How to soul search is something I know a lot about as I’ve been doing it all my adult life with the core question in the back of my mind: what is this life really about?
Because on a deeper level, it’s not about our jobs, relationships or families.
They may consume parts and most of the time in our lives.
But we (you and me) are the most important part of our lives.
Because we’re the only ones we’re responsible for in the end.
And our best life is about our growth journey… and who we become.
A decade from now you won’t care as much about what you did this year compared to who you’ve become 10 years later.
As we grow older, we’ve acquired more earthly proof in our experiences that nothing stays the same and experience impact fades… and we have chances to make big differences with change today and in the years we have left.
For our sake and our planet’s sake.
It’s individually up to us to crack the code of how to optimize this life and find meaning.
And I believe it’s through how to soul search in our lives.
…Because the deeper life answers are here and the mysteries of life are discovered there.
We don’t have to travel anywhere to discover what we need, so each of us has the same opportunity (that has no cost).
The universal core truths of why we’re here have stayed the same, while everything on earth changes.
Today, you’ve figured that out or like every person in every generation that gets to sooner, later, or not if you so choose.
Ultimately it matters because it’s not all up to you or me on how things turn out.
….It’s also not up to our bosses, parents, or anyone else that makes influence in your life even if they’re the loudest in our thoughts.
Then who is it up to?
Figuring out this life’s meaning I argue is the best way… choosing to agree with this life’s terms vs. fighting against it is the happier path of aligned purposed living without regrets along the way.
I was lucky to have discovered these life secrets on my journey and happy to share my how to soul search discoveries with you.
…That mind you, came after making many re-routes I took that helped me form my thoughts.
Because I had none of the answers taught to me growing up or in my 20s getting my feet off the ground, so I had to follow my blind instincts.
And that led me to unchartered wilderness places that would eventually land me into bigger and better places.
All those experiences helped me out and I know the Universe guided me along. I found my spirit before I found how to soul search.
My gut instincts came from an invisible hand giving me the blessed upper-hand in my situations where I was meant to go.
And that’s what’s daily playing out for most of us if we’re paying attention and open to the idea of miracle possibilities and forces greater than ourselves.
But when I was younger, I didn’t know all this.
…I just knew I couldn’t wait to grow up and be on my own.
I relied on the hopes of a better future and if it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.
I didn’t have role models other than distant ones in magazines.
I lived on the surface. I never delved deep in my soul.
Then living as a young adult, I discovered everything in my life was wrong…
I had problems in every wheel of balance area of life… from my difficult work struggles, unhealthy and rocky relationships, and financial woes looming over my life that eventually caught up with me.
Those were the buckets that mattered most at that age in my life that I was juggling.
My life was completely off from the happy life I wanted. I was far from knowing how to soul search.
It wasn’t what I would have hoped for life would turn out to be dreaming of freedom as an adult.
…And if any of this hits a chord with you or problems are what you’re going through now, believe that your struggles will make you better and stronger on the other side.
You’ll be better off in your future because of your problems, (after you’ve processed what you went through). You’ll learn about deeper parts of you and how to search the soul.
And if you lean into your wiser soul better-half guide inside you (also guiding your heart), you’ll get your higher calling answers in your life… the better and deeper answers that are not the same ones you started off with or initially fear about daily from the “rational” brain.
Or irrational mind… that not going to help with how to soul search.
Wise soul plans are subtle in thought and can take years in the making to manifest.
When older people tell you that life gets better it’s because they’ve found the better ways of life through life.
And leaning on their confidence, you can gain wisdom and get there sooner rather than later.
I’m grateful my life has turned out that way.
…I felt like I was once a crawling caterpillar that grew into a butterfly. 🦋
But before I got to the life gets better part, my idea of a happy life had to go awry so that I could struggle, survive, and get out of the chrysalis to thrive.
Looking back, I had to go through the process of those messy and tough seasons for my own good and growth to come out another way.
But those early years, I was crushed.
And every year I was sad and hit with the winter blues.
Nothing changed quick enough.
I had no idea what I wanted to do after I graduated college with a business degree (because I liked businesses).
…Even though I was so sure of my marketing major I chose.
But there was a disconnect of real life from the college life bubble of learning theories of economics and how to market goods and run a business.
So like most people, I did the next best thing: I got a job.
And starting with my first career, I had problems at work that I had never heard of before from my friends and peers.
I was isolated because I didn’t know others who worked in the hospitality world (other than the ones that were in the same workplace I was).
In my bubble, a few months after starting I knew there was something wrong when I learned women in my office were harassed.
Made sense why they were all attractive with a Barbie dress code to match.
Then I realized that was me too.
This was decades before #metoo.
It wasn’t too long before I moved on into greener pastures.
I felt like I had made it as a catering manager with a better title and my own office… but it wasn’t long before my dream job landed turned into another work nightmare.
