Your Purpose is Now

Are you still looking for your purpose?  In a constant quest for what is going to give your life meaning?  Your purpose is NOW in whatever you are doing regardless of how seemingly mundane it is.  Perhaps there is a divine calling, a dharma that will unfold, but your purpose is with the present moment - not the future. 

My purpose in this episode is to help you know that what you are doing, where you are, regardless of what and where that may be is purposeful.  You are an intregal part of a divine tapestry.  You are meaningful and important and so is every little thing you do.

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Transcript

Rise and shine, everybody. It's time to wake up with Susan. (0:05) Spiritual awakening can be a beautiful, messy, and sometimes lonely journey.So let's do it (0:10) together. I'm your host, Susan Sutherland. I'm an intuitive healer and spiritual mentor.(0:17) We are all called to rise up above our conditioning and limiting beliefs (0:22) and shine our light on ourselves and others. So let's get to it. (0:29) Hi family.Thanks for joining me today. You are joining me in a lovely hotel room in Florence, (0:36) South Carolina. I am here for a tennis tournament and I did plan on recording before I came here (0:47) because that would have made really good sense.However, as I'm going to talk about today, (0:54) our purpose is often in that moment. And I had choices to make about what my best use of my (1:05) energy was during the week. And it was a busy one.It was the kids' last week of school, which they (1:14) have all the things, right? The award ceremonies and the moving up ceremonies and all of that. (1:19) But also they were going to go to camp this week. And so two of them I'm not seeing for two weeks (1:27) and one I'm not seeing for four weeks.So when they wanted to play pickleball or play a board (1:34) game or do any of those things, that was my priority. But today I do want to talk to you (1:41) about us kind of switching the narrative about purpose. Because I know, especially in the (1:49) whole wide world, we get really caught up with finding our purpose.And I kind of want to switch (1:56) that broader context to finding your Dharma, your inherent true calling in life, your divine mission. (2:07) Let's call that Dharma. Because your purpose is whatever you're doing right now.Right now (2:14) is your purpose. And finding purpose in this moment is the way to find your Dharma later. But (2:22) it is being present in this moment and realizing that whatever you are doing right now can be (2:29) divinely inspired and no less important than somebody you look up to and how they are fulfilling (2:40) whatever you see as their purpose.Whatever you're doing right now can be equally as purposeful. And (2:48) I think we have gotten this grandiose idea about what purpose is. And we've kind of humanized (2:56) our calling instead of accepting our inherent divine nature anyway.And that you can live (3:06) purposefully doing anything, absolutely anything. So that's what I want to talk to talk to you about (3:13) today. And I want to share an experience.And I am going to share it. Let me see. I'm going to share (3:24) it a little bit.And some of it I am holding back and I'm keeping for myself. And maybe one day, (3:33) maybe one day, I'm going to share it in full disclosure. But I want to tell you about an (3:39) experience where a lot of downloads came through.And it really has me contemplating on this whole (3:46) purpose. And I know for me, as I have received messages or gotten inspiration, I'll end up (3:57) chasing it down a rabbit hole. And I really had to have a better understanding of that.And so (4:03) this experience helped me with that. So anyway, my friend that I go visit that is on hospice care, (4:15) his name is Jack, and he is 93 years old. And he lives at home, which is pretty incredible (4:24) that he has been living at home and taking care of his dog and doing all of this on his own (4:30) until the ripe old age of 93.And I go to visit him. And sitting with him, I just I love his (4:40) company. I love his stories.He grew up in England and came here but then was in the American forces (4:48) in England. Like he has lived a life. But what I really love about him is his heart.He is so (4:56) grateful for the care that he receives through hospice and through the VA because he's got (5:02) regular care coming in the morning and the evening to help him get to bed. Well, he actually pays for (5:10) that one. But the nursing staff that comes to check on him, they make sure he's got his medicine or (5:15) if he needs a pill sorter, like everything just is taken care of for him.But how appreciative he (5:24) is, is just so incredible. Anyway, so I went over there maybe a couple of weeks ago now and he was (5:34) not having a good day. And I really it felt bigger than that.It felt bigger than a bad day. It felt (5:42) like a drastic turn for the worst. And I got there and he barely had his eyes open. He vapes like (5:53) nothing you've ever seen. And he keeps it in his lap and he would open his eyes and draw on this (5:59) vape and then kind of close his eyes and go back to sleep. And that really hasn't been my experience.