates with me. Thank you for your thoughts, expression, and words.
Be Blessed,
Shannon
Exactly what I needed to hear at the exact right time. (Which is almost 2 years late, isn’t that beautiful?)
May we see our beauty, may we know we are already loved.
Thank you.
I happened upon this article of yours just today and it made me cry… you have really ‘zoned in’.
I realized that I have been pinning my purpose on external things all my life… depending on them to ‘make me happy’… and being unhappy no matter how ‘hard I tried’.
Wow, this is a new viewpoint… one I might have heard from other great teachers… but it was you saying it that has made a difference… it resonated!! 🙂
Thank you! Louella 🙂
thank you for your wonderful post. I have been struggling with my purpose being defined externally and getting caught up with how I am perceived the good and the non-plussed. I am off for a walk to rediscover the inner joy. love Brigette
Thanks Kris, I like the way you put things. Rod
l love you! I miss you!!!! xxx
I’m a little late to the party but this came right on time for me! Thank you so much for all you do. You are such a bright light! I get this, I do. And then I forget. So I’ll be back 🙂
Excellent, simply excellent!
I’ve been grappling with this question most of my life, feeling there’s got to be more, something higher or deeper than the surface existance I feel trapped in, powerless to change.
Recently I came to understand where those feelings of being powerless and trapped have come from, and what a fiction they really are. Now it’s time to cast off that false “matrix” and learn just as Neo did the real power is within.
It’s not about an artificial “pep ralley” or alternate fiction of “positive attitude” to overcome the lies I was taught (about who I was) in my formative years, rather it’s about acknowledging the role that played in who I am and then conciously taking steps to go in a new direction.
My journey towards self knowledge is a lifelong process, with periods of rapid change intertwined with others of little movement. But the process continues, and I’m very happy to say your words here have helped me to see this question in a better light, a more constructive perspective.
I sincerely thank you!
I can’t put into words how amazing it is that I found this post at this time in my life. I’ve been following your work since I heard you speak at a recent Hay House conference (in NYC). I had the very fortunate experience of spending a few moments with you as you signed your two books for me. I’m working on getting my certification as a professional life coach and have been feeling at a very deep level that how I can best serve (as a Life Purpose Coach) has so much more to do with helping people discover who they truly are, their Authentic Selves, spiritual beings, worthy and lovable, rather than help them figure out what they think they should be “doing” (externally). I was having some self-doubts about this direction, but your post has renewed my faith and trust in my inner guidance. Thank you very, very much Kris!
Thank you so much for posting this! Very different from how you typically hear people elaborate on finding their purpose…how it becomes about what your job or hobby is, or how it affects other people. I like the idea of taking it internally. I would love to see how you would elaborate on each of your bullet points…maybe little “how-to’s” for achieving each.
Hi!
This article had bring me so much peace. I Love it, for real. Thanks a lot from my heart to yours. Hugs and kisses. I would like to meet you 😀
Love from Dominican Republic.
I need to ask a question………..
Is it possible for Self IMAGINATION or DAY DREAMING to be a Purpose?
Since I was little I have always been having this creative mind of picturing myself in someone else’s position or shoes (stars) and I would do it better than it was done originally by that person.
Please revert asap
Love this…what an eye opener, new perspective, allowing me to accept and love myself. Thank you so much for this article.
This is one of the very best Life Purpose articles I’ve read! Very refreshing and really takes the ‘pressure’ off! Wise words Kris! Thanks heaps 🙂
THANK YOU. From the bottom of my heart.
This has resonated within me at the deepest level and shaken me up at the core.
I pray that I will not forget this ever again and that this message will reach and heal many others.
Blessings to you Kris, and to all of your readers.
I had the honour of reading your idea on purpose only now and I think I agree with you wholeheartedly. I am on a mission to fulfil my purpose but it seems every endeavour I try externally fails completely. I live in an environment where loving yourself is not encouraged and I seem to align myself with these kind of people but I know they in my life for a reason. I cannot seem to make a success of my life even though I am driven but I think I am barking up the wrong tree as well. The way my suffering speaks to me is to reach a sense of detachment through loss and disappointments. I have suffered much pain and trauma in my life but I believe it to be the catalyst for transcendence. No one in my immediate environment knows about self development so I am alone and subjected to ridicule and being misunderstood. It is very hard sometimes to not be able to explain yourself to others and have them understand your world
This is exactly resonating with what I was feeling these days. (Probably the reason why I opened the post!)
I am so happy (and was so relieved) that I discovered my “purpose” or WTF I should do with my life: personal coaching.
I felt like everything aligned.
But the more I go into it, the more I realise that won’t (and shouldn’t) define me 100% because I am still a lot of other things, a lot I should always try to discover everyday too.
I realise, even if coaching is my calling, this will be a great way for me to help people and bring meaningful contribution but this is still a job, so only part of me and my life.
I actually came out with the same conclusion few days ago in one of my posts: that the final purpose of each of us is to know ourselves!!
this is the only way to belong to the world and have real connections: EXIST!
Thank you for this post.
Love your thoughts, just found you and reposted your blog on my own. very very beginning blog 🙂 Thanks for your thoughts and your insights
Thank you so much for the amazing words shared above. I struggle constantly with the ideas behind “finding your true purpose”, and the pressures so closely associated with it. If only for me, these beautiful, inspiring, and gentle words provide a safe place to land, and offer the ideal that the only thing that matters is love. Namaste, Clea.
<3 Thank you Kris! … thank you for letting me know what your soul speaks! sending you love from Portugal.
Hi Kris,
I just found your website and I love it. Thank you for sharing this great post on purpose. I think you bring up a really important point, your purpose in life is not just a list of outcomes. In other words, it’s not just “what you want.”
The reality is that your purpose is a way of living. Your purpose embodies your priorities and your personal story. This means your purpose is closely tied to your identity. And everything in life is downstream of your identity.
Intelligent people have the right definition of purpose and they put their purpose in life first (before money and even relationships). Think about it – if you put a job promotion, a product you want to sell, or a get-rich quick scheme first, you’ll either run out of steam before you succeed or succeed and get bored and throw it all away.
And if you put building your network first, you’ll fail because your identity or personal brand will be empty (or fickle) and people won’t know how to rally around it. They won’t know who you are and what you stand for.
But, if you put your purpose first, you’ll be able to build strong relationships and build a strong career around it.
I love what you say about inner peace which I feel so many of us struggle with. I often work on inner peace with meditation, yoga and eating lots of alkaline. Writing a book on healthy eating habits from a personal struggle I had and with your inspiration this just might be the year I do it.
Excellent post, While I was reading your post, I recalled a famous quote ” Life is not about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself”
Nevertheless, enjoyed your written words.
With tears of gratitude rolling down my face I thank you from the depths of my soul for this post. When something resonates that deeply for me, I know it’s a clear sign post on my path.
Thank you
Hi Kris,
I read your article 24/12/2013. It was so interesting, as I had been thinking about all of this over the Christmas period…..I am a Mindfulness Meditation and Dance Teacher…..diagnosed with breast cancer in Sept., and nearly finished radiotherapy (thankfully did not have to have chemotherapy). I was fortunate to discover your book, I think it is the second one you wrote. It is just so positive, and it is how I am anyhow about almost everything….and it is the first positive book on cancer survival (or life after cancer etc) that I have come across! I live in Dublin, Ireland, and am just so fortunate to live right by the sea shore. Today, I walked along it as usual and met a women who also had breast cancer….and discovered it had come back this year having been through all the treatments etc. But, was she down about that? No. She was telling me she is off trekking through Thailand for 3 weeks beginning tomorrow, alone! She is 69, and looks years younger. When she comes back, I will send her your web site.
But to get back to your article…..I had been feeling the old self esteem plunging over the holidays……nothing to do with cancer…..I have battled this feeling for many years. I look and sound confident on the outside, but those moments of doubt about my worth can creep up unnoticed. Your article really put this in perspective for me. I did feel that my ‘worth’ was very much attached to my ability to be a ‘good’ teacher. Strange that you should mention the word bitter (in relation to great activists etc.) but I had felt a touch of bitterness coming into my awareness also. Very, very unusual for me…….I don’t do bitterness, or so I thought. So, the article was very timely for me, and I simply thank you for it.
All Good Wishes to you for 2014.
Kind regards,
Veronica Coughlan
Good post. Here is another good post our purpose by Tolle…
http://www.eckharttolle.com/article/Awakening-Your-Spiritual-Lifes-Purpose
Happy holidays all!
I came to your sight to research juicers, blenders, and recipes. I saw this post from last year and decided to read it. As I read I remembered it from the previous year. However, your words have a deeper and stronger meaning for me this time around. AND perfect timing! I have taken on a second job recently, working 7 days a week, and enrolled in the health coach program with IIN. I am super excited about the program! However, what is suffering lately is “Andi Time”. Sure, I get a few chuckles when I mention that phrase to coworkers and friends, but it’s true! We need time for ourselves to take care of and nurture our souls and bodies! So as I have been moving forward in this exciting new direction of becoming a health coach, I have also become a ball of stress and definitely see just how important it is to take care of our bodies and spirituality. AND most importantly, not be to hard on oneself 🙂 So, because I don’t want to over do it all at once, I have slowly started to bring back running and yoga into my weekly routine (people will tell you there isn’t time to work out, but if you prioritize for yourself, there is always time :))
@Andi
What a great way to phrase it…prioritize yourself. Amen!
May we ALL do that from now on; the world would be a better place. That and start simplifying and STOP allowing the media and experts allow us to feel like we need to want to be a better person (and feeling like you come up short compared to others.) How about learning to just like and accept who we are NOW…good, bad and ugly. The rest will fall into place. Trust me.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for this insightful blog.
I really enjoy reading your writing. I feel this hits right home with me and makes me view the coming months with a more positive perspective. I’m a student in college about to transfer in the fall and these are topics I have often struggled with in the past and often still do. You’re writing and thoughts defintely put a spring in my step and make me feel lighter about myself. Thank you for that. 😉
I love you too. Xoxo 🙂
Your**
Auto correct :p
my word … i stumbled across this – the timing impeccable ! have just survived cancer treatment and I have been struggling so much with this one , have sought advice from those on a higher plain ….but your wisdom has totally blown them all away …you are truly the most honest the most in touch with the divine light within …thank you my dear angel Kris.
kris so love your books and blog , it is so nice to read that we all struggle sometimes and leave our selves till last . first ever time replying on computer lol x x x x
I agree 1000% , our purpose has multiple meanings and once we pull back the layers, we find more meaning behind our purpose, which can be painful yet liberating. Getting to our truth is a job but happiness is supposed to be an inside job everything else is just passion sandwiched around the layers of purpose within. Cancer, illness, pain , is a wake up call to lovingYOU in ways you have ignored. Great post!
So funny that we have almost the same name. I love your work and am working on all of this as well. You are so brave! Thank you for reminding me that I’m on the right track. Christine
Ms. Carr,
I loved your article. I have just recently had my “Awakening” as I call it, Just this year. It is like the light was always on, but I am finally HOME.
At 48 and I can honestly tell you that I have finally figured out that how you treat yourself as well as others causes a chain reaction of positives in all aspect of a one’s life .Through the power of intention, I am literally changing on a daily basis, It feels so good to be able to live in the NOW and kick the “Butt” of the past .lol..
I am a writer and I have yet to publish any work. (YET lol…). I can truly say that I have found my purpose, My calling, if you will.
I want to be able to inspire ,teach or simply tell a story about what I have learned throughout my life. Writing is so cathartic for me. if it touches someone else, well, that ‘s just a bonus!
I have not had some SUPER DUPER junk happen to me .I just know that my heart has this overwhelming need to speak…. I realize that some people may never come to that “Awakening” point in their lives, I think that is just so sad.
I truly feel so very lucky to be someone who has had that AhHa!. When you said how at times when you felt unappreciated or when your efforts were overlooked or criticized. Did you get the gig or not. That statement really resonated with me
.It was those things that, in the past, put the KABOSH on me.
I have just begun, I am so very excited to have been led to your website (by Louise L Hay), to be inspired and read your blogs going forward.
I love my life and feel so empowered due to people like you, who have that natural ability to reach people in such a classy and eloquent way. Thank you!
Kris,
This little whisper in my ear came just as I was sitting down to write. I’m at work on a novel and there are some other things waiting in the queue. Just yesterday I was talking to a dear friend about suffering and bearing witness to mine in my work, fiction and non-fiction alike. It’s a long story, but as I write in a new medium after having only written screenplays, I am discovering that all of my life experiences, painful and joyful, and all of my longing and all of my deep desires for the world have connected me deeply to myself and to all of life, and that writing, for me, is about bearing witness to all of it, for my benefit and for the benefit of whomever else may be in need of what I have to say. I am realizing after many years of struggle that my work is about that connection most of all and not about what I do or do not get (I finally get that I will get what I am destined to get and that the pathway there is to honor the deep truth of every moment of my life). I read a great quote the other day, it may have been Anne Lamott, that said that if you tell the truth it will turn out to be universal. And so I am endeavoring to tell the truth, recognizing that my voice is just another expression of the one voice. Thank you for reminding me that the real work of all of our lives is to connect deeply with ourselves and live that truth in the world.
Saw you on Super Soul Sunday this morning (missed last week so caught the 10 am) and loved
your comments. Checked your blog to see more and saw this. WOW. For the past year I’ ve
been focusing on understanding living instead of existing (for the 1st time) and am feeling SO lost in finding “my purpose”. Good lord, it seems everyone knows their purpose and I’m sitting here in a “crap, at 55 you should know your purpose” moment…..Thanks so much for highlighting that at this moment, my purpose is to find out who I really am instead of who my family, friends think I am and in doing that I can be more to all. AMAZING and LIBERATING!!!!!
Wow! This is such a smart and down-to-earth article. Thank you for a great post.
Thank you. This is perfect.
You are such a beautiful person Kris. Thank you for everything you do–I shudder to think what my life would look like if a brilliant friend hadn’t suggested Crazy Sexy Diet to me. I always include you in my morning meditation and blessings to those I am thankful for in my life.. I hope you can feel the energy!
xoxox Taylor
I’ve struggled ( and still am) to find what I thought was a purpose. Your article really changed my mind and I’m sure will help me release part of my anxiety. Thanks so much.
This is helpful!
Thank you for helping me to remember……….to reorient my compass……all of the stories about NDE (near death experiences) seem to convey that very message that just being is good enough
Well said and too true. Learning to accept the world around you and love everything you see, is a good challenge to embrace as well. Less fighting more loving. Even cancer can be loved.
This is where I am at, trying to see everything as lovable and acceptable.
this is TRUTH!
Oh I got goosebumps. Absolutely beautiful, thank you Kris. xx
Thanks for this Kris! You were able to illustrate the essence of this idea. It’s so important for our purpose to be higher than what we do to make money. And the happy idea that you can be living your purpose no matter what the worldly situation is. -Anthea 🙂
Kris, I really resonated with your beliefs about ‘our purpose’, as on my journey of healing from cancer I have found through meditation and channelling from my guides that our purpose is not external and our healing is not external. Inner self care, love, self acceptance and compassion is our biggest gift we can give to ourselves. Just by listening to our heart, honouring our feelings and accepting the truth of who we really are – good and bad is living our purpose.
Reading this 5 months after it was posted after a dear friend in our yoga community posted it for all the women to read.
Chris, you have written so beautifully and powerfully what I too (and I am sure all agree) is the meaning and purpose of life. To understand that we are light and when we connect with our light love, service, connection with others shines.
THANK YOU always for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
Thank you so much for this strong, inspiring and defining article. Your love and words have been powerful and encouraging to the core 😀
Thank you for the breath of fresh air and the light and the grace and the personal wisdom! ♥ ♥ ♥
Dear Kris,
this is one of the most helpful, open, loving and expanding messages to be found online. thank you ever so much for sharing.
Thank you! I really needed this today. Your words helped me calm down and remember what I absolutely believe to be true. You are a light in this world! xo
I like presents all year round and today your present was timely and oh so true. Thank YOU!!!
