When we make the decision to live a life that has deep meaning and is driven by purpose, something fundamental shifts. We stop living life being guided and driven by what is expected of us, what we can see in the world around us, what is safe and "normal".
We start living life based on what we feel compelled to do, how we are compelled to live, what we see and experience inside of us. Ultimately, we give up what is safe and normal because for us, normal is no longer safe.
When we make the decision to live a conscious life, even if we don't actually realise we've made that decision, living becomes our hero's journey. Every day, with every choice, we craft our life and often, we end up transforming our lives entirely.
Transformation demands that we let go. It is a process of releasing, leaving behind, walking away from people, places, work. Ultimately, when we transform, we give up our identity and replace it with who we authentically are. As Joseph Campbell said, we have to give up the life we're living to live the life we're meant to have.
We know from all of the stories we were told as kids and all of the movies we watch, the hero is going to face challenges. Knights slay dragons. Jedi's fight the Sith. Good triumphs over evil!!!! So exciting.
Good thing all of those hero's have schools where they go to learn and be prepared for their journey. Phew! Such a relief. Because that means we must have been prepared for our hero's journeys when we went to school, right?
Well, here's the thing. When we step into our hero's journey, much of what we've learned, much of what we think we believe, much of what we have absorbed through our lives and that used to work, no longer serves us. In fact, our past learning will likely become the biggest obstacle (well, let's be honest, series of obstacles) we need to learn to overcome.
I wish there were schools of unlearning. While learning can be challenging, unlearning can be downright brutal. To unlearn, we have to first become consciously aware of the beliefs driving us, the bits of information and feedback we choose to absorb and relate to, the assumptions we're making and the patterns we recognise as we connect these dots. We also need to become consciously aware of our strengths, those gifts that we are born with, that we are here to bring to the world.
That process is almost impossible to do on our own. Our life experience will expose a lot of those hidden barriers. It will also highlight our gifts. But we need to know how to read these signs. In the mainstream world, coming up against barriers, finding ourselves in really difficult circumstances, painful and scary experiences are all signs that we are on the wrong path. We have left the safe road and need to get back as soon as possible.
On our hero's journey, each one of those things is actually an indicator that we are on the exact right path because they expose beliefs that are driving us, that we don't actually believe. They show us how we are blocking our own way. They highlight when we are living the life we have planned, not the authentic life that is waiting for us.
There is a school for unlearning. It is our life. It is our every day experience when we learn to listen and dialogue at a level we didn't know was possible, to the people around us, the outcomes and results we're getting and the situations we find ourselves in.
Living life on purpose means our whole life is a grand journey. We need new resources and some travel essentials. If you feel like you haven't got everything you need to unlearn so you can read the signs in a new a different way, not to worry. We have put together the 3 most critical travel essentials you will need to get you unstuck and keep you moving. They're free. You will find them in our Hero's Journey program on Flow Network.
Good luck and keep travelling. The world needs as many people as possible to be wide awake, living life on purpose and shining brightly.