Life Journey - You And Your Purpose On Earth

'If Buddha was a barber, getting a haircut would be getting enlightenment.'

I had known this quote long before I truly understood what it meant. Such has been my life journey - it took me a while to understand what life wants from me, and now I think I have a glimpse into what the future holds.

Let's start at the beginning. As a child, I was a voracious reader - my favourite was Enid Blyton's books, the classics like Treasure Island, Three Musketeers etc. But one day, I happened to stumble onto Alchemist by chance. I was drawn to the book even though the message did not strike home until much later, similarly with Celestine Prophecy.

Throughout my younger days, certain words, people left an impression. And it was only later that I could connect the dots. One such word was Vipassana - when my colleague told me about it, and it struck a deep chord within even though it was seven years later than I did my first ten-day Vipassana meditation course.

Another thing I want to mention now, which will make sense later, is my love for writing and dancing. I had a notebook filled with stories - all started with the word secret - 'Secret Axe', 'Secret Wood'. I wish I had kept the notebook with me. And I remember dancing to movie songs from the radio as a kid. Writing and dancing came to me very naturally, even though nobody was forcing me to do them.

What happens to everybody on the planet happened to me too. I grew up. Life took on a different meaning - education, grades, career, marriage, kids and other so-called unimportant things dropped away. I stumbled along in life, unaware of any signs universe was sending my way until my MBA in London Business School. I loved London and the school's diverse culture but my primary motivation, unlike my peers, was to avoid marriage for a couple of years. So, I joined the MBA and realized that I didn't quite fit in. My peers were interested in networking, whereas I was looking to make friends. For them, it was essential to land a plush job at one of the top finance or consulting firms. For me, I was looking for simple pleasures in life, like happiness. The prestige and big salary these top firms provided were appealing, but deep down, I knew that's not what I wanted. I was into the more chilled out - work/life balance jobs.

I felt like I was at a crossroad - money or me. And added to it was peer pressure. If you got a non-finance or consulting job, you were a second class citizen. As a young adult trying to figure out my life for the first time - it was a tough decision. While I was in this quandary came a gift from the universe in the form of the elective course - 'Creativity and Personal Mastery', which was my first introduction to who I was. We did exercises like observing our mind's chatter, practising gratitude, recognizing our mental models and creating new ones. And doing this with a like-minded community of peers helped the inner ME become stronger. And I finally decided to go with an industry job in telecommunications. It was the first time I stood outside of the herd. It was hard, let me tell you that, but the exercises from the course had helped me strengthen the muscles needed to see me through it.

This course set me on the journey of self-discovery from which I never looked back. It made me more conscious of my journey as opposed to just stumbling in life. Around the same time, I did my first Vipassana course, started doing yoga. I had always journaled, but now it took a deeper meaning. Slowly, the way I looked at life and the people around me started changing for the better. My relationship with my mom improved, which had been contentious due to marriage drama. I became a much calmer person. I could stop myself from getting angry. It became easier to forgive others. I was in London for seven years, and I grew in the self-improvement space - the sapling planted in the MBA turned into a big tree. All those years, I worked on the only thing worth working on and can be worked on - ME.

And then came a significant shift. We moved from London to Columbus, Ohio. A change that I resisted but made peace with finally. It was a blessing in disguise. I finally found the time to complete the Artist Way course by Julia Cameron before starting my full-time job. And as a result of the course, I started my own Bollywood dance company - 'BollywoodDanceMasti' and published my first book, ' The Lifepod.' And I also started my blog - 'anumorris.com'. My first love(s) ever - writing and dancing.

And then, I decided I would write a book on project management as that was my profession. And every time I tried to write about project management, it would come down to the human predicament. Let me explain what I mean by the Human Predicament. I am sure all of us experience angst in our daily lives:

• somebody cuts us off while driving
• a colleague at the office who is better than us
• a boyfriend who does not want to commit
• a spouse at home who won't spend time with you
• kids at home who never listen to you
• a boss at work who never appreciates you
• unable to stop binge-watching or eating

Going back to the book - how much ever I tried to stick to project management, it turned into a blog about improving your life. So, I said to myself, if that is what the universe wants from me, so be it - and my following two books were about how to get out of the human predicament. The title of my books says it more aptly - 'Make Your Life Easy' and 'You Can Do It'. Along the same vein, I developed an app this year given the COVID situation called 'Pick Me Up - Android' and 'Pick Me Up - Apple'. And it also allowed me to experience the joy of software coding as I was a software developer at some point.

Without even knowing, the universe has brought me to a place where I am living my vision. I grew into my vision statement: ' To be a better version of myself every day and inspire others.' I am grateful for that - this comes by grace. I have grown in how to get out of my own way so that life can flow through me. I have evolved from not knowing what my purpose is - to living my vision. The passions in my life - writing and dancing were re-ignited. Veganism called out to me - enabling me to cook delicious nurturing recipes. I can genuinely listen to people and forge deeper connections without bringing 'The Capital I' into the picture.

Today I know deep down that I am living the quote mentioned at the beginning of this blog. Everything that flows through me is to help me and others become a better version of themselves. Whatever activity I may be doing at its core, I am enabling a #betterme-betteryou-betterlife-betterworld. I am incapable of doing otherwise.

That said, I do think that I have worked a lot on the 'better version of myself' than the 'inspire others' part of my vision statement. I realize this when I get feedback from my limited audience. Their feedback is a source of inspiration and feedback loop to say I have made an impact, however small it may be in this person's life. My app got many positive responses from my friends and family in India in the tough times with COVID-19. This and the feedback on my books made me think about how I can amplify the existing impact. It also helped me understand that I may have articulated my journey, but the journey's sharing is still unfinished.

This is how I see the rest of the vision statement manifesting - creating a self-contained ecosystem - whose purpose is to help you get out of your own way so that you can let life flow through you - and be the best version of yourself. The blogs, the exercises, courses and other aspects of the ecosystem will speak to you where you are - if and when you are ready. For some, it would mean a better quality of life filled with more joy and happiness, and for some, it would mean nirvana. For some, it would be a like-minded community to share the journey with. For some, it would be reconnecting to their true passion.

At the centre of this ecosystem would be the courses on how to - Increase Gratitude, Practice Self-Compassion, Build the Awareness Muscle, Re-Ignite your true purpose, Meditation Journey, Vegan Cooking. The core content for these courses exists in my books, app and blogs; my own experience of getting back into dancing and writing; my meditation and my vegan journey. And last but not least, the community aspect will include like-minded people on the same journey and podcasts, books, and videos from others in this space. And to ensure this reaches a broader audience, the payment will be in the 'Pay What You Can' concept.

This is my dream - To increase the consciousness of individuals on this planet. If we have to stop repeating history, each of us individually must understand who we are and contribute to evolution, not devolution.

As Einstien states in the following quote, we have to move beyond the mind and thought to solve our planet's and humanity's problems.

The question in my head is no longer what the universe wants from me, but how will I do it? Will you join me on the journey?