Hi Kris
Great re-post! What a gift to give yourself and others. Interestingly enough, today I was asking myself –“What is my passion”? Am I living my passion or just showing up each day? Maybe it’s a little bit of both but I know for sure that I wish it was more passion. What do I do to get that? I’m not sure yet but its one of the things on my front burner of awareness.
I too went through cancer treatment, at the first of the year. I did not fear it. Interestingly, I found myself somewhat detached from it. I was fortunate enough to have world class treatment and care. It has been almost two (2) months since I finished my treatment. I found myself looking at others with more awareness and with a renewed gratitude for what I have. I am on a journey, that has become a lifestyle change, to do what I can to have better health mentally and physically (through eating and exercise. I started this journey a year ago, this past January, and it’s been an evolution of through knowledge and action.
I’ve enjoyed your site and the videos. Thank you!
My gift for you today is this thought — maybe you’ve heard it maybe you haven’t but here it is: “Right NOW is the most abundant moment in your life!” ~ Unknown. Take that and live it like it’s true — because it is!
In the meantime, Peace be with you and… please continue to enjoy your blessings
Rob
I’m not sure how this post found me today; but I’m so relieved it did. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Amazing!, so many things to chew slowly about this post. I don’t get some of them yet, hope do it trough the years. Thanks Kris ; )
Beautiful, Kris–thank you for such clear and compelling thoughts. I’m so glad this was forwarded to me!
As a passionate writer and aspiring blogger with a crazy interest in all things health and wellness and self-help, you are an ABSOLUTE inspiration and I love your site and all that you stand for. You are fabulous. Get it girl. Hope to hear from you soon.
Hi Kris
I’m not sure how I missed this in December but I guess we find what we need when we need it thanks for sharing at this depth. This thing called suffering seems to be my theme right now. Thank you for all you share I truly appreciate it..
I just got chills from reading your post. I feel like I “know” these things but I still have not internalized them. I am still “mean” to myself all too often. “From loathing to love”… I love that, thank you.
Hey Kris,
This article is so confirming for me. MY purpose is to bring enlightenment about our evolutionary journey through info I’ve been channeling for the past 10 years. And yes we are here to nurture and express our uniqueness. I feel you would be interested in my site especially the article in Resources entitle “Mother And Child Unite”. Enjoy and thank you for all your Crazy, Sexy everything. <3
Kris,
Your words, videos, cookbooks and articles touch me on so many levels. I have been sick with GI issues for nine years, for starters. I almost gave up this past year and then my prayers were answered…I learned about healing on a cellular level…something the M.D.’s never mentioned and in fact, advised me to avoid raw fruit and vegetables since they seemed to upset me! Ha! This is actually exactly what my body was begging for. While I still have issues, my health continues to get better and better. It’s been three and a half months nutritional healing and I know I am on my way! I finally feel like God is working in my life and leading me to health. Thank you for being a part of my journey, for being a part of me finding health. You are a constant inspiration!
I wish you all the HEALTH and HAPPINESS you so deserve! Saying “Thank you” simply doesn’t seem like enough!
Thank you for this article. It is so real and a good reminder of our purpose. So many of us work in robotic jobs and take little time for rest and vacation to truly energize and connect to the light.. until its too late and our bodies cannot keep up. I recently read that Canada has the shortest amount of vacation time allotted for full time workers. In Russia average is a month off!
In the fast paced society and the high cost of living we “forget” our purpose, to truly love ourselves first.
I truly enjoy your work and your sharing your experiences with your C journey.
I am a cancer survivor of five years and have recently found out its back again exactly five years this month.This time I remain positive and take gentle care of my body in what I think, eat and do.
Namaste,
Donna
Hey Kris
A friend gave me your name yesterday. Then today she send me your blog, so refreshing I must say. I just released my first book called Can I Be Me without losing you? my whole life I was waiting for people to change so that I could become my authentic self until one day a voice said,”we are not doing this anymore”. When I asked, “what are we not doing anymore”? the voice said, “we are not saying yes when we mean no”. It was such a wake up call that I had in fact been doing that throughout the time I got into a relationship, then had kids. I had conformed to “keep the peace and avoid conflict” but it wasnt who I was. I had been conditioned to be this way. so great that you are saying our only job is to finally come to a place where we can love ourselves unconditionally. I see other people who seem more successful but are they? in what way to we judge success? the freedom to finally be me is what makes me so very happy and at peace now and I now realize I was born human to discover that Im a spiritual being having a human experience, that’s why we are here, to love. So thanks Kris.
wow, Kris… this what just what I needed to read this morning, how did you know???
I ‘discovered’ you just a few short months a go and loved reading eveything you put out there (including cooking from your fab cookbook) but this is by far the article that spoke to me the most.
Especially “Shall we talk about perfection? Yes, I think we must. What if your purpose is to teach yourself that there is no such thing as perfection and that your never ending pursuit of it is destroying your life and your relationships. Let it go.”
I love how you and Brene Brown, another truly inspiring person, are singing in harmony to me.
with Love,
Galit from NYC
dont you just love Brene Brown..
Phenomenal! Thanks for posting the link for this on facebook now. I have plenty of plaques on my wall, plenty of letters after my name, all because I wanted them, so I have been lucky that way, but after going through some extra “suffering” last year, and some extra books and videos, attending a great “I can do it Ignite” conference, and practice… I’m finally getting this message of self-love in my heart, not just in my head 😉 And, what’s funny is that then, external results come easier, faster, and you don’t “suffer” as much because you’re not being as hard on yourself! 🙂
Thank you SO MUCH! This post ment a lot to me, I’m so grateful. Everything you said is just spot on. I want to elaborate, but it would just be repeating what you already wrote.
Maria
I disagree with this article. It’s certainly a grand idea, and if anyone follows it, I won’t stop, discourage, or even disagree with their decision. If someone believes that a their Purpose is an Inner Purpose – awesome! Good for them.
But I don’t think this logic applies to everyone.
I’ve made a point to be a decent guy. I’m respectful, honest, open, and empathetic. Or, at least, I try to be. But none of those are my Purpose. My Purpose inherently lies outside of myself, and it -is- a goal I am striving for. The reason it is outside of myself is that… well, I’m kind of a flake. I could, yes, work to overcome that character flaw, but I’m of the opinion that my life would be better spent, playing to my Strengths (namely: I’m eloquent, I love to tell stories,I love being philosophical, and I love being an ever-curious nerd). So I’ve accepted my Purpose, which is to be a Science Fiction Writer. Yes, this is going to be a rough ride, and it’s entirely possible that I won’t make it. It comes with the territory.
Kris says: “Can you see how tying your worth to that circus will only make you feel depleted, depressed and even resentful? Anchor your purpose within, sweet friend. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself drifting out at sea again and again.”
I’ve found the exact opposite to be true. I made a point to be a Good Guy long ago, and it gave me zero direction whatsoever. What do I do with something like that? Who do I help? Where do I make an impact? Am I here, simply to be a model for others, like a Statue of Liberty, a beacon that yells out “Look at me! I found Inner Peace, and now I’m awesome! You can be, too!” I find that to be ridiculously presumptuous. (It might work for Barney Stinson, but it wouldn’t for me.) And more to the point, I felt that I was adrift -until- I discovered my Purpose. As I live my life, I gather new experiences, which sometimes rock my world. Being in the military, serving in two wars, returning to civilian life, falling in love, falling -out- of love, changing cities and jobs… these Lemons that Life throws, won’t quit being launched at my head, simply because I’ve found Inner Peace. Having that serenity means I won’t mind it as much when one of them bonks me in the head.
Which, certainly, isn’t something to scoff at. Maybe, in finding an Inner Purpose, I can be at peace with myself. And then, when the proverbial shit does hit the proverbial fan, I’ll be able to overcome that hurdle more quickly. That’s certainly a legitimate thought, and an admirable goal. Anyone who takes that approach (Buddhists, perhaps?) are people to admire. But it’s not for me.
This Purpose (which is completely outside of me) has given direction to my life. I’m heading back to school in pursuit of this Purpose – I’m getting together the literary tools I’ll need to complete it – and I’m forming a Plan to put into action, once everything’s in place. This is no way feels like being ‘adrift’. It feels more like I’m on a mission.
Once it’s done, then I can think about finding Inner Peace. I believe it’ll be easier for me to find it, honestly, because I’ll look back at this Life spent pursuing a Purpose, and I will have achieved it. I will have Accomplished it. And that, too, is nothing to scoff at.
The best analogy I can make, to explain the thoughts in my head, is this: billions of people in the world enjoy getting outdoors; hundreds of millions enjoy climbing; millions set climbing goals for themselves, and work towards those goals; tens of thousands travel to other countries and broaden their horizons, in pursuit of those goals; thousands each year attempt to climb Everest; hundreds succeed.
How many of these people know the names Tenzig Norgay and Sir Edmund Hilary?
More to the point: how many of these people felt -inspired- by their accomplishment? Have felt moved to literally follow in their footsteps? Have found this Inner Peace Kris Carr talks about, only after summiting a mountain?
I wouldn’t even presume to know the statistic – I believe my point can be made despite the lack of info.
People throughout history have pursued Purposes. Sometimes, the Pursuit IS the Purpose. Amelia Earhart didn’t circumnavigate the globe, but I bet she felt that Inner Peace anytime she flew. Anytime someone said it was impossible, and she tried anyway. Anytime someone said women had no place behind the stick, and she proved them wrong.
Jesus, I’ll bet, had Inner Peace – yet he sought to teach, to heal, to reform, all for a Purpose. Gandhi, I’ll bet, had Inner Peace – yet he committed his life to Indian Independence. MLK, I’ll bet, had Inner Peace – yet he spoke vehemently against the lack of Peace in the world, particularly in the South, and he devoted his life to a Purpose of ensuring that people “be judged by the content of their character, and not by the color of their skin.”
Should these people -not- have pursued their Purpose?
I’ll finish with this: please, just think about it. Mull it over. Give it a try, even. As Kris is suggesting, give an introspective journey a go, and see if it fits you. If it does, awesome! I’ll wish you the best for the rest of your days. But please don’t presume that, since I -am- tying my life to an external Purpose, that I am really a Mean Mess, a Bitter Mess, or a Sad Mess.
I’m quite happy, just as I am, just a I do.
I wish there was a dislike button to Wood the Storyteller’s comments!
Mary,
I would welcome any thoughts, comments, or even rebuttals/critiques you may have of what I’ve written!
I think Kris and I have a common goal – to help others be Happy, be at Peace, and be Successful in life. My approach my differ from hers, but the end results we’re aiming for are similar. Or, perhaps, I’ve misread this article (or read it from a too-far-slanted perspective) and have missed some critical point. I’m not perfect; far from it! I err all the time in my haste to jot down my inner dialogue and clarify my own stances and opinions. In recognizing my own fallibility, I must always readily admit that I may actually be full of crap. 🙂
Hopefully, that’s something I can work on! And hearing you thoughts (or the ideas of anyone else who disagrees with what I’ve written) can only help me grow as a person.
So, that said… tell me what you’re thinking!!
–Wood
I wish someone had told me this earlier…then perhaps it would have spared me those 2-3 years of suffering from anxiety disorder.
Love this!
“And lastly …
What if your purpose is to bear witness to your suffering? To acknowledge it and embrace it in order to move through it. “They” say that “suffering is optional.” I’m not so sure about that anymore. I used to think that was true. But that was before I had a deep and layered experience with suffering. Today, I think suffering is essential. The trick is to learn how to move out of suffering once you get the nugget and are ready to apply the lessons. Note: Residue of pain may remain (and that’s OK), but at some point you can fully release the suffering.”
Beautiful <3 thank you – love you too XXX
I have had these thoughts myself and it’s helpful to hear someone else articulate this to it’s logical end. I am very grateful you took the time to share this post. Thank you!
Oh WoW Kris…..I think you nailed sweetheart…..you literally unlocked the myth of finding your purpose.
Keep the self love and self nurturing….it really make wonders to us all…I promise I will do the same on my end….’I love and approve of myself’ LOVE LOVE LOVE is it ALL ;-D
this is a brilliant article. exactly what I have been longing to read about. thank you
The saying is, “Suffering is mandatory; misery is optional.” Blessings!
Dear Kris,
thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I have been struggling to love and taking care of myself lately. My self-worth was tied to my to-do list.
Thanks for your loving, nurturing and gentle message. You are one of my heroines.
-Iris
That was very poetic and deep. It really is an important lesson for me. I struggle with the question of my purpose every now and then and then fall into a depressive state when I can’t find an answer I feel satisfied with.. Even with all my religious studies this question still haunts me at times. Kris you gave me the best answer. I am keeping this bookmarked so I return to it when ever I start to question my life. thanks.
I just came across this and I really felt like I could stop holding my breath. Thank you so much, you really do touch lives all over the world!Mairead, Northern Ireland
WOW!! I do not think it just coincidence that I stumbled upon your website or that I chose to read this very blog today. I have been having this own internal dialogue with myself. I keep believing that the reason for me not feeling “complete” or happy is because I am not living my passion or purpose in my career. What you said in this blog… totally gave me an epiphany. A TRUE ah- ha moment. Thanks for speaking so candidly and for being so REAL. Sending you love, well wishes and warm thoughts.
Forever grateful for putting yourself out there and letting me/us be a part of your life journey.
Thank You-
Stephanie 🙂
This searching for my purpose in life has plagued me since I was 20. I have avoided so many opportunities for fear that it may not be my true calling. Now that I have cancer the question had been burning even deeper. I am going to try to replace the hurt, anger and resentment with love. Where to begin? Any thoughts?
Thanks Kris, Peace to all
WOW! What an amazing, inspiring and RIGHT ON! article! Thank you, thank you , thank you!
I just read your article on ‘purpose’. I couldn’t agree more. I have realized that in order for me to live out the truth of living and acting out the fact that my true purpose is connecting consciously with the spiritual idea that I am within, requires of me a focused commitment to step into the heart of the matter, which is letting go of so many believe systems that I have embraced and thought for so long to be who I am. I found the need to act with moral courage on many levels of what I call my life in order to stand firm and let everything else pass me by, taking a deep breath and refocusing every time on looking back at me sometimes as an spectator, to find out it was all a projection and ‘I’ the projector. I am learning to detach myself from what appears to be me,like taking off something you are wearing, to meet the real me under there. It all leads to an experience of ‘peace within’. I know discovering more and more of who I really am is an owesome experience that only ‘eternity’=’now’ will unfold. Thank you from the within my heart for your message…..
I just found your web site, Kris. And I love it! Especially this one on finding your purpose.
Thank you,
Frances
Stumbled across this blog entry today, just when I needed it! I am on Day 2 (of 40 days) of Gabrielle Bernstein’s May Cause Miracles. Yesterday I identified my biggest fear as not finding my purpose in life to find how to help others or find the right career. Well today my focus was to be willing to see things differently. And then I found this blog entry. I too am a Stage 4 cancer survivor learning to live with my slow growing/stable prognosis. I am ready to focus on my healing and self-healing! Thanks for the sharing your journey and thoughts!
Your words never fail to inspire me! Such a beautiful article. Thank you.
Thank you for writing this! I know I am a month late reading it lol, but I just subscribed to your newsletter and have loved every thing I have read/seen. Your story is inspirtational but the fact that you are sharing your experience and love with the world and helping others is truly beautiful! This blog really spoke to my heart and what I have been seeking, specifically in the couple years after some dark times. I am printing this so I can read whenever I need to. God bless and thanks for being YOU!! 🙂
I was just praying about this. What is my purpose in life? I was on the bus on my way to work talking to God and asking him to make it clear to me what it is that I am supposed to be doing…and my exact words were, what is my purpose? I am open, I am listening, let me know and I will do as you say.
I come in to the office and decide to just look and see what I missed on your website and viola!
My heart is open, I am taking it in. Thank you!
WOW! very powerful and I so needed to read this right now. Thank you beautiful for being such a shining light in a sometimes cloudy world. BRAVO!
Hi Kris,
Great writing. I agree with what you write. It is just so hard not to be hard on yourself.
Thank you so much for this article. The timing is perfect for me. I love the notion of my purpose being to love myself. Purpose and calling (and the like) have been used interchangebly. Thank you for the clarity. I will be getting on the ball.
