From “Soul Medicine for a Fractured World: Healing, Justice, and the Path of Wholeness” by Liza J. Rankow
Purpose is not the same as goals or outcomes, or even vocation. Purpose is the larger quality of being our life is aimed toward; it’s a direction not a destination. Goals and vocation are some of the tangible ways purpose is expressed; they should be aligned with our purpose, but they are the means rather than the ends. Purpose doesn’t have an end. It’s not something we complete and check off our list, but something larger than we are that we give ourselves to, something we live into day by day.
Purpose belongs to the soul rather than the ego. It is greater than our small self can manage, and thus we sometimes fear or resist its call. The “Divine idea” for our life is often beyond what we might ever imagine for ourselves – requiring faith, surrender, commitment, trust. Aligning with that is like swimming with the current, rather than against it.