Lorraine: I get a lot of emails from people who are struggling with fear, stress, and anxiety. Can you give my readers a short message that will help those dealing with these issues?”
Jesus: People who struggle with fear, stress, and anxiety are not doing what they were born to do. You come into the world with a purpose, whatever that may be. You are conditioned through parenting, society, and peers to do and become what is socially acceptable. Living your purpose and doing what is acceptable in your society may or may not be harmonious. Trying to fit into a world where you feel out of place, where you are not living out your purpose, can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety. Only when you are living out your life’s purpose can you live an extraordinary life and be your authentic self.
Doing what society deems as “normal” and living within the construct of what is socially acceptable may be good for the society as a whole, but if it means you must forgo being your authentic self, you will never feel at peace. You will always feel out of place. You’re not living the life you were born to live. You’re living someone else’s life – or their idea of what your life should be. And when you do this, the results are that you begin to hate who and what you are. Your thoughts become negative. You hate your life and pray it will end. You say to yourself, “Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life?” When you’re living out your purpose and being your authentic self, the fear, stress, and anxiety that you feel will go away.
Lorraine: Can you give an example of this? I know many people who are searching for their life’s purpose.
Jesus: First let me say this. Your life’s purpose may or may not be your career. Who and what you are has nothing to do with what you do for a living. It may be part of it, the whole of it, or have nothing to do with it. Now I will give you a good example.
You gave a lecture the other day about a famous man who, you would think, was serving his life’s purpose by the art he created. But he lived in strict times when being gay was unacceptable, and he lived “in the closet.” Not being able to date someone of his own sex publicly caused him to act erratically. He became an alcoholic. His drinking and bad behavior got in the way of his work. His career suffered. And he died a young man. His purpose had nothing to do with his career, but because of society, he had to deny who and what he was. Not being able to live his life as a gay man killed him.
So when I hear people ask, “Why am I here? What is my life’s purpose?” I want to tell them to instead ask, “What do I want more than anything in life?” Not what do I want to be, but who do I want to be? If the answer is, I want to be a doctor. Then go be a doctor. If it’s, I want to be openly gay. Then go be openly gay. And if it’s I want to be a musician, go be a musician. You don’t have to be a professional musician to be a musician. You just have to learn to play an instrument. Then you earn your living any way you want. When you do this, you will be living an extraordinary life being your authentic self.
Peace.