By the way, I am just newly vegan…again! Years ago, my veganism was only about pure body. There was so much drama and misinformation attached to my life that I let it all go. Today it’s about pure body, pure love, pure compassion.
Now, I have grand thoughts of veganizing my interests. Desires to compassionise my creativity (like making vegan t-shirts), wardobe styling interest, my filmmaking interests and the newest ‘jones’ Occupational Therapy (Assistant) are really strong. In short, I’m still confused about what to head as my higher ground (career) and end my tenure teaching in public school.
Again thank you. Reading this article is the perfect start to my day and the rest of my life!
Your article made me teary-eyed. This was the written equivalent of a warm hug after a tough day. Thank you.
Hi Kris,
What a brilliant post and does soooo speak out of my heart. I have been looking for my purpose all my life as most people do and thought I needed to do some voluntary work to find it and give my life meaning. However, I never expected to find in the voluntary work what I actually found. I went to work for an NGO in Sub-Saharan Africa to help marginalized schools to acquire computers and learning how to enhance learning through the use of technology. Man, that is sooooo what I always wanted to do, I thought…this is it! So I embarked on this journey and was surprised that I did not find these inspiring people that I thought I would. I found a lot of messed up people, intelligent, but very messed up. I also learned that there is a lot of hypocracy involved in this NGO world. A lot of people seem to feel the need to tell the world what good human beings they are as they are helping these poor people but then they turn around and treat exactly these poor people like shit. I loved what I do as working with these locals was great and we had loads of fun but I had to leave this environment as I did not want to be hypocritic and I told the locals to get a job where they get paid and not used as cheap labour. I do not want to say that all of the organisations are like this and am sure there are organisations that really do make a difference and have inspiring people onboard but it is not the norm and I was very disappointed. I finally found myself inside and know now what to do. Exactly as you said: it is nothing outside but inside and am happy I found it.
Thanks soooo much for this great post.
Have a fun-tastic day
Wencke
You are so spot on! Thanks Kris!
Greg
Beautiful article! Truly enlightening! By the way, great website overall!
Yes. I’m keeping this one.
Kris, I know something speaks to me, when I read it with tears streaming down my face. Thank you. 🙂
Thank you so much Kris. I’ve been struggling with this for the last several months and I now feel as though a huge weight has been lifted from my heart.
so beautiful. just what i needed to be reminded of today. Thank you!
Kris, Thank you for sharing your insightful words. Your energy is amazing. I AM ADOPTING YOUR PHILOSOPHY.
Peace and purpose to you,
Craig
This is such an important point – thanks for this perspective Kris!
Thank you. I’ve been asking myself “Why am I here?” a lot. Usually the answers my mind spits up have to do with getting a meaningful job, impacting people through action, or other such action-orientated imagery. Thanks for reminding me that peace and stillness must transform me into a worthy tool.
Thanks for this! The concept of “finding my purpose” has always been a difficult one for me, because I interpreted it to mean something external, like a calling or economic niche. This makes so much more sense, and is more in line with how I’ve generally focused my efforts. Having this concept cleared up for me actually instantly released the guilt I feel about not “having a purpose”!
I found your site last year after I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was searching for ways to improve my health. I drink green smoothies now every morning for breakfast.
I really like this article on finding our purpose. finally some honest feedback about searching our soul for kindness first, to our ourselves.
Thanks for being an inspiration. cheers to 2013.
i’m a little speechless at how these words reflect how i feel about how i want to spend my time in my life… this is the important stuff… self love seems to be at the core of many of my ‘perceived’ problems/blocks etc… and this piece states clearly why… thank you.
I love this Kris! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this with us and for putting yourself out here. I’m going to share this with as many people as possible. Take care and have a happy, self- loving, light-shining 2013! 🙂 Love, Rachel xxx
“Your purpose has nothing to do with what you do. There, I said it. Your purpose is about discovering and nurturing who you truly are, to know and love yourself at the deepest level and to guide yourself back home when you lose your way,” perfectly said.
I have read many articles etc on purpose and this connected with me deeply, more than any other article. It also gave me a sense of relief, that I don’t need to search from something external like the perfect career rather I just need to constantly work on myself. I can do that with pleasure!
Sending LOVE
Out of all the “self-help” articles, books, DVDs I’ve read/watched over the years none of them have ever resonated. I finally decided I was a self-help flop. Nothing ever applied to me. Your wisdom and your honesty has changed all that for me. You are real, funny (real funny) and you are frank. I feel lucky to have run across your doc a few years back. It started me on a path and gave me direction albeit wide and sometime barely visible (and I take some wrong turns) I read what you write and I keep going. I feel more steady. I am finally hearing some truth… and there’s certainly lots and lots of hope! (and juice) Thank you, thank you.
Kris Carr, you are one heck of a girl! This topic is timely for me and you hit the nail on the head. One of the things in life I believe is that we have many, many teachers. Some of mine have been very subtle others had had a blow horn. You have become one of mine. A treasured one with your honesty, wisdom and humour. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. xox
Wonderful post! Fresh and amazingly inspiring! Grateful, grateful, grateful!
Love,
Ali.
All I can say Is “Thank You” for writing that article. I know I’ve been searching i all the wrong places and now you confirmed it. Thank you my friend.
You hit the nail on the head. Thanks for a great article!
Cool!
Great post! Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you. That’s all.
I feel like you just gave me a hug and then I gave myself a hug. <3 Thanks! Much Love!
This is total brilliance! Thank you for putting it into this fabulous string of words. I’ll be sharing this with everyone I know at every opportunity. This is all about a lesson I have been learning of late after years of searching vehemently for an outer purpose for all these years. I have only recently seen clearly that my true purpose is to be light and shine on everyone I meet. I have found such peace since that finally became clear to me. I so appreciate your affirmation and wonderful expression of this beautiful truth! Simply wonderful! Love to you!
Thank you Kriss for writing on this topic. It’s been a while that i’m searching like MAD about my purpose in life. Iread alot of books, listened to guests of Oprah, met a professionnal reorientation coach to find THE job of my life that would define my self worth. All i found besides too much information is anxiety! But this morning, it,s different. Today is my birthday, i’m turning 44, and the first thing i did when i opened my laptop was to go to your blog. What a surprised! There was the nicest gift i could received from a stranger. It is more than an answer it’s a confirmation about my true purpose in my life. The way you wrote about it with the sweet gentleness made me cry. And yes i will finally exhale and be at peace because i understood the internal vs external true self. I can’t thank you enough dear dear Kriss. May Life bless you.
I am going to school for psychology, and later psychiatry (ifits in the cards) i could relate so much to what you said about “It seemed pretty clear: My purpose was to help people get healthier and to teach prevention. Pretty rad. A karmic home run.” I always want to help others. but it isn’t until my 22 year of age i realize, i never put myself, first.
i suffer from respiratory, immunological and allergies. i try to follow the lead of putting natural, or mostly natural foods into my body. i try to walk an hour a day to train my lungs and practice breathing through my nose which is really hard for me (i have a deviated septum) i cannot tolerate wheat nor dairy. i was upset with myself because i felt flawed. limited. but then i discovered happiness is accepting flaws and learning from it. your blog post empowered me to further love myself because i am the only person i have. i am me. i am my soul and i am my love. your blog post made me realize its okay if i wake up tomorrow and dont feel 100%, to keep meditating, breathing, forgiving others and showering them with pure love. i want to be a psychologist and help others but first i have to be ridicolously and fully in love and okay with myself in order to transcend. thank you Kris. happy 2013 sweet angel
Thank you times a million! I have been chasing “my purpose” since I got out of college a few years ago. And I was starting to think that I was flawed. But this article changed my entire viewpoint. And the shift I feel when i start to put me first and allow everything else to flow is monumental! Your voice gives me courage to find my own 🙂
(smiling)
my favorite: “Folks are like plants, we all lean towards the light.”
& for my ‘self’ right now> that means sitting up straight & standing tall. There is a light IN ME 🙂 So happy to have found it again
Hi Kris,
This is such a beautiful message that you have written and are sharing with us! Your message resonates with me on such a deep level. You give me hope for a different type of life! Sounds like the beginning of a new book. : ) xo Lorig
I love this post. Regarding suffering, what if suffering is the Universe’s way of teaching us to have compassion for others? What if it is our own suffering that teaches us to empathize with the struggles of others?
If so, then suffering teaches the world to love one another, and once the world has learned this lesson, there will no longer be any need for suffering. If this is true, then seeking to end all suffering would be to rob the world of the gift of compassion that it teaches. Together, we can all ultimately transcend suffering, but perhaps, only through suffering, can we transcend suffering.
Thank you thank you for reminding me how important it is to just look inside and find your true self before anything else.
“to know and love yourself at the deepest level and to guide yourself back home when you lose your way” That line just made my heart stop…… It’s SO TRUE!
Having had the wind COMPLETELY taken out of my sails, this has made me feel so much better. It all has to start with US! Everything else will radiate out from that point.
This is my FAVOURITE post Kriss! THANK YOU.
Happy, peaceful & abundant 2013. Jo xox
Amazing and insightful! You made me reframe the way I look at myself. Keep up the fantastic work! You have inspired me to change the way I eat, and now the way I think about purpose.
what words of wisdom… thank you so much. you said exactly what my
soul knows is true but didn’t know it yet.
Just what I needed to hear today, thanks. Reminds me of the realization I had when I last wrestled with “what’s my purpose?” which was: to find peace of mind. Choosing inner peace allows me to offer healing to myself and, perhaps, to the world. But it’s so easy to forget…thanks for the reminder.
Joy
It’s amazing to read an article that is so close to where I am in my life at the moment. Generally, when we think about finding our ‘purpose’, we think about finding what we were meant to ‘do’ – something somewhat tangible, measurable in terms of accomplishments and in terms of what those accomplishments can provide us (recognition, self-gratification, etc.). Our ‘purpose’ needs to be something deeper than that… something that’s more connected to our essence. If not, then the benefits that we derive from accomplishing our ‘purpose’ only serve the purpose (!) of soothing our anxieties. This is where my thoughts are heading.. and your article could not come at a better moment. I came for recipes (I’ve been following you on and off for a couple years), I leave with inspiration. Thanks!!!
Right on sister! This fad of finding our purpose has done one thing for so many…made us go out and buy books and spend money on countless bullshit self help crap. Its an industry fad that has us all(me included) pacing the hallways feeling unfullfilled and lost. Its the perfect hamster cage for those fortunate to have reached a place in life where we are self-actualizing. I absolutely agree that our purpose can be internal. Not to get all metaphysical on you..but if we believe that we are here in this lifetime to learn something…well then there you have it…our purpose is to learn….something. I know without a doubt my purpose is to learn how to deal with Type A personalities….to learn how to work with them in harmony….and not want to kill each and everyone that I meet. …wink wink..lol Great read sister!!
Thank you for posting such a beautiful and honest message! My experiences in life have led me to believe this also. When I slow down and tend to my own inner needs, keep my energy pulled in to “my own space” …. I feel like a rock star!! When I feel this way, others notice and ask what I’m doing. Then I take the opportunity to share the goods!
Love to you Kris!!
I agree!! 🙂
Life is not about suffering. We’re here to celebrate our lives. This means being true to who you are. Each of us was born here exactly the way we were supposed to be.
Being true to yourself and learning about yourself doesn’t come without pain. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Trust that everything that’s brought your way is there for a reason and ultimately for your benefit. Be open. Objectively study and observe what you’re going through. You’re in good hands.
The sooner you understand the suffering is a part of a bigger beautiful picture, the sooner you can turn it all into beauty. For yourself. For everyone.
Be true to yourself. Celebrate your life.
What a beautiful piece of writing–thank you!
I love you also. I enjoyed very much your article as it brings so many things from my past. I don’t fully agree with the suffering part. I believe that our physical bodies may suffer at different times, but never the Self. Sometimes the physical sufferings becomes an opening through which we see the bigger picture and helps us connect with the bigger Self.
I believe life on earth is possible without suffering.
Do you meditate?
I practice daily transcendental meditation as a source of connection to my larger self.
Razvan
Thank you for this very inspiring message. Your message triggered some AHA! moments for me. Thank you!
Kris, you are my mentor and every since I stumbled upon your Crazy, Sexy Diet book and read it front to back, started juicing and loving who I am, my life has improved significantly. I hope one day to meet you and feel the love in person. Thank you a million times over.
I feel freer having read this. This is my favorite thing I have read by you. What a gem. Love me and love you!
Thank you for sharing this. Love you, Pat
Beautiful article Kris, I have been thinking similar thoughts about New Year’s intention/resolution but with different words. Your article really touched me. Thank you.
Awesome post Kris! Almost one year since dia with BC and my journey has taught me to try and love myself and be patient with the life changes I have had. So many lessons learned this year how strong we can be when we are tested. Thank you for this reminder today!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this and YOU for putting it into words! My heart has been crying for this and I have prayed to God for this to come to me! Thank you – I feel like I cheated and took a short cut on the “path” to my healing and the beginning of the rest of my life!
I am in my mid 50’s and lost my mother this past Friday before Christmas – it has triggered many thoughts, unpleasant and many attempts to beat myself up for what I did not do while she was here in this world.
Thank you, I cried and I feel such release!
I have started with your cookbook – although not Vegetarian – my desire is to consume more plants this year and learn how to make them taste good. I am a beginner in the “chef” arena – but I am hoping to get past my fear of “failing” and throw the perfectionist in the toilet one last time!
I love you dearly!
Thank you for obeying that voice and sharing!!!!!
Ginny V.
I needed exactly those words this morning and I found them here. Thank you for sharing.
I really needed this reminder today. I especially love your thought on bearing witness to your suffering, acknowledging it, and the big key, for me, applying the lesson.
Been struggling with the same feeling – you are 100% on the mark! You have no idea how much it helps to see your blog and someone so successful and helpful to the world feel the same way. It’s all about what’s going on inside and taking care of ourselves 🙂
Hi Kris,
I’ve been happily reading your wonderful e-newsletters for years now, but only now have I been inspired to write you. I agree that life necessitates suffering. However, I believe some of us can choose between types of suffering and lend ourselves to an uplifting kind. So, in a likeness to muscle soreness from exercise that ultimately feels great, we can skew our suffering toward peak experiences. The quest then becomes discerning which peak experiences we’re ready to navigate through – each to our own, being that the ultimate one is inevitably death itself. And like dying in orgasm during sex, we can actually design our propensity to pass over in a state of Nirvana if we manage to fertilize and cultivate the environmental landscape wisely, lovingly and in awareness of a return to our source. This calls for skill in navigating the delicate balance between inner and outer reality, flying with one wing in each sphere of influence. While this proves to be complex and personally distinct for us as thinking primates, not only is there no higher calling, but it’s pretty much illusory to think that there’s any other one at all.
A heartfelt thanks for all the love. Back at you! —Raymond
Thank you Kris. It’s like you gave me permission to love myself first and be happy. I have been struggling for a bit and am slowly doing things for myself, to make me feel whole. And it’s working !
Thank you again, and keep up the good work that you do for all of us 🙂
Blessings,
Diane News
I love your blogs and all of your recipes. I have been diagnosed with mastocytosis, which essentially turns into a blood cancer in the body. I am following your advice to prevent the escalation of this dis-ease. Keep the good energy flowing! Much love and respect. Love you!
Keep writing from this place of love, Kris! It’s really good to read your texts after a hard year. 🙂
I think you are always such an inspiring soul Kris – thank you!!!
Great article. Truer words may have never been spoken.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is just what I need to hear today.
Thank you thank you Chief unicorn! What a beautiful idea and I am making it the subject of my morning meditation- something else I am trying to do for myself this year.
very well put. it’s an attitude that could have a large impact if more people applied it…
sweet relief. and glorious to ponder. I needed this. xoxo
Hi Chris, I thought that blog was great, thank you. My two favourite words at the moment are soft and slow, as soon as I say them to myself resistance within seems to abate.
Kris,
Thank you so much for yet another beautifully expressed piece of writing. That aching for “arrival”, the disease to please, and the martyrdom strip us of our essence, yet we cling to them desperately as though they were essential to our survival. You are correct: we have reached a critical time in humanity and in the words of Eckhart Tolle, “We must evolve or die.” May sound blunt, but it is the truth. The only way we can evolve is to learn to love ourselves and others unconditionally. The only time we suffer is when we fail to do this.
