What's the purpose of life, would you say? That's kind of a big question. And before getting into that discussion, let's consider what it's value is in our lives. Does it make a difference if we're living on purpose or not?
It seems to us, that when we don't think there's much purpose in our lives, we feel low. We seem to have this built in sense of whether there's purpose in what we do or not. And if not, we don't feel so good.
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So, what if the purpose of life is about learning and growing, connecting and providing service? All these things seem to provide us with a sense of purpose and a good feeling about our lives.
What we like to look at next is how does this purpose, this natural tendency to learn and grow, come into play when there are challenges in our lives? Like, what if we have a health challenge or a challenge in a relationship? A health challenge often takes us to learn about what foods to eat or what foods to avoid. And in a relationship issue, how to communicate better.
With challenges we learn new things and grow from them. But we're also seeing that besides learning new ways to eat or communicate, there's usually something to learn on the inside, too. What we're seeing is that with challenges there's the opportunity to learn to open to feel whatever we're experiencing in new and deeper ways.
When we learn to open in the midst of challenges, we learn to grow more in our capacity to stay calm and clear. This gives us greater access to our inner intelligence, the wisdom of the universe, you might say. With greater access to our wisdom we can deal with challenges beyond just drawing on our past experience.
As we learn to open more to accepting or even welcoming what shows up in our lives, including challengese, the more we find ourselves getting on purpose.
We've also seen that the more we've opened to life in this way, the more we express our true nature, the natural expression of love and kindness that we are.
Interestingly, what we've shared many times before, our Eating with Presence Exercise, is a way to experience this opening to what life is presenting.
By pausing in the midst of a strong craving for a food, we open more to the feeling of the craving. And, in that, the craving often subsides. But if it doesn't, we encourage our clients to have what they're craving and eat it with presence. We suggest they put all of their awareness in their mouth, chewing each bite until it is like a liquid, becoming aware of what the food looks like and smells like, and noticing the tastes and textures. We encourage them to be fully immersed in the experience and feel love for every bite.
Besides the experience in the mouth, we ask them to notice the signals from their body. Does the body love this food or encourage us to avoid it?
And finally, checking in 30-60 minutes after they eat, noticing how the body feels. Is there a lightness and ease in digesting or does digesting feel like work?
By eating with presence, we begin to create a new, refreshed relationship with the food based on the benefit these foods bring to our bodies and our health. And it's by learning to be more open to our experience that we access the deeper information and intelligence that challenges come to us with.
So, getting on purpose, for us, is about opening to whatever shows up in life because in that openness we access our inner wisdom. And our inner wisdom is always going to be on purpose because our wisdom is what connects us to the natural unfolding of the universe and our lives in it.
To your Amazing Health,
Connie and Bill
Pumpkin Pie
Crust:
- 1 cup dates, soaked (1 hour in warm water or 15 minutes in hot water)
- 1½ cups rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (see below for homemade version)
Add dates to a food processor and process to a fine chunk.
Add oats and spices and blend well. The mixture should ball up in your hand and break apart cleanly without it crumbling. If it crumbles, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time and test.
Put the mixture into a 9” pie plate and press evenly around the plate with your fingers or the back of a spoon.
Filling:
- ½ cup cashews
- ½ cup dates, pitted (9-10 medium dates)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (see below for homemade version)
- 2 tablespoons ground chia
- ¾ cup filtered water
- 2½ cups cooked sweet potatoes, squash and/or yams *
Add cashews, dates, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, chia and water (everything except the potatoes) to a blender and blend on high until smooth and creamy.
In a food processor, add the sweet potatoes and the creamy mix from the blender. Process to a smooth consistency.
Fill crust and bake at 375º for 20 minutes
Let cool completely before cutting and serving.
* The potatoes can be baked, steamed or boiled. I prefer baked. If using steamed or boiled, reduce the water by 2 tablespoons. Also, the potatoes can be cooked with skins on or peeled. I prefer with the skins on for the taste that that gives.
Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 5 tablespoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- Dash of ground cloves