(6:05) I mean the vaping for sure has been my experience. It is a next level addiction that he calls his (6:12) pacifier. But at 93, like we're not trying to get him off of that, right? But he was not doing well (6:20) this day.He had an awful cough and he would wake up just to cough and it looked like he was struggling (6:26) to breathe. And I sat there and I was kind of just having this spiritual experience just (6:36) speaking with his higher self about transitioning and letting go of fear and just holding space (6:45) for him and letting him know how much I appreciate him. But it really had me understanding that (6:54) nothing, I mean I think earlier in the day I had been making a reel and it took me forever (7:00) and it was like you know it just felt like a struggle. Everything felt like I'm supposed to be (7:06) doing this and this is hard and I don't know the whole morning just felt like I was efforting my (7:15) ass off, right? And then here I'm sitting with him and just sitting here and he's not even able to (7:21) speak to me this day. But it felt so on purpose for me to be holding space, to be sitting here (7:30) with him and it had me thinking about you know when my grandfather, one of my grandfathers died (7:37) really young and in mid-60s around the same time that my mother died, very close. And then my other (7:46) grandfather was older but I was in my early 20s and was not sitting in ceremony at his (7:54) side. You know I would make occasional visits but even though I loved this man so much I didn't (8:03) understand how important just sitting there would be. You know we put so much importance on (8:10) our busyness, on all of the stuff that we have to do and not on just being present for somebody, (8:18) just listening to their stories, listening to what they want to talk about. And I've been (8:25) really fortunate lately that Jack has started opening up to me about some concerns he has (8:31) about when he passes. We have talked about what will happen with his dog and sometimes they just (8:38) need someone perhaps out of their family, perhaps in their family, whatever. But just to express (8:45) these things. But on this day I just had so much realization about purpose being exactly where you (8:54) are right now.And Jack often tells me that he can't figure out why people are so kind to him. (9:03) He's not getting better so what's the point? And isn't that a sad thing to hear that (9:10) somebody would think their value is only what they get to contribute or if it, you know, (9:16) that just being there with them wasn't reason enough. But we've kind of created a culture (9:22) that is such an exchange culture where if you're not going to get something back why would you do (9:28) it? Why would you just do something for someone? Anyway, while I was there towards the end of my (9:34) visit and I stayed extra long because, you know, honestly it seemed like he was making a drastic (9:41) turn for the worst.And since I have visited and his cough has gone away a little bit with (9:48) medication and he seems to have recovered a bit. But I just wanted to stay there. And he's kind of (9:57) was waking up a little bit and he told me that he was really craving a hamburger.And his daughter-in-law (10:02) had some individual patties in the freezer and I started making this hamburger for him. And he's (10:09) giving me, you know, full instructions on exactly how he wants it in the pan with butter and all of (10:15) this. But it felt like ceremony to be making his dish for him.And I guess because I've studied so (10:25) much of, you know, what happens on the other side and our our earth experience and all of this like (10:31) matter matters. It's why you come is to be in the physical. To have these senses and these (10:37) experiences.To be able to eat food and have taste. And on this day I understood how important just (10:48) making this burger was for him. And it made me realize, I mean, I cook for people a lot.I don't (10:54) enjoy cooking and it has never felt like ceremony. It has never felt like I am nourishing someone. I (11:03) am loving them through food because I don't necessarily enjoy the process.But making him (11:09) this burger on this day felt like he is craving something. And I am able to make it for him and (11:17) take it to him. And it just gave me a new understanding about each moment.Each moment (11:28) that we are here and we are able to do for others can be so purposeful if you allow that purpose to (11:36) resonate in your heart. It's really hard to describe. But then watching him eat this burger and knowing (11:44) like I prepared it with so much love.And okay when I make anything for my little one, I tell (11:51) him my secret ingredient is love. But now I get to make it and try not to be exasperated by like (11:59) oh my god they have to eat again. And see how much of that moment I can bring back where it felt (12:06) so purposeful and and so loving to be able to serve him in this way.(12:17) So it also made me think back you know of when I have felt that kind of honor and that (12:26) kind of purpose in the moment of doing nothing. And it was when I had my youngest child Brecken (12:34) um and not because I loved him more but my situation when I had him was so incredibly (12:43) different. When I had my oldest child we had put our house on the market and I think it went under (12:52) contract the day I went in labor.And so following the birth of my first child which are already like (13:01) a bit of a wreck. We are having to get out of the house for inspection and having to you know (13:08) blah blah blah all these kind of house selling things. But also I'm having to pack up my house.(13:14) And so we had been we bought the house that was across the street from the house we were living (13:21) in and we're renovating it and it wasn't going to be ready on time. And so with a five week old (13:28) I moved to my parents house who lived in a different city. They live an hour away.(13:34) So we had packed up our whole house into a pod into one of those storage pods and put it at our (13:41) new house and then took our baby to my parents house. And Mark's having to drive an hour to and (13:47) from work every day and he's getting home. And you know rookie mistake totally that I'm trying to keep (13:53) the baby awake to see the dad when he gets home.Is there anything worse than an overtired baby? (13:59) No there's not. And so overtired then he gets home to a crying baby that we can't get to sleep (14:04) because I was trying to keep him awake to see his dad. Dude never again.