Light and Love,
Taylor
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I really needed to hear all of those things just now.
I received this blog from a friend of a friend. We had just been talking about finding meaning from within not from something outside ourselves. It was one of my 2013 reminders to self and others, in my blog post from Dec 30th. What a treat to read this today and be reminded once again. Validation and community are wonderful things 🙂
Hi
I have only just recently found your blog when looking for some more health blogs to add to my Google Reader and assist me in my journey to wellness. I was totally glued and found this post in particular very powerful. I am not only working on getting myself healthy–have some hormone issues I think or possibly insulin resistance, but I have been sucked into the idea of life’s purpose, primarily as I am not happy with my job and I feel like there is more to life. But thinking about the fact that life’s purpose is bigger than your job or other external things is a revelation because once you know yourself, you are working on yourself, you will bring opportunity your way and you will be ready to take advantage of it. Thanks, it was a great read for the start of 2013. I am looking forward to exploring your blog further!
Thank you so much. I couldn’t have read this post at a better time. It gives me the inspiration and strength to continue with my crazy sexy diet and to keep living my life fully and wonderfully. It’s not always easy but your words make it all a little more bearable. Thank you,
– Dunja
This was a beautiful post, and resonated with me into the first days of 2013. I’ve also been much softer on myself through the holidays and the turn of the year.
Part of being gentler with myself is, as you talk about here, pushing back on the idea that we don’t “have” to suffer.
Suffering is the first Noble Truth in Buddhism. We simply will suffer. The idea that we should somehow evade suffering with happiness or luck or manifesting or good intentions can actually lead us to be so hard on ourselves, to hold ourselves (and others) to impossible standards of a pristine, charmed life. I’ve held myself to these impossible standards of non-suffering even as I’m dealing with heartbreaking grief, illness, anxiety, etc. Not nice!
I agree that purpose enough is something more internal and emerging than external and fixed. Maybe purpose enough for me this year is working on accepting suffering and allowing life’s sadness to serve as a chance to be compassionate towards myself and others.
So beautiful and profound. Gave me goose-bumps, and a few tears!! Thank you for pointing me back in the right direction of my true purpose, of loving myself. I am so grateful for you!! Love you my sweet friend!!
I think you are onto something Kris. Think I will give it a try and see what happens.
Thanks for the wonderful ideas.
Ray
Excellent post! I can totally relate – thank you!
Beautifully stated, I couldn’t have said it better ; )
Thank you.
Kathy
p.s. Your new cookbook is wonderful and I gave it as Christmas gifts this year:)
This message is just the thing I needed to hear, and who else to hear it from than you, Kris Carr! I have been more concious lately on where I put my focus and attention, and people like you are the ones that remind others of their inner light – not leading them further away from it. A heartfelt thank you!
Thank you for posting this, Kris! Much love your way.
Dearest darling cherished Kris,
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. This is a brilliant piece of loving brilliance. I just love and appreciate you so much for this contribution. I needed this and my true Self recognized every bit of wisdom and truth in what you wrote, even though I didn’t realize that until I read your words. As I read, I could feel energy running in response, my energybody vibrating with love, all of mySelf saying, “Yes, yes, yes, THIS is It (one of the many, many Its). I knew this and here it is, articulated so beautifully. Yes!” I am all gratitude and love. You have served my spirit in a very important way. May my love and gratitude serve you in return.
Love, love love,
Deb in NH
Thank you! Beautiful post! It’s so amazing to read something so calming and loving.
Wonderful thoughts to begin a new year, a new me…that I love 🙂
Dear Kris!
These are the words I have been desperately looking for!
I am so gratefyl that I have met you! I love your blog and everything you do. Cause You DO change people’s lives!!:)
Ps. I also believe this year will be amazing.
Love, Kinga
“When our purpose is external, we may never find it. If we tie our purpose or meaning to our vocation, goal or an activity, we’re more than likely setting ourselves up for suffering down the line.”
I’m a philosopher. I’m counting on it. Suffering keeps me in business. The more miserable I am and struggling with an idea I wish to externalize the happier I am knowing I will be refuted down the line, but the more I struggle the better the idea and the farther down the line. Today’s truth is the incentive of tomorrow’s skeptic.
My feelings exactly. I am glad you could put words to express this so beautifully so I can share this message. Thanks you for this.
I wish I could hug this post! So beautifully written for a world obsessed with finding and living in a purpose… our very being and selves are beautiful enough!
I love it, thank you 🙂
Brilliant and beautiful! Thank you.Brilliabr
I just envisaged myself reading this to my future children. These words are true gems that I will read and re-read and pass on to all I know. Sending you an abundance of gratitude. You’re truly fabulous!
I just envisaged myself reading this to my future children. These words are true gems that I will read and re-read and pass on to all I know. Sending you an abundance of gratitude. You’re fabulous!
Interesting and want more!
Still struggling with this idea… and with myself
I feel like I have been really living this in the last few years Kris and I love the way you have articulated the journey for me 🙂 Just for me 😉 Thanks! Happy new year!
Wow Kris, you really were talking to me when you wrote this! I have been struggling with those feelings of low self worth because it didn’t feel that I was doing enough for others or myself and lately I have been feeling plain old tired and bitter. Not really sure of what I was feeling but what you said made me realize that I really don’t need to be down on myself feeling like I haven’t achieved enough in life and I should just get out of my bad mood and depression and focus more on being nice to others and love them all just the way they are and the fulfillment will come from a peace within me that allows me to just be myself as long as its a nicer and less resentful self.
A possible suggestion for the future… It would be fantastic if you could invent an automatic juice machine cleaner. I’m serious, that would be a total game changer. I have an automatic vacuum and it works wonders.
Well said. Thank you for your thoughtful words. I believe many people struggle with this and your article can provide some comfort and relief of the anxiety brought on by this issue. I’m truly astounded by your insight.
Thank you for the beautifully helpful and lyrical –“Sometimes folks will treasure your work, sometimes they won’t. Sometimes you’ll get the gig, sometimes you won’t…”etc. blog. It’s *exactly* what I’ve been feeling. After the sarcoma diagnosis in March 2011, I felt like the Buddha, surrounded by love and light, new ways (I discovered you and green juice:). It was great other than the lousy diagnosis. Year two was a mess. I felt enormous pressure to achieve something (wrote a novel years ago, had an agent, it was never published bla,bla, blah), and spiritual bliss it the brick wall. Now on year three I want to know who I am..well, basically everything you said. You’re better than the best. oo Nancy
Happy New Year sweet wonderful readers! I love you so so so much. Blessings for 2013. xo kris
Beautiful, insightful writing. Hits home and sounds true. Thank you for your clear thoughts on the most important question in life. This is a solid foundation on which to build my outer life.
With much gratitude and love.
Hi! thank you for sharing this. Great guidance!
This is so awesome. When I saw the words “finding your purpose”, I quickly raced to read what the ANSWER was going to be. And there is so much truth with how we all can be this time of year. With the rushing and the anxiety and the quest for perfection. (sigh)
When i got to the part where it said, what if your purpose is… I felt all my muscles in my body relax. I felt my shoulders FINALLY drop and i breathed a REAL sigh of relief. Isn’t it funny sometimes how much stress we put ourselves under without even realizing it? As I’m reading this all I can think of is the fact that I’ve done this to myself! And I think my very favorite part of reading anything you write, Kriss, is that I can always relax, for real, while I’m doing it. I’m allowed to forgive myself. Or understand why I feel some ways. I can be gentle with myself. I can take my time. These are such simple things that I can’t believe it’s so hard for me to realize sometimes. Yet, you make it so easy for me. I feel this way when I read your books too. And for this, I’m so thankful. It may not be your purpose, 😉 but you definitely changed MY life. Happy New Year to you!
What you said resonated so deep within me. What a difference my day would be if I only loved myself deeply and was gentle and kind. This will be my purpose in 2013. Thank you so much!
I LOVED IT KRISS!
RESONATING YOUR WORDS TO ME ONE MORE TIME 🙂
thank you darling,
-Guadalupe
Hi Kris! I LOVE your stuff and read all the emails I get from you. I have started juicing too! Bought a Hurom juicer from airmiles, I absolutely LOVE it and really recommend it to anyone! I make least a green drink a day, and am getting some great zits on my face to prove the cleanse is working…that might also be the beets 🙂 I have to say about purpose though that its not just about inside but also seeing what you want outside. I think what what you do for work is a reflection of yourself and therefore is part of your purpose. I think reflecting on ‘WHO’ you want to be is important in bringing your ‘purpose’ forth. It does begin inside but I think that you need to be looking at both places… LOVE you too 🙂 xox
You are beautiful Julie…inside and out! Love you! xoxo
Kris, thank you for opening up my mind & heart to “my purpose”! I love that my purpose & passion are 2 different things…sigh of relief 🙂 For me my purpose is to become more intimate in my relationship with Jesus Christ because only through Him do I have complete freedom in every area of my life. I am a cancer & coma survivor and have believed that “my purpose” was being a Christian Life Coach but now I am aware that is my calling. Thank You so much for this post!!
Kris, thank you for writing about what’s been on my mind lately…separating my purpose from my passions. I’ve been feeling more exhausted as 2012 trickles its last weeks, days, + hours away and really asking myself some deep, digging questions about my life through these dark days. I, too, have arrived at my purpose being deeply personal and internal; something I’m constantly immersed in. While my work may suit my purpose, my work is NOT the purpose that keeps me showing up.
Gratitude, Love, + Light
Brandi
Loved your post on ” the myth about finding your purpose’ thanks for writing it..
Beautifully put! Thank you.
The great paradox for me has been that the more in synch I get with myself, the more naturally my outside ventures flow. Once you start listening and healing the inside, inspiration just flows out!
xo
I have been following you for years, Kris. This, in my opinion, is the most important, profound, thing you have ever written. I will save it, forward it, re-read it, treasure it.
Thank you!
Yes, beautifully expressed and exactly when I am at ~~~ thank you for your ‘like-minded’ community
Love & Blessings to you
Nameste
Just came across this simple and yet powerful message. Thank you so much for sharing this wisdom…powerful and a true gift.
Wow….this couldn’t have come at a better time for me! Just dxed as Stage IV, worrying about having missed the chance to find my purpose. Thanks for helping me re-adjust my sails!!!
Kris… I absolutely love this. As someone who lives with chronic illness it offers and gives permission to change one’s thinking about self care. Thank you.
Happy New Year! Thank you so much, I love how well you could express this in words. These words of wisdom are truly a gift and great reminder. With loving kindness and gratitude. Visma
Kris, as a Christian & Psychologist who specializes in Career Counseling with people who have various disabilities, I regularly find myself having to remind my clients who often have a poor self-image and low self-esteem that Biblical teachings such as the “Golden Rule”
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, …” (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31) Or “…love you neighbor as yourself…” (James 2:8), is predicated on exactly what you are teaching when you advise that your purpose has nothing to do with what you do outwardly, but instead, everything to do with who you are inwardly. Well said!
You are one amazingly special lady. Thank you. So grateful for your words, so grateful to have discovered you!
Love it, will share on my Blog Raven Style
I’m so glad I click on the link that brought me here! Thank you for your wonderfully insightful words 🙂
Awesome blog post. I want to read/listen/watch more on this topic. Any idea of links to other blogs, youtube videos or podcasts etc?
I have been reading your blog for 2 years enjoying your books and this blog spoke to me in such a deep way. It is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you!
So great to find you ! Totally agree with the external purpose demands being fruitless etc AND great to find another place to spread among friends who without having had to confront cancer, have adopted vegetable-centred lives ! Thanks a lot
Kris – I am turning 65 in a few days and I want you to know that your message is without a doubt THE VERY BEST NEW YEAR’S message I have ever received.
I wish it was available in a more “printable” format because I am going to print it out and read it every day until I get it……….really, really, really………..get it IN MY BONES.
Thank you and blessings to you and to the work you love to do.
Chris
Kris, I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer recently, just before my 40th birthday. I lost my mother to breast cancer at the age of 55. I am 10 years younger than she was when she was diagnosed. I grew up knowing about the importance of a healthy diet and I’ve done pretty good all my years. After my diagnosis, I realized it was time to kick it up a notch or two and go completely plant-based. A friend brought me your book Crazy, Sexy Diet and I was hooked. Thank you! It is so nice to hear from someone my own age, someone I could relate to, and someone who had led the way for me and countless others. The fact that you have some sass (like me) makes it a fun read. You have done so much to help others, you really have no idea. Again, a profound and deep thank you. I hope you are well and I’m glad you recognize the importance of taking care of, and loving you. Sending lots of warmth, hugs, love, smiles and all the good ju-ju in the universe to you! Be well.
You are such a beautiful soul Kris, thank you for all the love and the wisdoms that love carries – we all feel it in the deepest level, touched and inspired. Send you love and Wish you a year filled with joy, love and passion!
Thank you Kris. I so hear you…..(exhale) 🙂
This is a brilliant and insightful article, Kris. It moved me. It reoriented me. Thank you so much for writing it. I adore you and your work. Happy Holiday xo
Kris! You rock! As a person who’s been searching forever! And everytime I’m in prayer and meditating with my HP, all I got the last several years was “love yourself.” Yet I knew to do that but questioned more, “…there’s something other than that so let me know what it is God.?.” Lol I got a detour and side tracked this beautiful morning to this article! And I know he’s finally hitting me with it loud and clear!:) I couldn’t be more in laughter this morning by having my aha moment and wanted to THANK YOU!! All the books I’ve boughten and researched to know what my purpose is when it’s been inside (tho I had an inkling) has been so I don’t even know how to explain it. Wasted but not wasted and you got it! Right on the mark!! Thank you!!!:) blessings Kris!! Inspiring! Much love!
Well said and ringing with a whole lot of truth. Thanks for the reminder and putting it so clearly. A perfect summation for the end of a turbulent and often totally chaotic 2012. This gives me a little glimmer of hope that the world is still wrapped in good intentions if not always resting in good hands.
Eloquent and true – I keep coming back to this again and again. Thank you.
Thank God for this good news Kris!!! You will be, have been and always are a beacon of light, lessons and teachings in my life! Thank God for you, me and all the rest….. <3
Kris Car… I love you.
Thank you Kris. You are always a breath of fresh air. All my love!
Hi Kris
I think you’re spot on. I’ve done a lot of research and pondering on this purpose path ‘stuff’ and have come to the same conclusion. As a niche coach I help people find their niche and have discovered how connected it is with your self worth and your purpose but I agree that if we connect our purpose to a job, business or specific thing we do we’re left high and dry when things change as they always do.
By discovering our bigger purpose and connecting that up in some way to what we do so it reflects that and not the other way around we are then able to develop or even change our career path without losing our deeper sense of purpose.
An example of this would be if your greater purpose is to bring more love into the world and heal yourself at the same time then that is something you can do through any chosen career or daily activity.
Hope that helps someone who’s stuck on this as it can be very confusing!
Love your new website by the way and happy new year. 🙂
Thank you for this blog. This has been a continuous internal battle with me over last few years. Finding my path; my purpose. I’m fairly intelligent and have been successful at my undertakings (work, hobbies, etc) but didn’t find that momentous artistic, spiritual PURPOSE that some of my friends seem to have found. I have a regular job; 8-5, with regular life responsibilities; no magic callings have knocked on my door. Your blog brings to me a reminder of the inspiration that one brings to others when she is truly energized, caring for herself, sparkling with health and positive energy. Others remember this person and are lifted by being in the presence of someone like that. A spark is ignited to be like that person; to achieve that same radiant aura. So, thank you. I used to be that vibrant person but have lost sight of the path to her due to other external measurements of my self worth. I appreciate your words and deeply connect and am in agreement with what you’ve written. Happy New Year!
Amazing! i just keep reading it over and over!
Good Kris…I wondered what u were gonna say when I started reading…and if u really got it. When I look at yr website, it’s beautiful and uplifting, but where is the real u…and it’s what u said….u got it….! The Buddist heart sutra is worth reading…no end to suffering and old age…but in the middle of all that…what do u find?…yrself. I liked another quote…(good ole Facebook), which goes something like your sole purpose in being here is just to b you. Nothing else…what u said…thanks for a good start to my day, tea and wisdom.