Your work life is only as happy as your relationship with direct bosses. That’s where I ran into troubles.
Those couple of years sitting next to the hotel brand’s bag of signature chocolate chip cookies only made me tougher.
I became a tough cookie even though I stayed soft and chewy outside. 🍪
Shaken by a sudden panic attack one day in my office taught me valuable lessons.
For one, I am not in control of this life.
…And I didn’t have it all together despite what my ego told me.
It took many more years of work experiences to make impressions on my soul, one traumatic event after another…
…from anger management bosses to micromanager and bullying managers.
Working in different toxic corporate management situations, I now know the root cause.
…and it’s the same one at the root of all human problems.
The ego is at the core of all relationship issues, arguments, misperceptions, and people acting out.
Same problem.
Different responses.
Humans aren’t looking eye-to-eye in their mind. It’s like the Tower of Babel where people are suddenly speaking different languages.
But back when I was in the work situations, I didn’t know any better.
I took what came at me at face value to survive and hold the job.
And for decades working in corporate office places, I wore rosy glasses thinking and hoping there were better places out there.
But job after job, I was disappointed.
Good people are there, but the egos show up and dominate.
Some places were downright miserable and the best ones didn’t last.
Everything changed eventually…
And I realized a forever dream job is a myth.
You can stay to retirement and be miserable and luckily I never got that opportunity. I got pivots instead.
Gaining this clarity from many work experiences helped shape my soul and I learned how to soul search from that standpoint.
And leaving the corporate world was my launching pad.
First off, I learned what the soul is…
The soul as witness to life is the part of you and me that is not on the surface.
But it’s not that deep below the surface either.
When you bare your soul, you’re sharing your authentic feelings and thoughts based on our opinions, personality, and interpretations.
Our soul are our deeper thoughts from our mind, will, and emotions that often gets confused with our spirit.
…Or our Spirit.
Our Spirit is a separate ethereal being inside us (and around us inside other people).
Spirit-thoughts are not our generated thoughts, but become our thoughts.
If you’re Christian, you’re familiar with hearing about the Spirit or Holy Spirit… even if you don’t know how that plays a part in your daily life today.
And that’s how it was for me before my spiritual intervention.
…I have enough to say about it now that I could write a book on the topic as someone living a faith-filled life. 😊
But I didn’t start out that way.
I was not born a Christian.
And I didn’t grow up in church.
How To Soul Search From Situations In Your Life
I became God seeking when opportunity arose and problems grew.
That started in those hotel working days in my 20s when I looked down at my body and everything was there.
But inside I knew something was missing…
Years later, I discovered the spirit first that was one way into finding my deeper soul.
Another way that supporting this was never feeling permanently satisfied in life.
So many moves and moons later, I gradually found my soul…
Along with my purpose and daily happiness that came as side gifts. 🎁
They were daily motivational keys 🔑 that unlocked deeper understanding of my soul.
Living a more emotionally and healthy balanced daily life created the growth foundation.
For me, that included lots of healthy sweet food inspiration (like the healthy baking recipes I share on this blog 🍥).
That was around the time my purpose started to shape up.
One day, I dedicated myself to the craft of writing: something I never dreamed of or sought to do before.
And I never stopped.
Balance and purpose were the keys that gave the most satisfaction and clarity to my life.
And those could be for you too…
Trying different things will help you to discover your purpose(s) and maybe some hidden talents along the way.
If you use your today gifts and talents to develop a craft that becomes your practice and purpose, you also develop more useful skills.
All that helps you to align to find your deeper purposes and eventual destiny.
I’m still in the deeper purposes part of life and I look forward to destiny when it’s time. I know it’s there.
And if you don’t know where to start, start with a passion and look at where you spent time in the past you enjoyed or were curious about.
Example: I worked with food as a passion that never died, so it’s no shock that I create and share daily healthy recipes today even though I had no idea I would. That came years later.
Because I didn’t know I would do anything with food outside of the hotels and restaurant life I worked in for a decade.
Purpose and Soul Searching
That’s how purpose works…
You remove the outer self wrapped in pride (a form of ego) and you’re left with purpose.
Purpose is deep and daily happiness allows you to keep productively going and growing.
Then you’re left with a deep satisfied feeling that you often don’t get with life living on other people’s terms.
You’re emotionally freed up and have the headspace to be creative and innovative. Not the busy and anxious go-go-go ego environments of Corporate America.
Then being calm, creative, and satisfied-minded, you can minimize yourself and your needs and wonder more about possibilities.
You get and naturally want to explore more of who you are as a creator and spiritual being.
Feeling more inspired, you can more easily grow your deeper soul and parts inside you that you never knew existed (where there are beyond and abundant possibilities).
…That’s where dreams can manifest into real life.
Plus, more cool stuff in your life.
And remember, that can all start from life problems turned into blessings.