(14:10) Not with the other two. I learned my lesson with that. But then we ended up three weeks later we (14:18) stayed at my parents house for three weeks and then moved into our new house.So I mean every (14:24) time that baby closed his eyes I'm trying to put him into one of those little swings or whatever (14:30) because I've got a box to unpack. You know we're trying to get settled in our house. And then my (14:38) daughter comes along two years later and I didn't have to move houses but I did have a two-year-old (14:46) son who was into absolutely everything.And for a while our house wasn't on complete and total (14:55) lockdown until I don't guess it was until Mark was home with him for a weekend and I went away (15:02) and then he was like holy hell that was hard work. He gets into everything and I'm going to be like (15:08) no doubt. Well when I had these two little kids I had a nanny for 20 hours a week but I had a full (15:15) time job and I did work from home and I had a ton of flexibility in that job but I had part-time (15:24) help and a full-time job and a baby and a two-year-old and things were just it was busier it (15:31) was hectic.And when breaking came along I actually had a miscarriage in between both of my children. (15:40) So had a baby, lost a baby, had a baby, lost a baby, had a baby. And so when I had got pregnant (15:47) with my third child that I lost the the third baby that I didn't have we had gotten an au pair (15:55) and a minivan and then I lost the baby and I'm like oh my god I have a freaking minivan and (16:00) I'm not even pregnant with my third child anyway.I got through that and there's no better car in (16:06) the world than a minivan so I'm no longer dogging on it. But we got an au pair she came our first (16:17) au pair was from Lithuania and goodness gracious we got through it. She was here for a American (16:27) vacation but then our next one I got and she was arriving right before Brecon was due and so I (16:34) I miscarried the baby and then I was pregnant again and our new au pair arrived and her name (16:40) is Kaden and she was from Mexico but she was like an angel descended upon my house
She was (16:46) absolutely everything you could ask for in a person, in a nanny, in a big sister, in everything. (16:55) She was she was amazing and will always be part of our family but she came and I had Brecon (17:05) and it's kind of the au pair policy that they can't be home alone with a baby until the baby (17:11) is three months old but it didn't really matter because I now had help with the two older kids (17:19) and I had a baby that all I had to do like I'm on maternity leave and I have somebody (17:25) watching these other two kids and helping me and what I did was hold a baby like that's what I did (17:34) and it was magical like I didn't have that experience with the other two and so I really (17:41) really embraced it with Brecon and it was she said that she didn't even hold him for a second until (17:48) he was three months old and not much after that like I decided that this is my little baby I (17:53) didn't get to hold the others in this way and I'm just gonna hold this baby and and so I did and so (18:00) sitting with with Jack the other day just made me realize that I didn't get that chance (18:09) with my grandfather and I didn't take that chance with my other grandfather and it almost felt like (18:17) now is my chance to just sit here and to just to just be with you and and let you know as a (18:25) older person how important and special and wonderful you are and so it it doesn't mean I (18:31) love my other two children less it meant my circumstances were different but now that I'm (18:39) in a place to really realize how special this moment is I just want to soak it in so anyway (18:48) I do want you to stop thinking about your purpose as some grand thing that is out there that you (18:57) are chasing because when you do start thinking about this moment being your purpose it will (19:06) change how you experience the moment so when you think of you know feeding yourself as I am (19:14) nourishing my vessel I am I am loving almost you know if you see your your body as as the car (19:25) that you've been assigned to and you get one car to drive for your entire life then you would (19:32) probably put in premium fuel and you would make sure you get your oil change and so when you feed (19:38) yourself from a purposeful place of I am nourishing my body I'm taking care of me I am gonna you know (19:47) do everything with this purposeful intent and conversations can change how you interact with (19:56) the cashier can change like what is my purpose in this moment maybe it's just to give them a smile (20:03) maybe it's to help them understand a new aspect of customer service like whatever it is in this (20:11) moment that I'm showering I'm taking care of myself I want to feel confident when I step into (20:18) the world and so when I do that I'm you know I'm going to put my clean and best foot forward (20:24) by taking care of myself right now so when we when we stop chasing something big we can realize (20:34) that our purpose really is in this moment and there's no there's no purpose that's greater (20:43) than another purpose I think we've we've got this human aspect of it that purpose and success and (20:52) and financial reward or fame are all aligned but that's it's not the case and perhaps if you (21:01) are somebody who feels you know so different in your family or you feel so different in your (21:08) community maybe part of that is your purpose is to show a new way like how often have you gone (21:16) to the coast and seen three lighthouses together like that doesn't make any sense and so maybe (21:25) you're not aligned with all these people in your community because you are the light you are (21:32) lifting the vibration of an area God needed your exact frequency where you are and