Amen Kris!!! Well said. I am going to forward this to my daughter who suffers from this very question, therefore allowing herself to self harm, use chemical and substances to hide behind and trudge through very frerquent boughts of depression and anxiety. Thank you for the inspiration.
What a beautiful post Kris! You’re right, suffering is not optional because without it, how will you be able to appreciate the wonderful side of your life? We MUST take care of ourselves and know ourselves first and foremost. If we don’t look after ourselves then how are we going to make a difference to others? Or succeed with our own goals?
There will ALWAYS be people who try to pull you down but that’s more a reflection of their life rather than something you’ve done in yours. If you’re wonderful to yourself and you do things that truly feel right and good deep in your heart then you’re on your true path.
Love to you Kris and everyone else on here, may 2013 bring us all love, the big V word and happiness.
Daz xxx
My wife was diagnosed in May with stage IV metastatic breast cancer 13 yrs after “beating” it the first time. I’ve been struggling with my purpose a lot these days. This was an excellent, grounding blog. I don’t love myself very much and I can’t be the support my wife needs unless I do. Thanks for these thoughts.
Thank you verry much Kriss!!! Just what I needed!!! Peace(from the Netherlands)
I LOVE what you wrote. Thank you :). And I wish you a beautiful and magnificent holiday season. Rock on, lady!!!
Wow and thank you. I love this blog – and it is only the second one I have read being a new subscriber and currently working through your book. I am a long term vegetarian, searcher of knowledge, body balance teacher, environmet officer etc and so your words I had read to date all rang true but this blog hit home for me. I have studied as an NLP practitioner, nutrional counsellor and yoga teacher as I leave my 20 year field of environmental conservation – in my search of my true purpose – and this blog really hit home for me. I now know why yoga is ‘home’ for me. In yoga the goal is enlightenment – or as you put it to be the light. I thought my purpose was to serve others trough yoga and teh charity work I am doing for environmental conservation but my purpose I now see is to become enlightened and in doing so I help others – big difference. THANK YOU!! I look forward to more words of wisdom from you
Bronnie
Perfect! This is exactly what I needed at just the right time. Thank you for all that you are doing <3
Folks are like plants, we all lean towards the light……..love that….went into my journal……….Thank you Kris.
<3 you too Kris!!
I came to the realization years ago that my purpose is in whatever I do – meaning, if I’m working in the corporate world (which at the time I was), my purpose is to be the best person I can be in whatever I did. My purpose wasn’t different at work than off work. My purpose was who I was. So following my intuition, doing energy healing work, working with the Angels, didn’t ‘turn off’ just because I walked through the corporate doors. My purpose is within every part of my being.
Sue
Thank you for talking about this. It is much needed.
Wonderful message and perfect timing. Thank you, Thanks you, Thank you.
This is great. I think there is so much pressure we swallow to find some sort of fantastic career that fulfills everything inside. I think looking for this is setting yourself up for failure. A life has so many aspects and all of them are important, even the small things that only you see. Sometimes I think we are looking for some big home run every time we get up to bat, and neglect to acknowledge that consistent base hits all count for something. Thanks Kris and happy new year!
This is such a beautiful and important message. The line that struck me the most was: “what if finding your purpose is about finding and nurturing yourself?” This spoke to me and is a message I am going to carry into the New Year. It is so refreshing and peaceful to not place the pressure on myself to map out the “perfect” 2013 and instead focus on my true purpose.
Kris, you wise witch. From where dost thou power spring?! That was a super-condensed , mega-charged, multi-nuggeted piece of ready-packaged life lessons. I’m reeling from it. I have struggled with separating my inners and outers and never really know where to anchor my self-worth. I know intellectually that pinning my self-esteem to the nomadic circus that is others’ belifes about me is foolhardy, yet I continue to do it. This piece about connecting with my inner light and letting go of the need for approval and recognition has an intelligence within it that can’t be ignored. You were in the zone writing this, fo sho.
I’m in Ireland, in a rural area and have nobody to share my Kris Carr passion with. You really need to consider spreading your wings Westwards. It’s lonely living here without other wellness groupies. I can’t imagine the joy of knowing more people like you. I use the internet for my fuel, and through you have become acquainted with that sassy businnes queen, Marie Forleo. Hell ya!
I just wish I could implement all I know and love about your teachings, and Marie’s. I’ll begin by taking advice from this blog post and using it to guide me through the year ahead, which I intend to make my healthiest ever. I have kicked a long and bitter battle with cigarettes and am finally free. Now I just gotta pick up your book, which I already own, and get down to it.
Wish me luck!!! I want this to be the year I cut the shi* and transform myself into the starlet I know I can be. Keep inspiring!!
Audrey xxxxx
Thank you for sharing this all important lesson. Gandhi is often misquoted as saying “Be the change you want to see in the world.” What he actually said was “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.”
It may seem to be self-centered, but we are here on Earth to work on ourselves. The only person we can truly affect is our own being. If in doing so we become a beacon of light or a mentor to others great, but not necessary. Our job, our only job is to be the best ME we can be. It is not about what we accomplish or who knows what we accomplish. It is about finding joy, peace, and the divine within.
I love how you say your job is your passion. It puts it into perspective as a transitory thing. I also agree with your point about suffering. I do not wish it on anyone, but maybe I do because the suffering often leads to the largest breakthroughs in our own growth.
Thank you for this message I needed to hear today. Blessings.
Talk about taking the pressure off! To stop worrying about what my ultimate life profession will be, and focus on my relationships makes so much sense. Your voice has guided me all week. Your advice puts EVERYTHING in perspective.
Your message came at just the right time. Just before the holidays I became unemployed, I had not yet to come to any sort of peace with my new status when my husband was hit by a truck while plowing snow and was badly injured. We spent most of Christmas in the hospital.
I am struggling to love this flawed person with whom I am forced to spend so much time. Your exhortation to be gentle with one’s self helps on so many levels.
Please keep up the great work!
Oh, I loved this so, so much. Thank you, Kris! A beautiful message from a beautiful person!
What a lovely post! This has lifted me up today. Thank you, Kris 🙂
Hi Kriss, You nailed it right on the head, I have been working on everyone of the points you raise and know you speak the truth, something I am also learning to do. The going is up and down, sometimes easy sometimes the hardest thing but I’m getting there slowly. Thank you so much for todays blog, it really has slipped everything into place for me & I know I’m on the right path.
Regards, Julie
Kris this is brilliant! I truely felt relieved! I had this thing going on in my mind for a long time now. Feeling so anxious about finding “my purpose”. The fact that our inner purposes are deeper than “what we do”, our hobbys and our passions; it just made me feel soooo darn good!! Thank you! So much! 2013 will be beautiful and simple! 🙂
I absolutely loved this post!!! Thank you so much for your insight, soul lifting and inspiring words. Being one involved in a small way as a healer and teacher, I have at various times been quite clear about knowing our real purpose, finding inner peace and love and thus become a more beneficial presence in the world but boy is it ever so easy to forget and get caught up in the ‘doing’ instead of being. I am re-inspired to re-connect with my own spirit and Creator, to plug in more regularly and be a bearer of light we all are intended to be and that which is our true Self with a capital S. Thank you Kris, you are a blessing and such a beautiful example of that light which I mention. Go well with love and joy now and for the new year!
OMGODDESS Kris. nail. head. hit it. So needed to hear this (read this). I have been working in this very thing. It is so interesting how we have to give ourselves “permission” to take care of ourselves. Truly love ourselves.
This blog post will give women that permission they are looking for. You are a platinum goddess my dear. Keep on. The world needs what you bring. I certainly do.
Incredible post… You have beautifully articulated exactly that on which I am focusing. Reading your post eased some of my anxiety and instead soften/surrender to the idea of loving me
Best post ever Kris, brilliant, profound!
I love your work, thank you for sharing.
This post has helped me reevaluate a very traumatic situation in my life so I can now move on to a deeper love, undestanding and forgivness for myself. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Man did I need to hear that!! My boyfriend has been trying to help me to do this, but he has been very pushy about it. Of course, just like a child would, I immediately get defensive and shut down when I’m pushed in that way.
I’m not sure how to stop connecting my self-worth to my craptastic job, or how to forgive myself for spending so much money on art school, and STILL ending up at a job I hate. That was the whole point in going to college!!! I am struggling, and unsure HOW to go about accomplishing this idea of self-love and self-forgiveness, but reading this might just be a good start.
This resonnates a lot to me right now, the quest that i heroically and tragically pursue. This quest isn’t a struggle anymore if instead i focus on my well-being.
Thanks a lot for writing that.
Wish you the best,
XX
Thank you, Kris. Thank you for trying to find the words, or for just using your voice, your style, to try to get this message of “self-love” through to us. I can’t believe how long I have been ‘seeking” and I am just now realizing how I have been practicing the opposite of that since I was very young (I am in my 40s). I really appreciate this blog entry. All the best to you in 2013!
Amen, Crazy Sexy Sister! Thank you for your beautiful words and your even more beautiful spirit!
Kate
Hi Kris,
I really appreciate this blog because it’s so easy for us to get so caught up with whatever it is that we are doing that we can lose ourselves in the process. Going within is what gives us real meaning and connection to all life and light starting with our own.
I was reminding myself of this very fact a couple of weeks ago when I was getting all swept up with some new possibilities for my future that I was beginning to lose sight of staying focused within.
By the way I saw you at the Hay House convention in Pasadena and you were fantastic! (I was the shout out to you, lol) Your speech was one of the highlights of the entire convention.
Warm Regards,
Sherry
Great post and always a timely subject.
I learned (and continue to) the most about purpose from Ekhart Tolle. He has a way of simplifying things and citing original sources and teachers for spiritualism (to look up for yourself) and does it with amazing humility. I re-read his books all the time as well as Deepak’s. This is from his website:
“…how an awakened consciousness aligns us with our life purpose. We have both an inner and an outer purpose, according to Tolle. Our outer purpose changes with circumstances and necessarily involves time, whereas our inner purpose remains always the same: It is to be absolutely present in whatever we do and so let our actions be guided and empowered by awareness, the awakened consciousness, rather than controlled by the egoic mind. We fulfill our destiny and realize our purpose when we awaken to who we are: conscious Presence.”
My focus/ prayer like Kris’s and others is simple, to trust myself including my own inner guidance. I don’t worry about purpose. I practice trusting I’m where I’m meant to be at any moment and doing my best. Maybe if I live to be a ripe old age I will see my purpose. Here’s hoping we are ALL that blessed!
Here is the link if you’d like to read more (I’m not connected to him/them in any way, just a fan)…
http://www.eckharttolle.com/article/Awakening-Your-Spiritual-Lifes-Purpose
Thank you Kris-I have struggled with trying to find my purpose after cancer and feeling like I was falling short. Your words have inspired me to look further/deeper inside myself and just exhale and let go.
Thank you Kris, I really really needed that.
Thank you very much for this wonderful blog that has inspired me to focus a little more love for myself and understand that that’s okay.
I listen to others and give advice on self-love and self-acceptance, but now, with your words, I realized that I must apply myself these tips.
Thanks again and I wish you a wonderful 2013.
P.D: I wish your books were sold in Spanish
✨Peace and Exhale✨ ~ Thank you Kris! What a beautiful, timely message for us all. The best gift this Christmas from my daughter, miles away, was a heartfelt, emotion filled conversation about your post……your message. You so beautifully articulated the message to my daughter (AND her mother 🙂 Thank You Thank You Thank You for being one of our greatest teachers. Blessings of Aloha ✨
“Peace and Exhale” ~ Thank you Kris! What a beautiful, timely message for us all. The best gift this Christmas from my daughter, miles away, was a heartfelt, emotion filled conversation about your post……your message. You so beautifully articulated the message to my daughter (AND her mother 🙂 Thank You Thank You Thank You for being one of our greatest teachers. Blessings of Aloha ✨
What a great thought to wake up to. I have been struggling with this lately and it so nice to get an affirmation like this. Thank you! Definitely need to hear this today.
Your words resonate with me so much. All of my adult years I have been trying to “find myself” and my purpose and at 56 yrs old I finally realize I was never lost. I’ve spent my life caring for others now I realize that it’s my turn to receive (by giving it tom myself) all the love and care I have been giving away.
Thanks for your wisdom. It brings tearst to my eyes 🙂
Dear Kris,
thank you for this post. You are very wise. This is so refreshing.
Lately (longer than lately 🙂 I’ve been struggling with what am I supposed to do now that I’ve finally put some focus on my art, creativity, singing… I am a scientist but I dont like it anymore. I am dying for some beauty, purpose, passion but when I focus hard on my hobbies beauty dissapears and the things that used to make me feel good seem to become something I MUST pursue in order to make my living meaningfull and be true to myself.
Your words about suffering give me consolation. I feel that some difficult parts of my life have given me wisdom but still there is that feeling “I should have been able to know how to avoid it”.
It’s so good to know that I am not alone.
I love you Kriss! 🙂
Love from 1/3 of the globe away 🙂
I couldn’t have loved this post more. As I noted in response to someone else, it actually made me cry. I’m 26, still living at home, single, and working at a dead end job that I do not like. On Friday, I had an interview at a job that will open so many amazing doors and I’m just crossing all my fingers and toes that I get the job. I know that it will make a hugely positive change in my life. But still, as Kris points out, that’s all external. And if I don’t get the job, there are still things I can do to positively change myself. I definitely needed to read this amazing post and appreciate every single word.
It’s so easy to spread negativity these days. All it takes is a quick status update on Twitter and Facebook and hundreds of people have read your negativity. After the tragedy of Sandy Hook and with the new year upon us, I have vowed to change that within myself. When you focus on not complaining and not spreading negativity, you really realize how often your mind goes to the negative! And how much effort it takes to switch over to the positive. One of my main focuses is to make it much, much easier to focus on the positive instead. I think it will definitely help toward finding that inner purpose.
Thanks again Kris!
Beautifully said! It’s so refreshing to hear the advice of putting your own house in order first, being happy, healthy, whole, and then allowing life to unfold as to purpose. Thank you for your sweet example of a human “being” rather than “doing”. 🙂
First off…I love your blog and site (and books) since finding you online!
I hardly ever respond to any posts or articles that I read. But this time is so different to me….it completely hit home to something I’ve been struggling with. Your line “Your purpose has nothing to do with what you do. ….Your purpose is about discovering and nurturing who you truly are, to know and love yourself at the deepest level and to guide yourself back home when you lose your way” completely hit home for me on so many levels. I’m a mother to three little boys (6 yrs old and 3 yr old twins), a wife, researcher at a cancer center, dietitian, and going to back school for nursing. I try to find my purpose in all the activities I’m doing in each of these roles, but your message makes so much more sense….find it within and then it will radiate out into each of the facets of your life.
I am curious though how you and other readers here react to when those close to you (family and friends) have a hard time accepting when you make changes to love yourself more in order to find your purpose (ie. eating healthier, taking time to do things like exercise, mediate, etc). I’m finding that I get made fun off or have sarcastic remarks made to me by people close to me as I’ve adopted a vegan diet and experiemented with different self-care practices like meditation. Any suggestions with how to respond with the negative responses I’m getting would be so much appreciated.
And thank you in so many ways for the wonderful work you do. You do make a difference!
Simply say ” this is what works for me”. Then they are forced to look at what they are doing and evaluate if what they are doing works for them.
Wow!
Thanks a lot for your great great reminder about this.
That the exteral purpose is not the real one but the inside.
I got that clear when I was finished with my treatment for lymphomacancer 5 years ago.
I realized what is important in life and that´s my guide from then.
I have come to respect and listen to my body in an another way.
Thanks for all your inspiration and all your great efforts of giving a helping hand.
I´m so grateful for all you do for (me) us.
I wish you the best 2013.
Love
Madelaine
Sweden
Oh. My. God. Where have you been all my life????? I was trawling my FB feeling sick with the flu and more “lost” than usual, and saw the link from a friend to your words here: very timely. I am going to print this and stick it on my wall, at work and at home. Thank you!
