Have you ever known what it is you want to write about but the words don't come! That's how I felt when I was preparing this Mind Matters News. I'll write down what I want to write about and see where it leads me. Have you noticed the number of books which have come out following the release of that international phenomenon - "The Secret"? The book and in particular the DVD have introduced many millions (I would venture in excess of a hundred million) to the fact that each and every one of us can influence our own destiny.

The Real Secret

The real secret is not so much the Law of Attraction, as is the fact that we actually have the power!

No, that's not what I want to write about - I have done that in Mind Matters News  and this Mind Matters News.  I want to draw attention to the major topic of the new books that are around in the area of personal development.  The topics flirted with include personal power, happiness, who are you, passion, talent, money, keys of the Law of Attraction, and more.  Most mention Purpose of Life or Life Purpose.

I started teaching about Life Purpose by conducting a 4-Day live-in Life Purpose Seminar, titled Creating Happiness Intentionally (CHI) in 1994.  It was a play on the word Chi (life energy) in so far as saying we use our own energy to determine and direct us where we want to go.  How do we use our own energy?  By going within.  How?  By meditating.  In this meditation state, driven by our conscious mind, we can contact our inner guidance (our Higher Self), we can work with our intuition (yes, we all do have this), we can remember significant dreams, we can ask questions and get answers.  We can learn what we want to do in life.

So what?

That's just the beginning!  If you work at your goals and then use the 8-Steps of "Putting it All Together" to achieve them faster, then in what direction will you go in life?  Yes, towards your goals ... and what comes as a result of moving towards your goal?  There is a huge sense of satisfaction and feelings of positivity ... and happiness is the end result.  By moving in the the direction of our goals we are getting on track!  On track with what?  On track with our Life's Purpose!

So by summarising all our goals - making sure that most are in different areas of our lives so that we achieve balance and harmony, we can come up with a Life Purpose Statement.  The statement itself summarises all the goals and directs you to where you want to go.  Can this change?  Of course it can! So I say Life Purpose Now ... it's like a 5-year plan of life.

It would be remiss of me to say life is all "beer and skittles".  It's not!  It's full of challenges, blocks, doubts, self limiting beliefs and experiences.  All the experiences are lessons for our soul.  Where else do we get huge lessons from if it's not "the bad stuff" ?  This is how we learn.  However, much of our belief patterns and experiences can cause traumas which we need to identify, acknowledge and learn from ... and move through.  They can be blocks to life's progress and physically stop us from getting to where we want to go ... if they're not dealt with.

In 2000 I also published a book of the same name as the seminar - CHI - and the book includes all the aspects of the CHI Seminar, including the exercises and meditations.  When I spent 3 months in USA in 2004 I investigated publishing books and was told that the next big topic in the Self Development world was Happiness, Life Purpose and Forgiveness.  I felt as though I was on track!

Where to Find What Others are Saying

Here are some recently published books I purchased to see what I could learn:
*  "Life Lessons" - co-authored by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and others.
*  "The Passion Test" by Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood.
*  "Keys to Living the Law of Attraction" by Jack Canfield (who was the author of "Chicken Soup for the Soul")  and D D Watkins.
*  "Who do You Think you Are" by Keith Leon - this is 65 interview with the current greats in personal development about discovering their life purpose.
*  "Money & The Law of Attraction"  by Esther and Jerry Hicks which claims to be the channelled "Teachings of Abraham".
*  "Happy for No Reason" by Marcia Shimoff who was the co-author of "Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul".

There is a veritable cornucopia of information in these books and they all cover the topic of "Life Purpose".  Are they very different from the conclusions reached in "Creating Happiness Intentionally"? Not really and actually I do think my CHI book tells "how" to arrive at Life's Purpose.

I like this paragraph from Jack Canfield's book "Key to Living the Law of Attraction":

Find your purpose and passion in life.
Each one of us is born with a unique life purpose.  We are all here for a reason, and we are all here to serve each other.  We are like individual cells in a body, each of us performing our own unique functions and collectively serving the being as a whole.  A life of purpose is not only a true expression of who you really are - it is your gift to the world - and the world needs what you have to offer.  When you are living your life "on purpose," you will find greater fulfillment and joy in all that you do.  The universe will support you in all of your endeavors when you are living in alignment with your purpose, your passion, and your inner truth.

KISS

My wife, daughter, son and others have encouraged me to KISS ... Keep it Simple ... and brief.  It's a challenge for me as once I get "carried away", there's no stopping me.  It's a sad fact of modern life that we're all ultra busy and inundated with emails and other forms of media ... things to read, things to do.  Time is of the most precious essence.  I hope you find time to read my Mind Matters News Reports.  Do I have a New Year's Resolution?  Yes ... to make these Mind Matters News inspirational and pithy so that you will have the time to read them! 

I am grateful for the feedback I received from my last Mind Matters News on Mental Toughness. Somebody passed this on and as a result I may be going to Switzerland next year.  So please do feel free to share these Reports with others if you feel inclined to do so and I welcome your feedback.

So, I think what really matters is that we all get on track and lead a purposeful life.

Happy Christmas and New Year's Holidays ... enjoy !

 
Sandy MacGregor              

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