Finding purpose

I remember I was 14 years old and my English teacher asked the class which of us cooked at home. I immediately raised my hand, or better my hand raised itself, before I even thought about raising my hand. I couldn’t boil an egg at that time, and had no clue why my hand raised itself. My English teacher didn’t understand why I raised my hand and I also didn’t know either really. 4 years later in my last year of high school we had to do a test for what you want to do and best can do after high school. My mentor never shared the results with me, until I asked him. He smiled and told me that according the test I could best go to a school for cooks to become a chef.

Of course this wasn’t an option, because this was before the time Jamie Oliver and other popular cooks made cooking popular. So back then becoming a cook wasn’t a real career choice for a smart and intelligent guy like me (which of course makes no sense at all). So I went on my path in life, finished university, became a strategy consultant, bought a house, and started a family, always with the feeling that something was missing in my life. It’s not that I was unhappy, but my life lacked a sense of freedom. The thing I’ve struggled with was finding out what my purpose in life is. Especially when I got closer to the age of 40, I wanted to create a life that means more than just living, by which I mean just working, eating, sleeping, and going on holiday occasionally. I couldn’t believe this was what life is about. I was living in a golden cage, desperately wanting to break out.m

Each time I tried to leave the golden cage, I got stuck in my mind and soon discovered that you cannot figure this out in your mind, it has to come from a deeper place. This is why after my divorce I craved for ways to reconnect with my Self, with my inner power, and to start feeling again, because instinctively I knew that there lies the key to the things that feel right for me to do now, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year and in the next 10 years. I want to live the life I was meant to live on this earth, live my Dharma so to say.

I’ve always resonated with freedom, living a free life, but had no clue how to bring that into practice, until I spoke with my Kabbalah teacher Yosef. He said: “Bart you need to become a sharing person; Shift from living for yourself alone to living for the greater good”. And this made so much sense to me, that I integrate this sense of becoming a sharing person in everything I do.

But, we all know that you can only share when you have something to share. And you can only share something valuable, when you are valuable yourself first. And I am most valuable when I do the things I’m good at and the things I like to do. I love to cook, but I also like to work outside in the garden, to read about nerdy stuff about the future and about personal development, and I love to spend time with my daughter. So what must I do? I like so many things!

So I went back to Yosef and asked him what to do now. And he asked me what it is that I really want. Who do I want to be? What does my life look like in detail! when I was the one deciding what my life should look like? We are creating our own reality, not anyone else! Everything that happens in my life, I created, both the good stuff and the bad stuff. Reality is merely a reflection of our inner Self, our thoughts and our feelings. The Universe just listens to what you request and whether your request is accompanied with the right intention and belief that you want to receive it.   

The 10yearsplan I wrote is a request to myself and the Universe to live life on my terms. To live according my own beliefs. Each day I become more in line with the strategy I outlined in my plan. Even though the steps are small, and barely noticible by the outer world, I now know and feel that these small steps make a large impact in my inner world, and most important that I'm following the right path. I trust the process, adjust where and when needed, and never ever give up on my dreams. I finally have purpose in my life and want to share my journey to the world!

“The purpose of life is to transform our desire to receive to the desire to share” Kabbalah teaching.