This is spot on! Thank you so much Kris for sharing your amazing insights and vulnerability so beautifully. This is perfect timing for me considering a new career direction next year helping others yet there is still more work to do on myself first.. I’ll now make that the priority. Thanks again. Peace, light and love.
I’m glad I didn’t read this post right away. I feel like the Universe was guiding me (through feeling like I had to do other stuff first) to wait until tonight. Although it’s been a hard year with a bitter divorce, and I was hoping the holidays would just not happen this year, the festivities are now over for me and I’m home by myself and feeling really down. And then I read this post. It’s going to be the topic of my journaling tomorrow.
I have ADD. Didn’t get diagnosed until I was 40, and I have spent my entire life defining myself by what I didn’t get done. And if I could only get more done, I’d be OK. If I do, I’m OK, if I don’t, I’m not. Your post seems like it just might light the way to healing from all that shame. It makes me think of Evelyn Underhill’s “The Spiritual Life.” She says that “Doing, wanting, and having must be transcended, and encompassed by Being if any of these other three verbs are to be productive or effective.”
Dear Kris,
I think the greatest gift I got this year was finding you, Gabby B and Marie F. Thank you for all you do.
Much Love,
Larissa
I was asking myself that very question the past few days. I coud not figure out what kept driving a sense of loss and feelings of hopelessness. I realized after reading your blog I was thinking too much about what I do as it relates to purpose. I forgot to be kind and gentle with my self care the past few months and I am feeling depleted. My goal for 2013 is do more traveling and love myself more often through slowing down and doing what I love. Thank you.
We LOVED Dr. Pearson!! The only reason why we left his ptaircce is because we moved out of state. Dr. Pearson is very knowledgeable. He explains things in a way that even my kids can understand. I have a boy with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, and he had a ton of anxiety about going to the dentist. Dr. Pearson was very good with him, and helped him feel safe. We recommended Dr. Pearson to all our friends!
This is an exceptional read… you are exceptional… Thank you
p.s. I’m exceptional =)
Wow! Thank you! Hits very close to home. You truly make such a difference. Merry Christmas!
Awww Kris! So well said and appropriately timed. Thank you for being you and for putting yourself out there for others like me to lean into your light. And for giving me “permission” to shine mine. You have been a big part of my 2012 and I am looking forward to a healthy, joy filled, loving, laughing & vulnerable 2013. Much love to you & yours! xoxoxo
Thank you Kris for the loving reminder…
I did a work shop that was about ‘finding your purpose.’ The magic I took from the course connects to what you are have shared.
We are taught to believe that we have a single purpose… do we have a single purpose OR 🙂 is it possible to live a purposeful life?!?!
Therefore… how do I choose to live everyday? For example, for me a purposeful life would be one in which I am cultivating the ability to be open, loving, authentic, curious and a connected presence. This is how I can focus and purposefully show up to all moments of my life… our careers etc are part of journey.
I love this quote from Magnetic True North Story by Julia Butterfly Hill:
“Now imagine living your life “ON PURPOSE.” Realizing that your true power does not come from outside sources, but rather from who you are BEING and what you are choosing. In this space you are powerful enough to cause your world to line up to you! In this space YOU are the magnetic true north on the compass, calling and causing your life to match you in manifesting your life’s dreams, passions, and purpose.”
Much love!
You really plugged into something here. This resonates so much with me–and obviously so many of your other readers. I will take this with me into the new year. Thank you!
YES Thank you Kris, Merry Christmas 🙂 <3
Thank you Kim! I have been struggling with this a lot in the last few months. I have been getting this message in various otherways…but not as well written as you just did. This blog really hit home for me. I sold my business ( for several personal reasons) of 8 years doing what I thought WAS my passion. I have in many ways been grieving my loss and trying to find the silver lining, as well as wondering now “So what IS my passion?!” So thank you for this wonderful gift you gave to us today! It finally has sunk in how to find it!
I meant to say that I have been wondering what is my passion and purpose. So you have now answered how to find my purpose. And I do believe that when I awake to my purpose that my passion will once again show itself clearly.
Thank u for this Christmas present <333333
Your words are my Christmas gift.
Blessings to you and your love ones.
Danielle
Thank you for this awesome blog post Kris!
I think this conversation about “finding our life purpose” and making happiness our primary function is so timely and important right now. It wasn’t until I accepted and embraced all of me, all of my desires and all of my talents and abilities that miraculous opportunities opened up for me and now I feel it’s my calling to guide and support others on the path of their life purpose. I write about this topic a lot on my website and it’s also a major part of the coaching calls with my clients.
Thanks again for this beautiful message and let’s all set the intention to take loving care of ourselves! That’s such a huge part of living on purpose.
What a lovely present to unwrap on Christmas Day! Thanks for sharing your beautiful insights. Peace & Love from the inside out <3
Wonderful!!!! Just what I needed! THANK YOU! Many Blessings in 2013
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This is EXACTLY what I needed to hear today. You are a blessing. Love to you too.
Struggled with this al lot, and a whole lot lately. Found a very vague aha! taking a shower yesterday. About how it’s not in the doing, but in the being. How it’s in what is going on within and how that spreads out with everything you say, you do, the glance in your eyes. Yes!!! But what does that really mean? This morning I read your Blog and the aha! comes very clear now. Thank you! It’s hard to keep this focus though, the world makes you (want to) think so different. We really need to help each other with this.
Wonderful and inspiring post. I will be sharing this with many. XO
Kris, thank you for this stunning and liberating piece of online literature. I don’t know how you know what I always need to hear, but you are more to me than a wellness expert, and this is more than just a health blog. You’ve changed my life for the better so many times already, and now you’ve done it again. Merry Xmas, my dude. You rule.
This is beautiful, thank you!
Upon reading the first sentence, “….. being softer, kinder, slower with myself” even amidst feelings of anxiety~ well, you nailed both my longing (an intense pull towards finding a way to inner peace and calm) and my all-too-often current state of mind (anxious). I rarely read/hear words or insights shared that speak to me so personally, and am so grateful to have read your words tonight. Yes, yes, of course, there it is : “Your purpose is about discovering and nurturing who you truly are, to know and love yourself at the deepest level and to guide yourself back home when you lose your way.” To wake up and know that truth each day, and live my moments through the day with that at my core~ this is the most worthy aim I can think of. I know it influences both my actions (whatever it is I do, big or small) as well as my perspective in the most profound ways~ that nebulous knot in my stomach that I can’t even pinpoint dissolves and all of a sudden I breathe deeper, I look people in the eye more, I smile inwardly and outwardly more, my interactions with others are more genuine, things I do/say/create feel more inspired. ~ Makes me feel radiant in a kind of ineffable way because it comes from my core. I’ve found myself in these moments of grace, too infrequently, but I’ve known such moments. Your words today make this state of being more vivid for me, and are like a spiritual hug that I didn’t even realize I was aching for!
You’re a beautiful soul, Kris~ Thank you for shining your light, which I see as this gorgeous bright Qi ball drenched in honesty, courage, vulnerability, insight, love, openness~ I could probably go on but will just end with a grateful *sigh*. Peaceful, love-filled holiday to you.
Wow. Unbelievable how timely this is. Thank you for taking the time to write and to share. You are such a good and loving teacher, just by being YOU…. Happy Holidays, Kris. T
I love you too!
I think you`re amazing. Being amazing without having that as a main goal is such a gift. Take care of yourself during this holiday. You are such a big gift for yourself and all of us. Much-much love from Norway
Kris, I have my furry child on my belly and tears streaming down my face. Your light really does lead our lights to where they need to be. Thank you with all the grace and gratitude I possess. My heart is full and my feet grounded, and I love you.
Perfect! Thank you! I want to read this to EVERYONE I know!
Sending you great big Cyber HUGGGGGGS!
I like this blog so much – it feels peaceful and right and doable. I think the ego ties us to a material achievement/purpose. This helped me so much today – I was struggling with this earlier then went running in nature and felt at peace then felt like I shouldn’t feel that because I would lose my inner conflict about finding my purpose. But what if me feeling good was the purpose and by me feeling good it leads to everything – that is so much simpler and I’ve thought of this before but it has felt too easy or narcissistic – but I always feel good when I look at things this simply. So thanks – I’m rambling now so I’ll sign off – Merry Christmas!!! xoxo
I love this. I have been trying to figure out who I am, or what I’m supposed to be doing, by deciding what external thing I truly am for *years*. I think I kindof knew better, but I’ve been trying to figure out whether the real me is a writer or an artist or a somatic-emotional healer, or a whatever, for so so long. None of these things is me. I am not one of them, or even all of them. I am something else. The things I do are things I do – what I think I may categorize under my inspired mission, or what I need to do, or what makes my heart sing. Any of which may or may not change. Your purpose is discovering and nurturing who you truly are. That feels really different. Thank you.
I really enjoyed this article because it made me think. I really see where you are coming from and I connect with it. Thank you for the food for thought. It really takes loads off of your shoulders if you look at purpose this way. Self care ALL DAY!
Lovely, I have had this question written in my journal for months now….”Have we misplaced purpose?” Thank you for the reminder that our purpose on this planet has less to do with our doing and more to do with our being. xoxo
Ahhh, so true, Kris! THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Recently read a solstice prayer that suggested reconnecting with your inner light as well as celebrating the return of the outer light. Loved it. Many blessings!
Waves of deep resonance flood through my Being with you on this Kris. Thanks for sharing your Soul’s radical authenticity with so much trust and love. The more I follow my heart & bliss and grow into being an inspiration and service to those who choose to include my facilitation in their journey of self-healing, the deeper I meet my own Soul’s call for radical self-love, forgiveness & compassion on every level of life…just so that I can experience the gift of the present moment, one breath at a time….and the magical synchronicity, healing and peace that seems to unfold from this simplicity.
For I am not a ‘perfect’ model to my idea of ‘world’ expectations! This projection truly stops me in my tracks, as it takes way too much energy, yet brings to awareness that I was playing a variation of fear out in the background of my mind. I have progressively discovered, experientially, that continuously being open to receive radical love & compassion in response to when I feel I don’t know how to receive it, HEALING HAPPENS. What a joy to be alive and embodied.
It’s been easy for me to believe that you have all the answers and are sure of all things at all times because of your wonderful writing and great knowledge, but your honest, evolving words today reminds me that you too are still on this human journey subject to the ups and downs, certainties and questions, reflections and modifications that we are all experiencing. It inspires all of us that we all relate to each other and I am so happy I discovered you. ps….I recommend the book Simple Abundance to coincide with searching for one’s authentic self. pps….I wish you were my next door neighbor.xo
Kris thank you for this beautiful post. It was definitely exhale worthy and touched a part of my soul that needed to hear it. This line especially resonated with me: ‘What if your purpose is to release all shame and feelings of unworthiness?’ Lately I’m finding that getting in touch with my vulnerability is exactly what I need to release my own feelings of shame and anxiety.
There is strength in vulnerability and instead of running from it, I am choosing to run towards it. Thank you for your wonderful words of wisdom and Happy Holidays! xo
Loved it. Thank you.
I’d personally change your first bullet point to:
“What if your purpose is to build an everlasting relationship with GOD? To fall deeply in love with GOD?”
Once I did that, everything else fell into place. You will love yourself, because He loves you. You will forgive yourself and others, because He did first. We cannot be whole until we fill the God-sized hole in our hearts. Nothing else will fit, no matter how hard we try to force it. God is LOVE. <3
Wonderful. Thank you.
Oh beloved Kris ~ your is like a “blogasim”! – I am giving you the big “when harry met sally” YES! YES! YES!
So gooooood, so true, so real, SO so important. Life has taught me this in a tough way this year – as my vocation has been on hold (laid off is another term) I am near broke but rich in essential wisdom and comfort knowing what really IS – what IS this Consciousness that forms this being – its schway big. It is also comforting to hear this from someone who seems to be gleaming in the big “calling” flow of life … so if my vocation moves back to more “widgets” in order to feed my fam vs. “big” service – I know my true being purpose will be honored and blissed out wherever I am! xoxo thx!
The writer Jay Parini recently tossed out a rather insightful phrase: “our ego-drenched understanding of reality”. Our ego is all about our goals and accomplishments and external ambitions. It comes down to a simple thing really: will you let your real Self be in charge for a minute?
It is hard to set aside all these external things from which we seem to draw our value. But it’s all false. There are a few (a VERY few) people like you, Kris, who can regularly speak to the masses and yet be clear that you are not your fame. There are a lot of famous people doing good work, but they are merely helping people move from first grade to second. The world is aching for some post-graduate professors. In fact, the famous teachers are in aching need themselves for some higher learning.
Will the rank and file grasp what you are saying here? Maybe not. But power to you for saying it because some will. Where else will they hear it? When the student is ready, the teacher appears. May we all rise when it is our turn, whether as the student or as the teacher.
Thank you Kris, for your blog, your inspiration, your clarity.
It brings me courage and strength, and returns me to ‘me’ – whomever Iam.
Love and hugs,
Suzanne
Thank you, Kris. I really needed this. Being single on Christmas is no sweet treat. Love to you too! I definitely lean toward your light. xo
What do I think……I think that, besides the obvious fact that you are a beautiful soul, you have written truely, beautiful words! I am so moved…I love your article.
Thank you for this…..so timely!
(On a personal note, after reading about your juicing…I went out and bought myself a juicer!! I absolutely love it…..I make green juices for company….they kinda look at me quizzically…..but….they are surprised at how much they love it too! )
Thank you Kris Carr…love you too 😉
Kris
Thank you for writing this. Six month ago I started an online business helping people heal their digestive issues like IBS. When I started this work I was on a spiritual high because I was so in love with what I was doing and finally found my purpose. But thank you for the reminder that it is not about healing and pleasing others so much as it is about healing and pleasing yourself.
Truly healing yourself can heal others because we are all connected and that healing energy will radiate out to help and support others.
Thank you for this lovely inward reflection during this special, reflective time of year!
This might be the most meaningful blog post I’ve read all year and it touches on all the stuff I’ve been thinking about as we head into the New Year. Nose to the stone with the same old career ambitions is not going to work for me anymore. Thank you for a warm, heartfelt post that points the way to a better and more meaningful way to be. Happy Holidays, Namaste and all the rest!
Thank you Kris, for this great post and everything else.
Merry Christmas and warm wishes for 2013.
Kris,
Thank you for writing this reminder. Six months ago I started my health coaching business. I help people heal digestive issues like IBS. This felt like a spiritual calling and I too thought “finally I have found my purpose” but the purpose really is to heal ourselves totally so we can heal others in the process. We are all connected so healing ourselves emotionally, physically and spiritually will help support other people to heal themselves.
Perfect. As someone who has been looking for her purpose you words and comforting, inspiring and so well timed! Thank you for all you do!
Thank you Kris. I LOVE the lenses you use to view life!!! Your message is just what I needed to hear today.
I struggled with similar questions for a long time. Purpose? Calling?
I realized they are not the same thing. It helped me to think…
Our purpose is our why
Our passion is our who (who we are)
Our calling is how our purpose and passion fit into the big picture.
I’d say our purpose is all we need for a reasonably happy life. Our calling is dynamic and changes over time but it is how we use our passion to deliver our purpose…to manifest our identity to the world.
I’m actually writing my doctoral dissertation on this very thing (purpose/passion/calling) and how we integrate, develop and deliver the three of them.
I love you too, Kris.
Thank you for all you do.
You are my hero. That is what I think. Thank you for making my day. Finding you was the greatest gift that I received in 2012.
A million light filled Christmas hugs to you!
So true.. So true! I read this at the right time. Thank You!
Love and Power for 2013!
Your dog is awesome! I want to give her a vegan dog treat. Happy holidays!
Dear Kris,
Your blog post struck a chord with me today. I, too, have had an intimate and layered experience with suffering. I have lived with an undiagnosed chronic illness for the last 7 years. I used to be an active, “outdoorsy” girl, who paddled class IV rivers in a kayak, skied the bumps like a champ, and ripped it up on my mountain bike. I love to play in the dirt. Then I got sick…really sick. I could barely leave the house for 4 years. Doctors were dumbfounded and kept making me sicker. So, I turned to other healing methods.