so instead of (21:42) thinking I need to escape I need to go and find something outside of here outside of myself (21:49) outside of my community outside of my family what if you thought I'm here to bring this frequency (21:58) this purpose into this group into this location into this community that sits differently right (22:08) and so it's not to say you'll you'll never get out of a space that you don't feel like you resonate (22:14) in but being there now feels different when you accept it as your divine assignment (22:21) to hold the frequency of who you are with purpose where you are when we understand our (22:31) interconnectedness when we understand our the tapestry that we are all part of you understand (22:41) that even if there is a flower adorning part of the tapestry just one thread one thread (22:51) out of place somewhere down down the line impacts the whole scheme of the tapestry and so (22:59) when we start understanding that we are all exactly where we need to be and accept (23:07) that as our purpose in our evolution not that you you know Netflix and chill your life away (23:15) but that you find purpose in each moment that you're living and if that means really pouring (23:23) your heart into your children in this moment and letting your to-do list go or if your to-do list (23:31) feels purposeful and doing it is to allow you to provide for your family allow you you know (23:42) success in your company great but align yourself with the purpose of the moment (23:48) and then first of all tasks feel less like chores if you have found your why within them so (23:57) anytime you hear anybody speaking of you know finding your purpose or living your your (24:05) highest purpose it will be about learning your why and that should be in your moment why am I (24:12) doing this and how can I do it as purposefully as possible that could be putting on your makeup (24:18) like I want to show up confidently and this makes me feel like my best self go for it and then you (24:27) can smile at them in the mirror while you're doing it you're not trying to hide from something you're (24:31) trying to show your best self in the world yes do that last night we went to the after our tennis (24:41) match we went to this little country cooking type place so if I ordered which I did the fried okra (24:49) and the squash casserole and then some banana pudding that would not be my purpose is to (24:56) you know live my healthiest life but my purpose was to enjoy foods that I really love and embrace (25:04) things that reminded me of my grandparents my grandfather owned a restaurant he was an amazing (25:12) cook he was not like a chef trained or anything like that but he could he was country cooking (25:18) at its best chicken and dumplings fried okra all of that and it felt like I was eating memories (25:25) and it was absolutely amazing and I really connected with it in that way and you know (25:30) what that means there's no guilt there's no shame I didn't feel bad ordering the banana pudding (25:35) because it was from such a inspired place like it took me back but it meant that there was (25:42) consciousness in what I was eating I was aware of what I was doing and I was making it purposeful (25:49) to have this absolute junk food it was purposeful and I loved it and that way you don't have (25:57) that like oh I shouldn't have done this no I should have because I knew why I was doing it and (26:02) I felt good about it and so if you are you know doing activities eating food going to see people (26:13) having conversations and later have regret or guilt or shame it's because you did not connect (26:18) with why you're doing this and really set an intent beforehand and so I've rambled on longer (26:27) than I expected to about this but I really just want us to start experiencing the purpose (26:34) in the very moment that we're in I am the queen of thinking that my purpose is years from now (26:44) and then I'm just kind of waiting idly by until I launch these kids and then I'll be living my (26:51) purpose and I have had to do a lot of work to realize that my purpose is right now and some (26:58) of it has to do with what I share on the podcast or what I share on social media but a lot of it (27:04) has to do with my contact with my family with how I'm showing up for my children with how I'm showing (27:12) up for my husband or my parents that is my purpose and so it is not something I'm punting (27:19) you know down the field to be tackled later it is in these interactions today my purpose (27:28) is to show up and to compete at my fiercest level of effort while maintaining my best (27:40) attitude and playing with fairness and being a supportive teammate and if I do all of those (27:47) things then I know win or lose I don't like to lose win or lose I will know I have shown up (27:54) in the way that I'm supposed to and you know what's gonna happen happens um so anyway I want (28:03) you to stop thinking about your purpose as your dharma your life's work that will find you when (28:11) you start finding your purpose in exactly this moment right now whatever you're doing right now (28:16) is purposeful you are holding a frequency that God thought your location your family (28:24) your community needed and how you show up for them how you show up for yourself in this moment (28:31) is your purpose you're living it you are living your purpose all right everybody I am probably (28:40) going to go play cards with my teammates because we're on a rain delay and I hope that you have (28:47) a fabulous week um mine's going to be interesting without kids but I hope you have the best week (28:54) thanks for listening I love you bye thank you so much for joining me this week be sure to not (29:01) miss any upcoming episodes by subscribing to the podcast that way it's available automatically in (29:08) your RSS feed this is a crazy journey let's do it together