The Reason We Get Stuck When Seeking A Meaningful Life.

From birth until death, we have a life force energy that flows through us and animates our physical body. This spiritual energy is forever seeking expression through us.

This life force energy propels us to grow and evolve like our nails are continually growing. As Wayne Dyer said when I heard him at a live event just before he died, “You cannot stop your nails from growing. You can tell them to ‘stop,’ but of course, they won’t.”

This same energy fuels us to create and express ourselves using our personality to bring our souls’ purpose into physical manifestation.

We all create meaning differently depending on what our soul needs to evolve.

As long as we live in alignment with what our soul needs and make decisions that align with our inner wisdom, we will have a sense that we are flourishing in our lives. Our life force energy will flow! We’ll feel a sense of vitality and feel comfortable in our own skin.

If we stifle or constrict our life force energy OR let outer influences determine how we live or what should be meaningful, we end up feeling inner turmoil.

This inner turmoil is often a symptom that we’re stuck in creating meaning in our lives and that our life force energy is blocked.

For me, this blocked energy felt like what I called soul hunger.  My soul was hungry for me to live a more meaningful life, so it withdrew energy from how I lived.  Soul hunger was a gift because it awakened me to a deeper connection with my soul. With this sense of blocked energy or soul hunger, it’s helpful to ask, Is This Depression Or Am I Experiencing A Spiritual Awakening?

Just as our nails grow, our sense of what brings meaning to our lives is also meant to grow and evolve.

Let me give you a couple of examples:

Parents derive great meaning from raising their children. They have a channel for their life force energy: their children. The children grow up and leave home. Where do they channel their energy now? How do they create meaning? They are stuck because they don’t know how to create meaning in this new season of their life!

There is the business person who puts all their time and energy into being successful and making money to be financially secure. The majority of their life force energy is focused on achieving this. After many years, they achieve their goal. Now, where do they channel their energy? How do they create a meaningful life? They are stuck because they don’t know how to create meaning in the new season of their life!

What happens when we are stuck?

Feeling stuck is often a powerful sign and an invitation to live differently.

It’s  the universe tapping us on the shoulder and saying, “It’s time to grow, and that means letting go of your existing way of being so that you can usher in a new way.”

For the parent who has put their energy into their children, they are now meant to channel it someplace else, requiring that they create meaning in a new way.

For the business person that has achieved financial security, they are now meant to channel their energy into other things that bring meaning.

The challenge for many is that we get stuck because we can’t envision what this new life is supposed to look like.

But feeling stuck is not the problem. The problem is that we don’t know how to get unstuck, so this life force energy that is meant to flow is blocked!

And living with our life force energy being blocked isn’t just uncomfortable; it impacts our physical, emotional and spiritual health.

Challenges in creating a meaningful life.

Although there are many reasons why we get stuck, one of the biggest ones is that the masculine way of creating meaning only works to a certain point.

The masculine way of creating meaning comes from the perspective that we must figure it all out before we even start. We need to set the goal and then have the path clearly defined.

We put pressure on ourselves to know what brings us meaning. And then, when we know it, we can create it.

For example, when I was 18, I knew I wanted to be a nurse. When I was five, I had a mystical experience that planted the seed of nursing in me. It was part of my soul’s plan for me to be a nurse. With that in mind, I had a clear vision of the steps I needed to take to get there. After four years of University, I achieved my goal. The masculine way of creating meaning worked because I knew nursing would be meaningful.

The feminine way of creating meaning comes from a completely different perspective. The feminine way of creating is a creative process of moving forward without having it all figured out. It is a process that flows from our inner world and manifests in our outer world.

It is a journey of following the breadcrumbs and course-correcting based on our inner guidance. It is not linear and feels like a journey into the unknown without a map or final destination.

I have also become familiar with this way of creating meaning in my life. It is completely different from when I had it all figured out and wanted to be a nurse. These past years have been a meandering journey of trial and error.

I have been living the feminine way of creating because that has been required to uncover what feels deeply meaningful during this season.

The challenge for many of us is that society values the masculine way of creating over the feminine way of creating.

We know the masculine way and often don’t even see another way.

So, when our soul has saturated itself with the masculine way of creating and needs us to grow and explore the feminine way of creating, it is the road less travelled.

It’s a journey into the unknown that feels uncomfortable because we don’t have it all figured out. And, when we’re being perfectly honest, we don’t like the unknown or discomfort!

Although there is a lot of uncertainty, one thing I know for sure- the road less travelled is a deeply meaningful adventure.

If you feel called, please leave a comment below. Our community would love to hear from you!