guide to a purpose-driven life

8/3/2019 Guide to a purpose-driven life

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DISCOVER ANCIENT WISDOM FORA PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE

Is Your Life Filled With

Passion And Purpose?


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Shattering theIllusion of Success

& Happiness

"The world is full of millions of unhappy people who aredisillusioned with life. People who merely go through the

motions each day but who cant help wonder...Isnt there more to life than this?

-- Dr. Paul Dyer

Like many people in our modern

w or ld , you are l ead t o b el ie ve

t ha t a l if e o f f ul lfi ll me nt wi l

come from cl imbing the ladder o

success, making a lot of money

staying on top of the lates

fashion or technological trends

rejecting traditional and

"primitive" ways of l i fe.

Whether or not you 've "arr ived

or are st i l l t ry ing to get there

you 've found yoursel f stuck in a

c yc le o f g rie f, gu il t, a nx ie tyhelplessness, uncertainty

confusion, addict ions, shame o

dis-ease.

Is this the l ife of your dreams?

If not , you 're in the midst of an

identity crisis.


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You're trapped in a

dream that's not yours.

It's the dream of a culture inwhich you're conditioned tobelieve that bigger is better;when you're down, goshopping; time is money;religion rules; spirituality issuspect, and feminism is aswear word.

Do you still believe in thatdream?

Or is your life mostly reflectingthe woundedness of the past, the remnants of brokenpromises?

Do you lay awake at nightwishing you could reframe thedream? Wishing you couldrewrite your life story to onegrounded in simplicity,authenticity, joy, soulfulconnections and compassion?

How far are you willling to go to reclaim the passion andpurpose who once envisioned?

SHIFT HAPPENS

You were born with gifts thatwere meant to be delivered to the world, gifts that weredesigned to fill you withinspiration, enthusiasm andpassion.

You've simply forgotten.

The passage of time and an

individualistic culture areunwitting conspirators to yourforgetfullness. Making the shift to a life filled with meaning,purpose and passion is an actof remembering.

Now, more than ever, you can

courageously challenge what

you've been told is real,

profoundly renew your passionfor life to face each day with

meaning and purpose.

WHAT DO YOU

REALLY, REALLYWANT?What is your vision for your l i fe?.. .describe a l i fe wel l l ived.

What is your vision for yrelationships?. . .descr ibe the sort of person ywant to be.

What is your vision for your work. .. descri be the con tr ib ut ion ywant to make.

What do you value about yrelationships, work and l i fe?

Excerpted from Authentic Success: Essential Lessons

Practices from the World's Leading Coaching Program

Success Intelligence by Robert Holden.

I wonder if I've been changed in the night?Let me think.

Was I the same when I got up this morning?

I almost think I can remember feeling a little different.But if I'm not the same, the next question is . . .

'Who in the world am I?'Ah, that's the great puzzle!

from Alice in Wonderland


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A person's purpose isenergetically inscribed in theirbones and its actual translationinto work should agree with themessage engraved in these bones.

The question is - ' What happenswhen what you do does not alignwith who you are?'

It means that you are betrayingthe very vitality that defines youand are thus inviting great paininto your life. You are likely to

experience low self-worth, a lackof enthusiasm about what you aredoing, and, above all, of anagging sense of inner emptiness.In short, you will experience anidentity crisis.

No one said it would be easy.

When you set out on the quest to remember yo

purpose, you embark on a chal lenging journey of s

transformation. You have the choice to stop now a

remain in a world of safety, famil iarity and security.

What you wil l f ind is that it is oftentimes

chal lenging, uncertain journey. You ask questions th

are not easy to articu late, f riends and fami ly do

want to hear them. You feel r id iculed, unsupporte

frustrated.

Even if you have already begun the journey, unless y

understand the true nature of the process, you weasi ly fal l short of going the distance.

Take heart , you are not a lone! Remembering prope

you into a new "wisdom culture" , where mil l ions

or di nar y a nd e xt rao rd in ar y pe opl e are s il en

transforming the world by questioning the status qu

When you surround yoursel f with people of l ike mi

and spir it , a community, the process of rememberi

is val idated, encouraged and supported.

Malidoma Som

Gaining New Perspective


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STEPPING OUT

The desire for authenticity is

often a launcing pad to

remembering. When you are

w il li ng to r ea ch a bove the

s uperfi cial ity of l i fe, the

journey has begun.

Wh at r es on at es as t ru th

com es f rom w ithi n, a s ti ll ,

smal l voi ce , urgi ng y ou to

l isten and respond with

courage.

Som et im es i t com es when

y ou a re f ac ing a p er sona l

cr is is - death of a loved one,

f inancia l struggles, i l lness,

general ized anxiety and

uncertainty of the future.

Remembering Your Purpose

The Rite of

Rememberance

WHAT MOVES YOU?

the civil r ightsmovement

the environmental

movement

the womens movement

the jobs and social

justice mo vements

the anti-war movement

the holistic movement

the spir ituality and

personal growth movemen

the r ights of indigenous

people mo vement

the gay r ights movemen

Ada p te d f r o m , Th e Cu l r tua l Cr e a t i v e

H o w 5 0 M i l l i o n P e o p l e a r e C h a n g i n

t h e W o rl d , b y P au l H . R a y, P h. d

She r r y R u th An de r s o n , Ph . d .

