Purpose: recent publications

Humans are hardwired to avoid and escape pain.As such, we seek the fastest, most efficient route to avoid and escape. We seek short-term fixes in lieu of long-term solutions and inner peace.When our lives are unfulfilling, when we know we’re not filling our full potential, when we ask, “Is this all there is?” or “Aren’t I meant for more?”, we’re experiencing pain. Our soul’s deepest desire is to create meaning; it’s intrinsic to us. One of the ways we create meaning is to pursue our life’s calling, fueled by our mission. I delineate the two as:A Life’s Calling is the task (writing, speaking, teaching, composing, sculpting, etc.).The mission is the why (serving something more significant than ourselves).Combined, they are the energy that shoots us out of bed each morning and that we’re willing to put it all on the line for. The pain we experience, the angst, the frustration, the disillusionment, the sense of betrayal (I did all the things I was supposed to do, WTF?), and the emptiness are products of not having a calling and mission or having a calling and mission – but being paralyzed by fear and unable to take action. Because our life’s calling, the reason we’re here is terrifying. It flies in the face of how our brains are wired.

Our brains don’t give a crap about purpose, meaning, and fulfillment. They care about keeping us alive and do a damn good job of it. Unfortunately, this is to the detriment of our souls and the overall quality of our lives.So we chase short-term fixes, which are nothing more than short-term escapes:We escape through the superficiality of social media, alcohol, drugs, affairs, porn, and binging on Netflix.  Something, anything, so we don’t have to confront the one person we can’t run from, the