Over the last 3 years, I have been focusing on nutritional healing, herbal remedies, and detox programs. I have regained some of my life, but have still been coping with a variety of symptoms, including fatigue and neurological issues. Just this month, I received the best Christmas present that I have ever had – a diagnosis. I learned that I have chronic Lyme disease. Knowledge truly is power and gives me a new focus on my healing journey.
As you know, there are tremendous lessons within our suffering. And, I too, believe that suffering is essential to the human experience and to our personal growth. People do not change until they have to. People often do not learn the essential lessons of their lives until they are forced to. Like you, my illness has led me to my life’s work – helping to bridge the gap between Western Medicine and alternative healing methods. I have a Biology degree, an R.N. degree, and I love to write. I am working on telling the stories of people who have healed themselves from chronic illnesses for which they were told there was no cure. Like the food movement, I think that consumer demand will drive change, so I am going to help get those stories into the mass consciousness. But, your post makes me rethink the idea of that being my purpose.
As you said:
“Seriously, what if finding your purpose is about finding and nurturing yourself?”
“What if your purpose is to develop an everlasting faith in yourself? To remember your holiness and treat yourself accordingly. The deeper your faith gets, the stronger your connection to a higher power.”
Here’s a a few of the lessons that I have learned from a journey that took away so much of my life and then gave so much back to me:
1. I learned to respect the feminine contributions to the world, because I became a stay at home mom – something I never thought I would do.
2. I learned to nurture my children in a way that I may never have learned if I had been able to continue my fast-paced way of living.
3. I developed a true appreciation and need for my girlfriends.
4. I found GOD.
5. I realized that I am not my ego.
6. I learned about real wellness and healing.
7. I learned about food.
8. I started finding people like me – women who fight the good fight, bridge the gap, speak up ELOQUENTLY for what makes us healthy and whole.
9. I learned to trust intuition.
10. I learned to have faith in MY journey.
The list could go on forever and continues to grow. Perhaps learning those lessons IS my purpose. I have always loved to learn and been pushed toward personal growth. There is tremendous peace and satisfaction in the thought that by learning those lessons, I am fulfilling my ultimate purpose in this lifetime.
Thank you, once again, for your wisdom.
Love and light,
Shawnie
beautiful, thank you
Bless you Kris! You came to this understanding at a much younger age than I. You will help so many with this blog. You are such a gentle, wise spirit. Your light has connected with the light of so many others!
Thank-you. I have struggled with the whole purpose thing to the point of severe anxiety in recent years. I’ve been so afraid that I will not find my purpose and the years will just wash over me and I will grow old never having found my purpose. Popular culture puts so much pressure on us to “find our authentic self” and “live our purpose.” While I believe in this I also find it can be another huge undone task on the list and yet another way to make me feel not good enough.
I am going to print the last bit of your article and put it up somewhere where I will see it often to remind myself what is important.
Thank-you and Merry Christmas and Happy 2013 to you!
I think that you are incredible and I would love to come and give you a huge hug right now! Thank you very much for your beautiful words for they could not have come at a more needed moment. Lots of love, I wish you all the best and better yet in this special celebration season. You truly are a gift! Thank you!
Thank u. This is right on
How timely – thank you Kriss.
Might be the best gift received for Christmas:) Happy Holidays everyone!
Hi Kris
I couldn’t agree more with what you have said. And you said it all so incredibly eloquently!
I do confess tho, that I did JUST learn this idea of our purpose actually being to love ourselves and cherish ourselves as we would anything or anyone on the outside, be it nature, our parents, our lovers or children.
So now I know my purpose and am working on it. I’m pretty sure it’s a lifetime worth of work that only gets better. And little did I know that I actually have been working on this my entire life.
And my mission, well, that is the easy part, isn’t it 😉 Step one, build website, step two, get clients, step three, service them with all my heart.
Thank You Kris Carr, you are a beauty I cherish.
Enjoy your holidays 🙂
Kim
Christmas has come early! Thank you so much for these words Kris. I’ll enjoy re-reading this post often. Wishing you & all your readers an anxiety-free & blissfully peaceful Christmas xxxx
thanks kris … you’re such an enlightened soul. we lean towards your light, and you are always welcome to lean towards ours as well. merry christmas.
There is no greater gift we can give the world than to love ourselves unconditionally. Merry Christmas to you Kris!
Boy, did YOU hit the nail on the head!! Well said and beautifully written! Thank you.
This is one of those posts that really is a game changer – as someone already mentioned below. I’ve been soul-searching for my purpose for a long time now and really struggling with not really knowing what my purpose is. I’ve always felt like a jack of all trades, master of none. So reading your words – “Your purpose has nothing to do with what you do.” and “When our purpose is external, we may never find it.” – really helped me. Thank you. This is really exciting!
Thank-you Kris Carr,
I so needed to hear that.
Blessings always to you and your loved ones.
Miriam
Your words for today are a beautiful gift and just the message I needed to read. Thank you!
LOVE this one dear sister. thank you for a radical and honest love filled description of our True purpose. gorgeous. love you
xo, Christine
Thank you thank you thank you! These were exactly the words I needed to hear today and after these past few weeks. Thank you for also sharing the human side of these truths too. They are beautiful ideas, but in practice they can feel messy and impossible at times. It’s reassuring to know that it’s a process, not an end game! I hope your holidays are filled with LOVE and peace!
We used to say that experience is the best teacher but the tuition is high. This implied we should not have experiences and it is better to learn from others. Perhaps at times, but I have come to feel that experience is the ONLY teacher and the rest is merely hearsay. Very nice article. As a former pastor, I have buried a lot of indespensible people and those who were too busy to die. uh huh…:)
BEST BLOG EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you! : )
Hi Kris,
As usual, beautiful, tender and vulnerable wisdom from a woman who has done a lot of work on herself. Thank you for sharing!
Erin
Love, love, love this post! It is both gentle and powerful and exactly what I needed to hear. Your writing is a great gift this Christmas Eve.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your brilliant insight. I have struggled to find my purpose my whole life. This last year I have made great strides towards finally just ‘being happy’. Staying in ‘spirit of play’ about life, laugh, enjoy, find things I’m passionate about and doing more of them, ,being grateful …and like you said – discovering me, taking care of me and being a happier person that can then do a far, far better job of helping others.
I saw your interview with Marie Foleo (name?) and loved the idea of rather than finding your passion – put passion into what you are doing.
And now this – brilliant. It’s reminds us that we are spiritual beings, and our growth is senior to any of our activities. You made me realize that this is something I started doing this year that has made a huge difference for me. I love ah-hah moments – probably more than anything else- and I love helping others have their ah-hah moments and watching them light up. A recent change I made – but wasn’t fully aware of until your article – I started to truly appreciate any negative people/events that came my way – realizing that they were there to either teach me something and/or help me appreciate the good in my life. You can’t have light without dark, so the ‘bad’ just helps make the good greater!
I think this article does a great job of clarifying an area that has had people very confused – and on the wrong tract – and therefore not able to succeed. I now realize that the way it’s been presented – finding your purpose – has really set people up for a loss. (unintentionally – but it’s been grossly misunderstood).
Thank you again for the insight – I feel now that I’m finally clear on my purpose – and can finally relax about that, and just go out and put passion, humor and joy into my life and the lives of those I hope to help.
Absolutely beautiful… Honest… Real. Reading this meant so much to me. Thank you, xo
Perfect timing. A really brave call u made here. U is a good girl…
Hallelujah and Amen!
Wonderfully written Kris! This deeply resonates with me, thank you so much for taking the time to write. Its how I live my life, although not always. I think we have to come to a realization that we will never be happy if we are trying to find happiness from other people, material objects, and how well we can conform to society. On the other hand I am so thankful for those awkward years of struggling to be accepted. Those years taught me (and still teach me) what doesn’t work.
Love and Light! <3<3<3
Dear Kris,
Thank you for this beautiful present. I may print it and reread it every morning. Merry Christmas and a joyous 2013 to you.
I love how you separate out your business/job/passion-fueled hobby from your purpose. I’ve stressed myself out a lot by trying to make my purpose the same thing as my business and it’s been challenging. As I started to realize that I was very clear on my purpose (learn how to love, cherish, and honor myself–what i call “being my own boyfriend”) while also being very clear on my business/job (helping people apply to graduate school), I’ve realized that my task is to LIVE my purpose, and that is an all-day everyday journey–not something that is going to necessarily translate to a job or a business. I wrote a book called Be Your Own Boyfriend, that 100% speaks to my purpose and to other women whose purpose is to master self-love. However, I don’t think spreading the message of self-love is necessarily going to end up being my BUSINESS. I really buy into the “do what flows” philosophy and what flows is WRITING about self-love but COACHING about more structured issues such as applying to graduate school and building a business. It’s freeing to know that I can be very clear on my purpose and that I can know that it does not necessarily need to be my full-time job or my business. I’d love to bring the two closer together, but as long as I understand how each one has its proper place, I feel a lot more at peace and a lot more on fire to do my best at both.
You are simply amazing.
Awesome comments. I’ve been “struggling” with this “purpose” stuff for a while now, and what you says makes all the sense in the world. Thank you so much for these thoughts, and for all you do! God Bless…
Dearest Kris,
You are such an Angel. Thank you for these beautiful words that touched my heart very deeply. Sometimes life can be confusing, so it’s nice to read words that cut right through to the soul and address the truth. Tons of love to you!
Love, love, love,
Leslie XO
Simply beautiful. This truth radiated from your deepest, sweetest being and connected to the same place in all of us. Delicious. Thank you.
Dear Kris, I have only known you for a month and I have already learned so much. I love this post and will need to read and re-read it to fully absorb its magnitude. Merry Christmas with much love and gratitude.
Thank you Kris.
Your thoughts came at a good time for me, inviting me to make a shift toward what will bring me more happiness and peace.
Thank you.
Lindy
Kris, what a great post. This is the voice of Kris Carr that I love. Your inspiration and guidance is so very much appreciated. Many you continue to bring your inner strength to your community. This was an amazing gift to read today.
Peace and joy to you.
Jo-Ann
Well written. I am constantly seeking, refining, defining…and I enjoy the process. But not to get to that elusive correct answer. Sometimes it throws me off when people ask me about my purpose and I have difficulty explaining it to them. This reminds me that the purpose and the ways in which I express my purpose are different.
That was beautiful…I am crying. Thank you, Kris! xox
Very good thoughts on purpose. I think we relate our purpose to our outer self and that leads us to forget or not cherish our inner self. Thank you Kris for contemplative thoughts that take us inward.
Felt a collective out breath of ahhhh while reading this. My heart loves the possibilities and simplicity. Thanks for laying it out so clearly!!
Dear Kris,
Thank you for this vital, beautiful, precious and powerful message! These are words that I speak and write often, but typically I send them out to others the way you did today … I want to tell you that reading them for me was like receiving the greatest gift- it was like a healing balm for my soul, and my soul and my entire being thanks you. 🙂
I love so many things that you said, but especially these moments:
“Today, I think suffering is essential. The trick is to learn how to move out of suffering once you get the nugget and are ready to apply the lessons. Note: Residue of pain may remain (and that’s OK), but at some point you can fully release the suffering.”
“What if your purpose is to take impeccable care of yourself so that you have the energy and joy to serve others?”
and finally, “What if your purpose is to release all shame and feelings of unworthiness? Guess what you’ll find behind those feelings? Vulnerability. Roll out the red carpet for the V word because vulnerability is where your true strength and glory resides.”
For me, being vulnerable (which we all are anyway whether we want to acknowledge it or not) 🙂 is the greatest challenge, and reading what you said about shame and feelings of unworthiness that lie underneath deeply resonated. Today, when I sit and meditate on what I want to usher into my life this year, your words will ring like gorgeous, mellifluous chimes floating on the currents of new life-embracing energy that arises from deep within— confirmation that there are kindred spirits like yourself, incredibly brave, accomplished and generous souls who are on this same path to finding the highest calling and purpose in the simple, life-changing act of being soft and tender and kind with your own heart- in learning to truly love yourself.
And of course, this holy act ripples out in concentric circles to embrace everyone who is ready to do the same …
THANK YOU!
All Love & Light this Holiday Season and Always,
Jennifer
Deep exhail. Thank you. I needed that.
Love this read!
“Today, I think suffering is essential. The trick is to learn how to move out of suffering once you get the nugget and are ready to apply the lessons. Note: Residue of pain may remain (and that’s OK), but at some point you can fully release the suffering.”
Still learning this…….
Sending lots of love and light your way!
Awesome 🙂
Hey Kris,
Thank you for sharing this. I have been reading your blog for a little while now and I appreciate your honesty and willingness to be “raw”, no matter what folks think or say. Here’s what I see now that I read what you shared here…
My purpose is nothing that someone can take away from me. It’s not my service in the world, although it may foster my purpose, meaning move me closer to feeling loved, but it isn’t my everything. At the end of the day when the world is asleep we have ourselves and our connection with “God” (whatever that means for each of us). I choose who I am and what my purpose is, for me, who I become. A loving supportive father, a vibrational being, being love… I relax into who I AM.
Thanks again Kris! (I guess I was a little long winded today!)
Thank you so much. Your post touched me in a way that is hard to put into words. My Intention for 2013 is to feed my soul with love, gratitude and forgiveness.
Wishing you and your family and peaceful and loving 2013!!!
This is so beautiful and important to read right now, Kris. I feel like I’ve changed so much as a person through the experience of deep suffering and coming back to myself anew. In almost an, “Hello, nice to meet you” kind of way. I am beyond grateful to be employed, for my house, my sweet husband and furbabies. And yet, I feel like it’s the coming home to myself that makes it all work. The more light I let in, the better my life feels. And it has so little to do with outside accomplishments and so much more to do with waking up, looking around, and seeing miracles everywhere – and feeling those miracles deep in my heart (which can be terrifying – getting back to the “vulnerability issue”). Thank you for articulating this sentiment so beautifully. I’ll be thinking more about self-care as a result. Happiest of holidays to you and yours!
I love you more with every passing year, soul sister. I’ve tied my self-worth to that circus in the past. Not anymore. Here’s to inner peace and self-compassion in 2013. xo
Thank you so much for this. This is a message i really needed to digest right now! I am currently planning on going back to school, as well as potentially buying my first home. So many decisions lie a head of me and i keep trying to fit all the puzzle peices in place of what i want my future to look like. I need to be less focused on what i want my life to look like on the outside and more on what i want my life to feel like on the inside. Thank you so much for your beautiful message!
Love from Robyn in Northern British Columbia
I think this is the most beautiful and true thing I’ve heard in a long time! Exactly what my soul needs and wants to hear right now. Thank you SO much! I love you <3 Happy Light & Love & Holidays, Rachel
Reminds me lots of the Abraham material. Our lives really are about “being happy” and loving ourselves, and everyone else. An empowered life that “saves the world” looks very self centered to many, but it isn’t. Like a master once said when asked “how do we save the world?” answered, “You don’t even know who you are”.
This is a powerful focus that does much for me. I know this, but this is another brick in the foundation of that knowledge.
Love you too!
Bart
Ahhhh, big sigh of relief. I love you too, Kris. Couldn’t ask to read anything more frickin’ brilliant at 5:36 Xmas eve morning. Perfect. I will be coming back to this throughout the day & rest of the year, thank you.
One of the best. I think each of your bullet points could be expanded to a larger article. This is what I needed to hear this morning!
Your best post ever! Not only timely for all of us readers, but it is striking to me (and I hope for you) just how much you have grown and deepened right before our eyes. Your work just gets better and better. Wonderful wishes for the holidays and for a spectacular 2013!
xo
Beautifully written! So awesome!
I have been following you since your work was just a little tiny blog with a handful of followers. You have been a huge inspiration and you have helped me more than you will ever know. I have read all of your books and a million different online musings. This touched me more than anything you have written so far. It is so “right on”. Merry Christmas Kris Carr…..
Thank you Kris for spreading this message. This is the exact conversation that I’ve been having with my husband I think all of the messages out there guiding people to find their purpose within their vocation are misleading and lead to more external seeking and potential suffering. This is the message we need to hear, share and embrace and you put it so perfectly unperfect ;-).