The pro cess of remembering is

signif icant r ite of passage, an init iatio

i nto sel fhood exp er ienced f ru it fu

w ithi n the con text o f com muni ty .

f ol lows the p ath o f a nc ient w isdo

practiced by many cultures around th

world . I t begins when you rea l ize t

stor ies you 've he ld as truth no long

serve you.

Perhaps you're moved by one

o f the m any g loba l i ssues

p lagu ing the wor ld A IDS,

poverty , d iminishing natural

resources, abuse of women

and chi ldren, terror ism. You

feel power less, not knowing

how you can make a

difference.

No matter what moves you,

you are now forced to

reevalute what's meaningful

in your l i fe.

I t 's t ime to step out, to take

those f irst waver ing steps

unto the path . What begins

is a symboll ic dying to the old

way of being, unravel l ing the

layers to your authentic self .


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Coming Home

T h e r et u rn j o ur n ey i s l i ke

n o o t h er . Y o u r e t ur n w i t hc l ar i t y o f m i nd andpurpose .

You ' ve ga ined a deeunders tand i ng o f thei n te rc o nn e ct e dn e ss o f a ll i f e o n t h e p l a n et a n d y o up lace w i th in i t .

Y o u f e e l p a s s i o n a n d z e afor au thent ic y , f o r thef r e e d o m t o l i v e l i f e a s y o usee i t . The o l d s tor i es y o u ' ve b e li e v ed , n o l o n ger ing t rue .

Y o u a r e r e a d y t o s t a n d o ns o l i d g r o u n d , t o l e a d a l i f ef i l l ed w i th pass i on andpurpose . Your l i f e w i lnever be the same.

Welcome home!

Growth itself makes one forget about who one is. So initiation is something that isdesigned to help one remember one's origin and the very purpose of one's occurrence on thisside of reality -- that is to say, why one was born. This is why initiation is especiallymagical.

So a person who is not initiated is considered a child, no matter how old that person is,because that person will not be able to recall his or her purpose. Without initiation, the

bridge between youth and adulthood can never be crossed, and a person's heart is open toanything -- to being shot down by any kind of energy going around. In the village, to notbe initiated is to be a non-person.

- - Malidoma Som, Ph.D., Author, Teacher, Dagara Elder

Diving In

As y ou op en up to a l l y oursenses, you 'l l f ind yoursel f

diving into unfamil iar

terr itory , a lmost l ike landing

in a forei gn country. The

sights, the sounds, the

language, the people may a l l

be different.

Y ou ex pl ore p at hs y ou' venever taken b ef or e, o ther

cul tures, phi losoph ies and

ways of knowing. You're

going to need a new map to

navigate this unknown

terr i tory. The o ld, fami liar

landmarks and guideposts

prove to be use less on th is

journey.

As with any meaningful

journey, there are obstacles.

You face the cri t ics, those

around you, fami l y, f r iends,

and even your own cul tural

condi t ioning. You f ind your

mind is racing with questions

that you suppress or deny .

Re si st an ce, do ubt an d

u nc ert ai nt y a re c on st an t

companions.

You read, watch and l isten to

the countles s stories of

others l ike you, and you

real ize you are not alone.

It takes a vi l lage, a

sup port ive com muni ty , t o

stay the course.


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. . . A T THE E A S T C O A S T VI L L A G E

Th e Ea st C oas t V il la ge inCherry Plain, NY is a place inNorth America whereMal ido ma h as c ommi tt edhimself to creating a physicaland spiritual home forwisdom of the Dagara. I t is aa place where others l ike youcome to receive the support they need to f ind and fu ll f il l their l ife purpose.

WHAT WE OFFER

Experience the heal ing powerof nature, ri tual andcommunity foll owing thePathways to Wisdomprogram at the East Coast V il la ge . P athway s eng ag ebody, mind and spir it incommunity -based sett ings toawaken the gifts you came todel iver to the world.

The search for a purpose -

fi l led l i fe may have youlong ing for a deeper senseof connect ion to others, tospir i t , and to a more earth-centered way of l iv ing.Inscr ibed in your bones, is adeep sense of knowing thati nd ig enous p ra ct ices canhel p y ou r econnect to theh ea li ng p owe r of n at ur e,r itual and community.

THE EAST COAST V ILLAGEWELCOMES YOU!

Many people considerMal ido ma S om , Da garaEl de r an d au th or o f TheHeal ing Wisdom of Africa, tobe the most important l iv inginterpreter of Africani nd ig enous w isdom i n theWest.

This guide is brought to you by

Ancestral Wisdom Bridge Foundation

501(c)3 not-for-profit organiza

dedicated to promoting public awarenes

the living traditions of indigenous peop

and the relevance of such traditions

improving the spiritual and personal w

being of people throughout our society.

CONTACT US

Mail: P. O. Box 82

Cherry Plain, NY 12040

Phone:518.658.0122

Web: www.eastcoastvillage.org

Unleash the Power of Nature, Ritual & Community
http://www.eastcoastvillage.org/http://www.eastcoastvillage.org/

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