Many spiritual traditions revolve around one central question: Who am I ? Even the business world ponders this crucial matter. According to business gurus, the first step on the road to success is asking yourself this very question:Whats my mission? What on Earth am I doing? Am I in the right place?

If you cant answer these questions, then you are wasting 90% of your time and energy doing things that are neither your mission nor your business! You will feel an inner anxiety, urging you to search for the deeper meaning of your life.

If you consider living to be painful, if you feel dissatisfied, if you feel there must be more than this, if you feel out of place in this world, then you have not yet found the purpose of your life.

If you are questioning the meaning of life, if you cant find inner peace, if you are not satisfied with choices youve made in life, if you dont know which way to turn, if you feel your life is stuffed with things that arent of your choosing and that dont satisfy you, if you often feel burdened and bad-tempered, if you have everything to feel happy but dont, then it is time for you to discover your true self!

Human beings want to feel useful. We long to give our lives some deeper meaning. As long as you have not discovered this deeper meaning, you feel frustrated and on the wrong track.

We want our lives to be worthwhile. This does not mean we need to achieve great feats or become world famous. We just need to feel in place and do the right thing surrounded by the right people. Its about finding out our mission. Its about finding inner peace.

Our mission on Earth is twofold. The general aspect is that we are here to learn to bring more love into the world. The personal aspect is that everyone has its own peculiar, unique way of doing this.

Your mission represents the central piece of your life. The surrounding pieces represent your family, your relationship, your kids, your job, your home, your health, your friend, and so on. The centerpiece holds all of this together. That centerpiece, thats you. You are the most important person in your life, and you came to this world to do something important. Otherwise you simply would not be here!

As long as you havent identified the centerpiece, youll be wrestling with dissatisfaction, powerlessness, frustrations and fatigue. Some people solve jigsaw puzzles by first fitting all the pieces on the borders, and then squeeze in the piece in the middle. Thats putting the cart before the horse.

These people reason: When I find the right partner, find the right job, get paid a good salary, have some kids, have my own house, meet some friends, stay healthy, then I will be happy! But thats not the way things work.

As long as the centerpiece is missing from the puzzle, you too will feel empty inside. It is your responsibility to discover your mission and get things under way.

Even the cells of your body react to this lack of purpose, this feeling of emptiness. They suffer from spiritual malnutrition, feel useless and bored, resulting in a physical state of sluggishness and lethargy. This physical state will eventually cause several physical discomforts and complaints.

Occupying yourself with your disease and feeding yourself with medication or other such products is just another attempt at filling the void inside. This is because the status of being ill allows you to identify: I am allergic to this or that, I am a cancer patient, I am an Alzheimer, I am Once you have started identifying yourself by your disease, it will certainly be on your mind day and night.

If you are not in touch with your own desires, you will easily fall prey to expectations projected upon you by your environment. If you are not following your own path, then you must be following someone elses! If you are not clear on your own life mission, you will find it hard to say no to what other people want you to do. This undecidedness makes you available for all who cross your path and want a piece of you, draining your energy.

As long as you are not clear on the shape of that centerpiece, you are submitted to others who may not care about whats best for you. Just like disease, these kinds of negative relationships are a manifestation of low-level energy, showing that you have lost focus and have strayed from your own golden brick road.

Your self-esteem is probably pretty low and you suffer from serious doubts and fears. The longer you put of the search, the more the feeling that something is missing will devour you. Your self-esteem will only decrease.

The best way to rebuild your fragile self and re-establish an inner sense of security is to make the search for your life mission your number one priority, and subsequently fully dedicate yourself to it.

Why is this so important? Because you can only find real joy in life by discovering and living according to the unique way of your personal evolution.

But, maybe you think, cant I just continue living life the way I have been all along? My life may not be all that exciting and rosy, but its still doable. Cant I just try to hang in there and keep the status quo?

The answer is yes. You can keep living your life in a monotonic, sad, senseless way. But dont expect any real satisfaction. The need to feel useful is so fundamental that you cannot feel happy as long as you have no clue what you are here for.

Thats exactly the difference between humans and animals. For an animal it may suffice to just sleep, hunt and eat, but humans look for the deeper meaning of life. Humans know that we are here on Earth for something more important than just eating, sleeping and working.

Your mission gives meaning to your life. Your mission IS your very reason for existence.

You are not alone in this search. This mission is also looking for you. It wants to be fulfilled by you and by nobody else. It is your personal mission. Nobody else is equipped to do it for you. Your mission will keep haunting you until you take it seriously and start implementing it.

Going against your mission is going against yourself. This is the same as ignoring the call of your soul, as ignoring your strongest desires, as signing a contract for eternal discontent

You cant escape your mission. One day you will have to start dedicating yourself to it. Has this day come for you now? After all, you are reading these lines which shows your honest desire to start looking for the deeper meaning of your being.

Copyright 2006 Ineke Van Lint