The Purpose of Life is to Find God

… or Goddess, or Spirit, or whatever you want to call the divine universal lifeforce energy that surrounds us and supports us while we reside here in these earthly forms. I needed this reminder today and maybe you do too. As I sit here working through some kind of post-holiday virus, too tired to do much of anything “productive,” worrying about my to-do list and feeling like I’m slipping further and further behind, I am suddenly made aware of the fact that no, actually, I am right on target. Actually, with the North Star of my compass set to find God, I am ahead of the game.

When I say “find God” I mean find your connection to something greater than yourself. Get outside of the small, limited point of view that tells us what’s real is only what the eye can see. Get rid of thinking of God in the limited religious context of an old man in the sky. Find out what God means to you. Discover the purpose of your life. Practice expanding your consciousness to include more than what you can see with your eyes. Practicing tuning in by feeling and sensing. Find out what God/Spirit/The Universe is to you. Explore through reading and learning about different spiritual practices, explore through communing with this God source in meditation. Leave behind blind faith and the unknown to feel what is real. Get to a place where you’ve not only found God, but you know God.

For most people, the purpose of life is not to find God. The purpose of life is to be successful and make money and raise a family and travel and do as much as you can in this lifetime. When you compare yourself to people who have a different purpose, it can feel like you’re falling behind. When you measure success and a life well lived in these terms, it can feel disheartening and confusing to make peace with where you are and the slowness of progress on the material plane.

I have been “slowed down” by illness for the past ten years. My autoimmune issues come in many symptoms and forms, and are constantly causing me to pause and slow down. I can’t move as fast as I want to in the physical plane or accomplish things in the timelines I’d like to. And for someone who has big dreams and visions for what they’d like to do and achieve on the material plane, this can be incredibly frustrating.

But I also know that each moment of this struggle has brought me closer to God. It’s true that the “down on your knees moments” bring you to God. When you want to give up, when you can’t find an answer or a way through, you turn to God. When you need a miracle to keep going and it’s not coming through on the material plane you go within, and you connect to something greater than yourself.

So I am grateful to remember and be reminded that I have not wasted any time on my journey. That a sick day is not a wasted day if I have used it to connect with God, if I have spent some time in meditation and contemplation. And as long as I keep that as my compass – The purpose of life is to find God – each day will be well lived and well used. I have not fallen behind. I am surging ahead in ways that can’t be seen on the material plane, and that is more important to me than any outward measures of physical manifestations.

I also want to clarify here that these reflections are not meant to come from a “holier than thou” place or Tiny Tim voice of unwavering positivity! I am simply sharing what I have found to be true and what has helped me through my own struggles. When we can simplify our busy lives and never-ending to do lists with the reminder that our purpose in life is singular and attainable with daily practice, you can also find peace.

I choose to use the word God knowing it is polarizing word, but hoping to dispel old outdated associations with the term with the acknowledgement that it can be interchanged for any of the above other terms mentioned. When I am speaking about spirit, or the universe, or life force energy, I am speaking about God. So for my own purposes, I’d rather just call it like it is. Knowing God and finding God can come through many spiritual paths and doesn’t always have to be within the context of a particular religion. I welcome everyone to find their own way to God, knowing there is no right or wrong way as long as it is based in love and kindness.

I hope this is helpful to those who feel like they may be falling behind or can’t catch up to the success stories of society around them. If getting to know God in this lifetime is your marker of success, maybe you aren’t so far behind.