I love your work and appreciate all that you are doing.
Much love,
Kate
exquisite! thank you
Love your work, but I must disagree slightly with the notion of finding yourself. I love the quote ” Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself”(not sure who said it) To me that says e have a choice about becoming the person we want to become, creating the person we want to be. That person is not lost-just waiting to e created, like Michaelangelo releasing his creations from their marble blocks.
As Goethe said-Be Bold and Might Forces will Come to Your Aid
Keep up the great work-you have helped me so much
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
I can’t tell you how much this blog really resonated with me in such a big way, Kris! Thank you for knowing your readers so well and knowing what they need to feel happier in 2013.
Since I’ve recently retired after teaching for 28 years, I’ve been plagued with feelings of unworthiness because I feel that I’m no longer contributing member of society. Your blog puts a totally new and refreshing spin on things and it’s just what I needed to see myself and my struggles in a new light. As a result I feel more hopeful and optimistic than ever. A big warm hug of a thank you to you!
The most important part in finding your purpose is overcoming your obstacles. As you continue to overcome them your purpose will become clearer and clearer.
Kris – you’re awesome! Thank you for encouraging us to let ourselves off the hook and to truly and gently listen to our own wisdom. This is a much needed gift!!
Thanks again!!
Kris, that is EXACTLY what I needed to hear. In fact, I will read it everyday this week and beyond until I own it. Thank you so much, and Merry Christmas! xo
Wow! This was absolutely beautiful kris. And what a wonderful message to share just before the first of the year. Much love to you! Not just for doing what you do, but just for being YOU! 🙂
Thank you, Kris! Yesterday I cleaned out a huge portion of 11 years worth of stuff related to volunteering during which time I gave and gave and gave. As I was completing the purge, I wondered if my time, effort, and yes, devotion, had bee misplaced. The work was and still is a very worthy cause. I see now that it was a necessary step on my path: neither misplaced, nor a driving force in my future. Thank YOU for your perspective. It has added a measure of peace so that I can say, “That was then. This is now. I’m wiser for it and the balance my life now requires is NOT misplaced.” My self-care and new found health are worthy priorities. Merry Christmas!
Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. Sigh. Thank you.
Thank you for your writings about finding purpose. I cherish the thought of being able to find mine. It is something that I hope will unfold for me.
Thank you Kris! Well said and so much truth in your words! I certainly neede this reminder. Thank you and Happy/Peacefilled Holodays to you!
Kris, I love this. It brought tears to my eyes….. you are just so stinking brilliant. Thx for being so generous and sharing your wisdom…… much love to you!!!!
Carolyn
Amazing Kris! I love this perspective — we need to all hear, see, and read this more often. SO often we are judged by what our external accomplishments are — it doesn’t always feel right. The other day I was filling out a BIO for a new contract job I working on (my first job after 3 years of being home with my babies), and they wanted me to fill out a BIO for their website, so I could be featured. There was a section to list my accomplishments, awards and accolades. I had nothing official and wowwing to list, but instead I said, “no longer chasing the corner office with a big title and everything else that is big that comes with it, instead, I am blessed to have created a lifestyle, an opportunity, where I am the center of my family 24/7 while fulfilling my personal needs to work and provide for my family and have it all”. Now, that is short version of my experiences in the last 3 years that have changed my life from bring a strung out corporate executive to a ‘stay-at-home-mom’.
Our American culture puts SO much emphasis on ‘having, doing and being’, it is very difficult to remove oneself from that — it’s constantly in our faces. We have to CHOOSE to ‘have, do and be’ what is true to ourselves every minute, daily.
Thank you for the reminder of this perspective. It does feel SO good to be softer, kinder, slower — I’ve tried many times and I like it. Trying to make a habit out of it. 🙂
May you continue to be blessed in health and safety and for the influence of others. 🙂
Thanks Kris. This one will be read, again and again.
Merry Christmas!
Thank you so much for the article. I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on this topic – what is my purpose? Mine (for now) is to provide a platform for inspiring people like you to share their life experiences with others. I’ve come to believe that the sharing of our stories is vital to spiritual growth. Would you be willing to share your story with us here at “Growing Up” on WEBE Radio? It’s pretty simple and painless. We do it over the phone. Terri Cole was with us last week and she shared some deep truths about herself with us. Please consider getting in touch with me. I hope you don’t mind me using the “Reply” angle to connect with you. Please have a very safe and meaningful holiday!
Todd,
Saw your request for stories. We have one that might interest you. You can find info at our website below. (We’re having some trouble with the site’s email links not working, but you can email us directly at newbus2@baltzbooks.com )
Thank you, Kris! Talk about serendipity! As an energy healer, I have myself as my front and center healing project. This morning I did an EFT Tapping routine to release all the layers of grief from my body that I carry from my mother – from a loss she suffered before I was born. It came to me that I was no longer required to carry and pass on the family grief. When I finished I felt physically lighter and much, much happier.
Then I opened my email and there was your message! Thank You! Merry Christmas, Happy “Whew, I Survived the End of the Mayan Calendar and the Winter Solstice,” Happy Hanukkah and here’s to a wonderful and fulfilling 2013! 🙂
What you said was beautiful and really resonates with me. Thank You~Thank You~Thank You!
I felt more relaxed just by reading it! Love back!
I’m not sure what to think, actually. I was startled by your blog post as well as excited by the thoughts you shared. But you’ve given me plenty to reflect on this Christmas Eve, and that speaks volumes…and I have a feeling I’m going to come back and read and reread this a few times. Thank you for that!
Hey Soul Sister,
I love you! Thanks for that article, it came at the right time and answers so many questions for me. Bless your little heart!
Love, love, love,
Debbie
Brilliant perspective. Thank you! Why be at the mercy of the inevitable waves? My take away – Be centered in your purpose and let the wave flow past you! Thanks Kris.
I love this post! Thank you.. It is a time of awakening and this “purpose” and “passion” question has had me thinking alot! I see so clearly now the difference and its what i new all along. Thank you!!!! It is wonderful to read a post that makes you get “real” with yourself in stead of ways to deal with it. Happy Holidays
Whew! I feel so much better now!
I think knowing this and working from this viewpoint will allow everything else (jobs, money, love) to flow more easily. It’s like the pressure is off!
Thank you Kris and Happy Holidays!
All best for 2013,
Ellen
Thank you so much Kris! I have been going through what I call my “quarter life crisis”, grasping at the idea of a future career to make me fulfilled and give me purpose.
This post gave me a fresh perspective 🙂 Awesome.
A beautiful post Kris, thanks for sharing. I agree with you on every level. I believe our deepest purpose is to realise our highest power- that we are co-creators rather than random victims of whatever happens on the outside. For me, ultimately it comes back to the notion of freedom. As you say those artists are talented, amazing individuals but if they are bitter and sad on the inside- they are not really free, are they? Free to live openly and expansively and to give the best of themselves. As you say, Love is the way. If we love ourselves, we have more love to give and share- the world becomes a stronger place for it.
Merry Christmas
Beth x
So beautiful Kris. Absolutely gorgeous writing and thought are in this post. You’re words are so lovely and reach deep in my heart. Thank you for affirming that we are important– on an individual and personal level.
Over the years it becomes more and more true to me that peace cannot be found externally.
Your words are touching. Xo
Thank you Kris for an enlightening blogpost. You’ve opened a new door in my path to finding my purpose. Brilliant! Much love, gratitude and Merry X-Mas to you!
That was just what I needed to read this morning. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Oh, my dear Sweet!
This is exactly what I have been dealing with myself. Before I can offer assistance or thoughts to others, I have to be rooted in me, finding and feeding my true voice. These are powerful thoughts as I work on me and my hunger for wholeness. xo
Thank you thank you! Makes so much sense. I am literally here in tears as I read “What if your purpose is to take impeccable care of yourself so that you have the energy and joy to serve others?” I think once i am content with me and my inner, everything else will be done out of love and joy, not what I think is purpose. Bravo!!
Dear Kris, This is not only one of the best blog posts you’ve written, but one of the best I’ve read, ever. Truer words were never spoken and so completely honest and from the heart. I agree with Paul R.–”Wise words for such a young heart.” It’s taken me 59 years to garner some of this wisdom. It’s beautiful young souls like you that give this planet a chance to survive and thrive. Much love, Barbara
This has got to be your best column EVER! Thank you so much. I am so with you on this one, in every way. Lovelovelove to you! <3
Well. After busting my butt all these years getting degrees, advanced degrees, promotions, demotions, layoffs, blah, blah, blah, and still ultimately being miserable – I finally get the truth. I needed to be taking an advanced course on loving myself and radiating that love to those around me. From now on, I’m going to be sitting at the head of the class of my own life.
Kris, thank you for honoring us with your brilliance. Peace and blessings…
Thank you so much for writing a lovely article.
The timing of me reading this couldn’t be better.
<3
Thank you for this and all that you do, Kris. There are no accidents. LOVE YOU!
You have spoken to my soul and all the layers of me exactly what I desperately need to embrace this year. Many many thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this thought provoking insight. You hit the nail on the head. Now to pass this wisdom on to my teenagers!
Thank you for this thought provok
First thing I read upon waking this morning. How cool is your message! Thank you Kris!
Sooo much self-love in there! Game changer, look forward to how this oozes into my heart and mind; it seems somewhere along the l flipped internal to external; now to find the way back to the internal love. Peace and light!
Kris,
You have opened my heart and articulated our deep human purpose so beautifully in this blog. Thank you!
Much love and gratitude to you.
–Ruthie
Dear Kris, you opened up a whole new continent to consider with this post. For me, it’s always sitting there to be worked on. I’ve worked a lot on my inner self – through two wonderful therapists, with biofeedback and other forms of body work, and now through a spirituality practice. In all of them, I’ve confronted myself…and I always know I can go deeper. I made a recent commitment to my passion of writing, and all it’s done is to open a whole new can of worms! What did I expect? That I finally had the answer? Well, LOL. It just means more delving inside and then trying to make a career or whatever from that and to still work on my purpose, which is really god’s purpose (or goddess or the Universe or whomever you call on as your higher power). Thank you for saying in your unique and kind and loving way that the work on ourselves never ends – and it’s oh so worth doing.
Thank you Kris! I have been struggling with this very topic, so this was so timely! Thanks a million! Have a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful New Year!
Thank you Kris!!! I def needed to hear this and be reminded of my TRUE purpose! Sending you so much love and light and see you in NYC in February at the I Can Do It Conference!! Merry Christmas!! Xoxo
I love this so much I want to swim in it! Thank you Kris I needed this message today.
Love you too!
Merry Christmas,
Tracy
Hi Kris,
Thank you so much for these great words. I am deeply touched!
These words remind me of the fact that we enter a time of
more conciousness and awareness of ourselves. Next to
that we will become more concious that we are all here to serve
one another.
Thanks again, Merry Christmas and all the best for you in 2013!!
Kind regards,
Petra
Thank you for this beautiful piece of writing! It is food for my soul and I am going to be digesting it for the next several days.
What a sweet soul you are. This touched me so deeply Kris, and resonates with what I’ve been struggling with lately. Spot on! Thank you so much for sharing your insight and bringing a feeling of inner joy to my attitude. Your lovely light is contagious!
I have a vision of meeting you someday when I go to visit my brother in NY.
In the meantime, sending you oodles of love and gratitude for your nuggets of insight and inspiration, and warmest wishes for 2013!
Yes, yes, yes! Thank you.
I am asking my pre-teen son to read this as a gift for me for Christmas. How important for our youth to feel this way before they enter the soul crushing teen years. Thank you!
That is such a fantastic idea! It’d be great for teachers to print out and give to their classes on the first day back after winter break. It’s never too early to start learning what is truly important in life, especially in high school when the pressure is so intense to externally succeed.
You hit this one out of the park! You are such an inspiration and a ray of pure sunshine!!
Thank you for showing me that no matter what I seek to do in the world I must first and foremost, take care of myself. If I want my light to shine for others, the first thing I need to do is turn it on!
Amber, I am so glad I read your response. I felt myself get chills when I read your comment about turning your light on first. It really resonated with me. Thank you. This is really going to stick with me.
Just read Dr. Mark Hyman’s blog on suffering in this life yesterday (titled “A Pilgrimage to Bhutan – Making Sense of 2012”), and yours is a perfect compliment to it. …So true about the essentialness of suffering. I appreciated your reminders & perspective on internal purpose. Gave me lots to think about. Thank you!
Wow! What a beautiful message to wake up to. I’ve been pondering this question for the last several months. What is my purpose? In meditation, to love and nurture yourself is always the whisper I hear. Thank you for this reminder Kris. Your light just shines brighter and brighter!
Wow Kris I love this. I’m sure deep down somewhere hidden beneath my frustration and hopelessness of trying to find my purpose, I may have known what you have just written. But you were able to unearth it for me and I feel connected to it. “Folks are like plants, they lean towards the light” I love that. Thanks for this awesome Christmas present you just dropped in my lap!
O M G. Kris you have hit this one out of the park. I knew I had to go deeper inside to find my purpose yet totally missed that *was* it all along. Sometimes we need a friend to point out our blind spots. Now I understand the letdown after doing some of my best work on the outside. Oh my oh my oh my … I am so excited about the possibilities of this realization. Thank you dear Kris.
It has taken me 61 years to get around to this way of thinking. Wise words for such a young heart and I wish you well in your quest. There is certainly questionable advise being given by “self help” books and the like, about finding a reason to exist. Keep up the good work Kris.
You are great! i really needed to hear this! please remind Me on new year’s too 😉
This brought me to tears – of the good variety. I have had a life long (53 years, sigh) struggle with purpose. I have let externals dictate, and it has never EVER occurred to me that I was barking up the wrong tree. Thank you for this amazing piece of insight – I am going to get right on it. And thank you for being such a pure light in the world.
xo,
Lisa
p.s. I am hoping your cookbook is under my Christmas tree!
Hey Kris!
This is beautiful, and I agree wholeheartedly with what you’re saying! Thanks so much for pointing this out. I agree I know we are already spiritually whole and there’s nothing for us to GET in this world..well I know it sometimes 😉 But it’s what I’m working on!
I think the way you wrote your blogpost points out the limitations of language. There’s a lot of play on semantics here..things like there’s no such thing as perfection or suffering is optional…so much confusion with wording! Sometimes we see “everyone is already perfect” (ie, our spiritual selves are and we cannot improve that, but we can improve our actions/performance (which is where no such thing as perfection comes from))..and sometimes we see “suffering is optional” but yet like you said there’s no such thing as no suffering..in this case it’s that we have to “suffer” to experience the joy and beauty in life (ie, we have to have experienced difficult situations to call forth our beauty and mastery) but most of the time with the “suffering is optional” quote, I find the word “suffer” is referring not to events that we don’t prefer, but instead our identification with them. So in one case, suffering is optional (identifying with the event, ie, we brought this upon us or someone is trying to hurt us) but in the other case, if we want to have the same depth of experiences in joy, suffering is absolutely necessary.
In any case, I just wanted to point out that these beautiful ideas aren’t contradicting each other or wrong; there’s just wordplay going on 🙂
Lots of love! Merry Christmas!
-Catt
Catt, I read your comment and just had to reply. I love the points you bring up about semantics and wordplay. You’re right, the way you say things, or just your perspective in general can change the meaning of anything, including suffering. What you wrote really points on the importance of the meaning you give to things. It’s critical to be aware of yourself and of the meaning your attaching to the things in your life. Great comment.
Thank you so-so much, Kris! This post made me cry…
Love you 🙂
And when my eyes welled up, I figured I’d be the only one!
Thanks, Kris. This is an amazing post. I’ve just started following your FB page and blog and I certainly do not regret it! I’ve read two very ah-ha posts (including this one) so far and my wheels are turning in a positive way. Thanks again and Happy New Year to you.
Nope, made me cry too! This post makes so much sense, I’ve always tied purpose to my vocation and it does nothing but fill me with anxiety. Thank you Kris 🙂
You just gave me the best Christmas gift. Your words are timely and powerful. Blessings to you, dear Kris. I love and respect you so much. ~Trish
Thank you Love! Thank you <3
Brilliant! Thank you. Love you, too 🙂