It’s tempting to compartmentalize our lives.  We have our jobs or careers in one little box.  It’s how we pay the bills, and how we can afford to pursue our passions outside of work.  Those passions – spiritual development, for example – are kept in little boxes of their own.  For a while, this model works.  We go to our practical, bill-paying jobs every day, and pursue our spiritual development in our personal time.

Eventually, all that spiritual development we are doing makes us miserable at work!  We have gained a sense of who we are as spiritual Beings, and as our Higher Selves have more and more input into our lives, we long to express our Divine nature into every aspect of our life.  And our jobs may simply not allow us to do that.

Many, many spiritual seekers try to keep jobs and spirituality separate.  We tell ourselves that we can’t put our families through a career transition, that we could never maintain our lifestyle if we switched directions … and we keep our spiritual path confined to nights and weekends.  The divide between how we make a living and who we are as spiritual Beings grows wider and wider.

Is this a sustainable situation?

If our Soul’s purpose isn’t expressed in how we make a living, can we truly be living our Soul’s purpose? Of course not!  If we want to experience true fulfillment on the spiritual path, eventually our life’s work has to become an expression of our Soul’s purpose.  Mind you, our Soul’s purpose isn’t a job description.  It can be expressed in infinite and very financially rewarding ways.  But we cannot keep our spirituality in a little box, to be expressed only in life areas where it is convenient.  Eventually, we have to create oneness, wholeness, integration.  If we think we can continue on a spiritual path while sustaining separation … well, we’re just kidding ourselves.

So what do we do?  What if we have that miserable six-figure corporate job that is putting our kids through college and paying our mortgage and all we long for is retirement when we can finally, finally be fully expressed as our Divine Selves?  I’ve worked with several clients over the past few weeks who are exactly in this situation.

Here’s what has consistently come up in our sessions:

If you’ve sustained a high level of separation for a while, a feasible one-step solution is unlikely.

I’ve had to disappoint a few clients who wanted to experience integration in one swift move.  If it’s taken ten years to get to a high level of separation, it may take a year or two to shift towards wholeness.  The trick is to focus what next step is available right now – what career moves would bring our work more closely into alignment with our purpose?  Maybe that’s a lateral move within our corporate environment.  Maybe it’s taking professional development classes and starting a business on the side.

Decisive action will be required.

It’s taken effort to sustain a separation between work and our spirituality.  It’s going to also take a level of effort to come into integration between the two.  Effort doesn’t mean struggle.  Effort doesn’t mean that it will be “hard.”  It’s just going to take some time, energy, and a high level of intention.  Taking action is a requirement for change.

Our focus must be on the next available step.

It’s easy to look at the top of a staircase and think of how very far away it seems.  We can look at all the steps and think of how exhaustingly many there are.  Some of us even try to convince ourselves that, if we just say enough affirmations, we can catapult ourselves right past our present belief system to the top of those stairs.  Inevitably, we end up bruised and disappointed.  But if we just focus on the next step at hand, and then the next, and then the next as they are revealed, we find that we’ve climbed those stairs in no time at all!

No matter where we are in our career, our financial situation, or our spiritual development – integration is not only possible, but becomes necessary for our continued growth.  Separation is not sustainable on a spiritual path.

What can you do today to express your Soul’s purpose in your work?  The next step is always available.  What’s yours?  Leave your comment and share!

Blessings,
Andrea

Tagged with: • •

Filed under: Embrace Your Highest Path and Purpose • Releasing Limiting Beliefs • Spiritual Development

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!