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Understanding Your Life Purpose

August 28th, 2008 by Erin Pavlina          Email this article to a friend Email this article to a friend

When I do intuitive readings people often ask me about their life purpose.  I think this is one of the best reasons to get a reading.  Discovering your life purpose isn’t always easy, and getting some insight as to your purpose can certainly help you get some focus and clarity on your path.  Let’s talk about what a life purpose is and isn’t, however, since when I do readings there is often confusion about this.

Your life purpose is not to be an accountant, a writer, a coach, or an airline pilot.  No. Those are mediums with which you can express your life purpose.  Your life purpose is more about who you are at your core and what you are here to learn and give than it is about what you do for a living.  So first let’s disconnect life purpose from career path.  You may use your career path to express your life’s purpose, but rarely do I see an actual career being your life purpose.  So when people ask me their life purpose and are expecting to hear accountant, writer, coach, airline pilot, they will be disappointed.

After doing more than a thousand readings where nearly everyone has asked about their life purpose, I’ve seen some generalities develop.  People fall into one of two categories: 1) They are here to have a personal growth experience, to learn, grow, and understand more about life, relationships, and oneness so they can evolve and become more conscious, or 2) They have incarnated to have an impact on the planet, to change something for all of humanity, to make a difference and change the course of many lives, to share a profound wisdom of which they are already aware, that will benefit everyone.

People in the first category (here to have a personal growth experience) will still impact the people in their lives.  And people in the second category (here to have an impact) will still have a personal growth experience.  But their primary life purpose is one or the other.  On rare occasions I’ve seen people here to have a personal growth experience who are also here to have an impact on the planet, but only after that personal growth is achieved to a certain extent where it would then benefit the planet as a whole.

When I read for people who are here to have a personal growth experience, I usually get a certain energy around them like healer, teacher, humanitarian, entrepreneur, communicator, etc.  Healers, for example, are here to help alleviate the physical and emotional suffering of others and are well suited for careers in the medical field, psychology, energy healing, etc.  People with teacher energy are often drawn to teaching, writing, speaking, or coaching.  And on it goes.  So when people in the personal growth category ask their guides for their life purpose, they will probably hear their category (healer, teacher, communicator, etc.) and then get some suggestions for career paths that are closely aligned with their path.  It’s up to you to decide what works best for you.  There is no spiritual imperative for you to be any particular profession.  As long as you are in alignment with your higher energy, you will do just fine.  You can have a personal growth experience being homeless, being a pole dancer, or even a prostitute. 

Now when I read for people who incarnated to have an impact on the planet, I usually pick up on something very specific.  Example:  “You came here to have a major impact in the field of physics, specifically in the area of DNA and how it relates to consciousness.”  Another example, “You came here to teach people compassion, specifically in the area of domestic violence by teaching women to have higher self esteem, and by educating parents on how to keep their sons from being abusive.”  Usually people in this category totally resonate with what their guides are telling them, much like when Luke Skywalker told Princess Leia she was his twin sister to which she replies, “I know.  Somehow, I’ve always known.”  That’s the reaction I usually get when people’s area of impact is revealed.  It’s like it’s been encoded in their DNA and I’m just reawakening the memory. 

I often find Lightworkers in this second category of people who are here to impact the planet.  It’s practically the only way to get a Lightworker to re-incarnate here on Earth. ;) Part of the reason I incarnated was to remind people where we come from and to help people remember we are all one.  The idea that I might someday succeed at this is what got me out of my cozy ethereal bed.  Part of Steve’s impact is to teach people to live consciously.

Why are you here?  What is your primary reason for being?  How do you know what it is?  In my personal experience doing all these readings, I find that the people who are here to have an impact already somehow know what they’re supposed to be doing, so a reading with me provides validation and confirmation, a sort of activation of their programming. 

People in the first category, here to have a personal growth experience, tend to have more flexibility in what they do while incarnated, because they can have their growth experiences in any job they choose to have.  They may not even find growth in their chosen career.  Perhaps someone is a really good accountant, but has most of their growth experiences on evenings and weekends being the coach of a little league team or going skiing with friends.  Nothing wrong with that.  Not everyone is here to save the planet.  Some people are here to save themselves and a few others caught in their personal growth crossfire.

So how do you know which category you’re in?  I find most people are not surprised when their guides tell them what category they’re in.  So you can find out in a reading with me.  Or you can ask your guides yourself.  Or you probably already know on some level and just need to remember.

Does everyone have a life purpose?  I believe so, yes.  Everyone has a reason for incarnating here.  You may not be a Jesus, Gandhi, or Abraham Lincoln, but you’ll get just as much out of your time here if you are a Karen Smith, Joe Johnson, or Susan Jones.  So make the most of it.

And remember, we’re all here to help each other learn, grow, understand, and live consciously.  So plug into your purpose and get busy making the most out of your life.

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  • How do I protect myself and my room when I astral project?

    August 25th, 2008 by Erin Pavlina          Email this article to a friend Email this article to a friend

    Question: I have read that when you astral project you protect your room so that low vibrational negative beings can’t get in.  Can you tell me how you do that, and can I use the same technique for my house?

    Answer:  I will tell you how I did it, but my method is not the only method out there.

    First of all the need to protect yourself, your body, and your space while you’re astral projecting is not necessarily critical.  It all depends on your current default vibrational state and whether you are already attracting negative beings to you.  When I first got into astral projection I was vibrating at a pretty low frequency: fear and anxiety.  So when I went astral I became a magnet for beings at the lower vibrations.  I was easy prey as it were.  Then, when I decided to go on the offensive, my need to protect my body kicked into high gear.  When you’re out there attacking the bad guys they have a tendency to send their guys after you to neutralize you.  So it became critical for me to avoid retaliation.  This is not something I suggest anyone does.  Very dangerous, silly, and unnecessary.  But I was a teenager and wanted to be an action star so that’s what I did.

    If you’re already vibrating at a default frequency of love, compassion, kindness, gratitude, etc., then you probably don’t need to go through the rigamorale of setting up protection.   There’s a default protection in place when you’re at that frequency.  If, however, you’re fearful, anxious, ashamed, guilty, angry, or sad then for one, you shouldn’t be trying to leave your body, but if you are, then you need protection.

    Here’s what you should do.

    Before you go to sleep ask your spirit guides to keep you safe.  Ask the angels to protect your soul.  Imagine a white and/or golden light coming down from the heavens and enveloping you in protective warmth.  Try to raise your vibration to one of happiness, joy, peace.  If you are religious, call upon your Source for protection as well. 

    Then you also want to imagine a beautiful white light enveloping your bed, or wherever you’ll be projecting from.  You can extend this to your whole house but it probably isn’t necessary.  If you have kids sleeping in another room, I would extend the protection to them as well.

    When you go astral chances are good you won’t encounter anything negative.  But if you do, it will bounce off the protection light you’ve set up for yourself.  You can also mentally/energetically create a guard dog to keep you safe, or put a real dog at the end of your bed since he or she can probably detect energies and scare off anything with ill intent.

    I mentioned other methods of protection.  These include using crystals, burning incense, putting a pyramid above your head, casting a spell of protection, using shamanic tools, prayer, and more.  I don’t use these methods so I can’t really comment on them.  But continue in your search for protection elements.

    In summary, if you’re going to go astral projecting be at a high vibration before you start.  If you feel fear, don’t do it, or get past the fear.  Set up protective white light around you and your bed.  Call upon higher energy beings to keep you safe.  And don’t piss off the ookie spookies or they might put an astral hit out on you. ;)

    Have comments or questions on this article or topic? We're discussing this article in the Erin Pavlina forum. Please join us.


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