Aligned with Destiny

When I was a young child, I remember passing through my living room as my mom and aunt were watching TV. I paused just long enough to see what was on. It was a live presentation of some kind - an inspirational lecture given by a man on stage with a microphone. The specifics were unclear to me, but his words seemed to resonate with the audience. Some of them smiled and nodded. Others had tears in their eyes and clapped when he spoke. I didn’t recognize the speaker, but he was clearly giving them words of hope, and it seemed to be working.

Just then, a strange idea popped into my nine-year-old brain. “I’m going to do that one day when I’m older,” I thought to myself. “I’m going to speak to a crowd like that and help people with the words I say.” Just as soon as the notion came to me, it was gone. And just like that, I walked out of the living room without giving it another thought.

Twenty years later, I began giving lectures on spiritual and New Age topics. That moment from childhood was all but forgotten until one evening, mid-presentation, the memory came back to me, and I thought, “Oh my gosh… I’m actually doing it!”

One thing’s for sure. I took the scenic route to get here… including a detour through public speech class in college, which I nearly failed because I was terrified of talking in front of strangers. Slowly but surely, I overcame that hangup, and I’ve been fortunate enough to speak in front of audiences at a wide array of venues ever since.

Thinking back to that moment when I was nine years old, it’s as if my soul knew my destiny and what the future held. Had anyone placed a bet on what I’d grow up to be, nobody would have guessed public speaker. And they certainly wouldn’t have said a psychic. Author? Maybe. But there seems to have been a plan, a path, a fate that drew me to where I am today - as though I was pulled by gravity toward something I was always meant to do.

Interestingly, I’m not alone. Others have experienced this, too. The doctor who oversaw my daughter’s birth happened to be a client of mine. In talking with her, she claimed that as far back as kindergarten, she knew she would deliver babies for a living. She even announced it to her class in kindergarten when the teacher asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It’s like her soul knew what this life would entail. She merely had to put in the work, and all roads led to the delivery room.

My partner, Anna, is a similar case. She’s a professional photographer. I recently tagged along with her to her twentieth high school reunion. Her friends confirmed that a camera was permanently attached to her hand in high school. Half of the yearbook photos had been taken by Anna, and she documented all four years of their high school journey. But it started much earlier than that, because throughout childhood, there’s only one thing Anna ever wanted to do. And that was taking pictures. It’s what she was born to do… as if it were written in the stars.

You might hear similar feedback from a professional hockey player who could skate as soon as he could walk. Or a professional ballet dancer who wore a tutu all through childhood. Or a Hollywood stunt person whose earliest memory is jumping from the roof onto the backyard trampoline. Some people are on a collision course with destiny as if it cannot be avoided, as if their calling chose them instead of the other way around.

Perhaps you’re in the camp of people who are living out their soul’s destiny. But I’m sure there are plenty of you who are still searching for your passion, still looking for the right job, still wondering what path you should be on. Rest assured, the examples listed above might be the exception rather than the norm. I’d venture a guess that most people are still hoping to align themselves with their ultimate calling.

The truth is that you might be in sync with your fate even if it’s not what you do for a living. Many people’s destiny is separate from their job. You can work for the post office without having a passion for mail. If you work in retail, it doesn’t mean your soul was destined to stock shelves. Perhaps your passions lie elsewhere… such as being the glue that holds the family together. Or the friend in your group that is everyone’s unofficial counselor. Or the type of person who is most at peace when you’re being crafty, creative, and artistic. Maybe music is your passion.

You see, everyone does have a purpose. Each person’s soul is unique and craves something different. We gravitate toward the things that make us feel alive. For some, that’s helping, healing, and nurturing. For others, it’s adventure and travel. Some folks crave performing, competing, and pushing their physical limits. In some cases, people get paid to do what they love. In other instances, it’s considered an extracurricular. Money matters not when it comes to living out our destiny. What’s most important is doing whatever sets your soul on fire.

And speaking of fire, my daughter, Sky, recently took a course with the Nebraska Safety Council. She’s beginning to align herself with her ultimate calling. It seems to be in the wheelhouse of helping, healing, nurturing, and being an advocate for others. She dreams of someday working for the United Nations and specializing in something related to human rights or women’s advocacy. Meanwhile, she’s only twelve and realizes that before she takes on the world, she must begin somewhere. Baby steps.

So meanwhile, she got certified in first aid and CPR while taking a course on babysitting. She graduated with honors and can proudly boast that she knows how to keep a small human alive. It feels very aligned with her personality considering she’s always insisted on carrying around a first aid kit. Sort of ironic considering I had no regard for safety in my youth, and was basically a crash test dummy for my brother’s hairbrained ideas. Gotta love the 1980s and 90s, right? It was like the Wild West. Minimal parental supervision and no camera phones to document our dangerous antics. Good times indeed. But I digress.

Quick shameless plug - if you or someone you know is looking for babysitting services, please reach out to me by email or phone. Sky is eager to find babysitting jobs, but so far we’ve had no luck. She’s looking to watch kids in the age range of 3-7 (old enough to be out of diapers, but young enough that she wouldn’t be viewed as a peer to the children she’s babysitting). Her schedule is flexible, and her rates are negotiable. Hire her while you still can. It won’t be long before she’s working for the U.N. (and I doubt she’ll have time for nursery rhymes when she’s our ambassador to France).

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Whatever she ends up doing, I’m sure Sky will succeed. She’s ambitious like that. And really tenacious, too. When she sets her mind to something, there is no stopping her. It’s an internal force that comes from deep within her soul - a driving ambition that compels her to make this world a better, safer, fairer place.

I’m sure you have that driving force, too. Somewhere deep inside of you, where you keep your hopes and dreams and hidden talents. Maybe you’re lucky enough to have found your calling early in life. Or maybe you’re still searching for it. Whatever the case may be, don’t think too hard on it. The brain can be slow to realize what the heart already knows. And what the heart knows is this….

Life offers us a buffet of choices. Some things we do out of necessity. But whatever you gravitate toward in your spare time, whatever you think about in those rare moments of silence, whatever you dream of doing if money were abundant… THAT is the thing your soul desires most. Maybe it’s helping others. Or offering hope. Or traveling the world. Or writing a book. Regardless of what the answer is… Do. That. Thing.

It will soothe your soul and light you up like a thousand-watt bulb.

Shine on, my friends. Shine on.

-Andy Myers

402-933-5652

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