What is this here to teach us?

By Dina Evan, PhD

 

Not sure what your purpose is exactly? Ask yourself these questions.

What breaks my heart?

What fills my heart with love?

 

I am asking and myself, as are my clients— “What is all this strife here to teach us?” We have elected officials refusing to reach across the aisle and act in a way that serves the common good. We have courts making laws removing our rights to decide what we can and cannot do with our own bodies. We have major corporations, like the oil companies who hiked gas prices up so high during the pandemic — making billions in profits while we went broke buying gas. We have so many people invested in fraud, our bank accounts and credit cards are showing up with outrageous charges that are not ours. So, if this planet is a school and every challenge is a lesson, what is this here to teach us?

Sometimes, when challenges arrive it’s about looking back at all the other times in life when we have overcome adversity and found a way through. It’s about reminding us of our own resiliency.

It’s asking us to look at our thoughts and what we hold voraciously onto, instead of being willing to compromise for the greater good. We often mistake rigidness for power and openness, and flexibility for weakness when the opposite is true. Tolerance and open-mindedness are evidence of confidence and strength which is beneficial in all walks of life. Personal growth is about challenging your existing beliefs and considering new ideas which can give you fresh insights into the world and teach you new things. Think about all the things we now enjoy we previously we may have thought improbable or impossible years ago.

The time is here to teach us we need each other. We need to be reminded we have like-minded people in our lives with similar values. Show appreciation for them and give them time and a place of value in our daily experiences. Sometimes, we just want to close the door and shut the world out, but doing that, changes nothing including us.

 

Shutting the door deprives us of fulfilling our purpose

It’s no accident you are here in this time. You came here with a purpose to fulfill, and you don’t want to miss this opportunity. Whether it’s stopping by to tell the elderly lady down the street you are happy to pick up something from the store for her, or run for the senate seat in your district, you have a purpose. Whether it’s being a friend, a sponsor or something of service on an even larger scale. Whether it’s about publishing a paper like this one, writing a column, or a letter to a friend who feels forgotten, or something big you have always dreamed of doing, YOU are here for a reason, and the question is are you fulfilling your purpose?

Get involved in either of those two situations and you cannot help but fulfill your purpose. It’s not so much about doing something grand as it is about doing something you came here to do, and only you can do best. It can be about helping many people or one person. It’s about making a deliberate choice not to get caught up in the separatism, prejudice, judgment, divisiveness, and hostility of this moment and remembering to be love. It’s about remembering you can make a difference by healing that separation and acting with non-judgment and acceptance.

Fulfilling your purpose may be as simple as being your authentic self and knowing there is value in you to be shared.  It may be as simple as speaking your truth and encouraging others to be truthful with theirs as well. Now is the time to step into that purpose. We need each other, we need you, and we need to change what’s going on here. No one else is going to do that for us. Not our elected officials. Not our corporate officers. No one else. It’s up to you and me…and isn’t that exactly what we came here to do? Let’s get to it.

 

Dr. Evan is a marriage, family, child therapist and consciousness counselor. She has presented nationwide seminars and workshops, written several books and created meditation CDs for couples, individual and mental health professionals. Visit drdinaevan.com or call 602-571-8228.