Draw Your Circle

All living things have boundaries and borders around them.

A cell has a cell wall that separates what is the cell from what is not.

An ecosystem has a defined place and systems.

A body has skin that marks where your body begins and ends.

Your PURPOSE is like this too.

It needs a boundary, a border around it to define it.

To have a healthy purpose, you need to identify what/where it is.

You DRAW A CIRCLE around what is yours to do.

That becomes sacred to you.

When you step into your circle, your purpose, your dharma,

you take your shoes off because you're standing on holy ground.

You must define what is yours to do.

You must draw a circle around it

so you know what you are supposed to be waking up and throwing yourself into.

When you don't define your purpose for this season of life

You end up distracted and exhausted.

You get DISTRACTED by the noisy world that vies for your attention and energy.

You become EXHAUSTED by all the things you could be giving your energy to

or thinking about, analyzing, questioning, learning about, etc etc etc...

Because you haven't drawn your circle.

You haven't focused your attention.

You haven't created healthy boundaries.

You draw a circle around your purpose

and then you THROW YOURSELF INTO THAT.

You give all your energy to that project

or that cause or that business or that school

or that relationship or that mission or those kids or that book.

You give your energy to it fully because that's your purpose.

That's where your soul is telling you to focus your attention and efforts.

You refine that craft, you organize your life around it.

And then you MAKE PEACE with everything outside of that circle.

You don't get distracted or derailed by the million other causes, projects, businesses, opportunities, problems...

Those are good, noble, important, worthy things.

But that's not your circle.

That is for someone else to do.  That's their circle.

Yes, you sign the petition, or go to the march, or attend the rally or donate to the non-profit,

or CHEER LIKE HELL for the people who are working on that solution (in their circle),

But you learn to make peace with it NOT being yours to do.

You don't need to feel guilty for not solving it, or educating yourself about it,

or giving money to it, or volunteering for it, etc etc etc...

And you learn to TRUST that others are drawing their own circle around it,

because SPIRIT is leading THEM to draw their circle around it

just like you are being led to draw your circle around your purpose

and THEY are trusting YOU to SHOW UP in your circle

and give your all to YOUR thing.

That ping you feel in your soul when you watch that documentary,

or see that person's social media post, or listen to that podcast or Ted Talk,

it may not be a ping that you need to be doing THAT thing, THEIR thing.

It's the feeling of electricity we feel when we see someone who's living in the CENTER of their circle.

And it's a reminder in your soul that what you crave is not doing something "big" or "important" or "political" or "lucrative."

But that what you most CRAVE is doing what is YOURS to do.

Defining it.

Drawing a circle around it.

And then throwing yourself fully into it.

I was talking about this with a coaching client this week and she said,

"Yes, but I want to make sure I'm not too cut off from the world,

from other ideas or causes or things that I want to be affected by."

Yes!  Which brings us to the second truth of all living things:

They have borders and boundaries around them,

AND their borders are PERMEABLE.

A cell is only healthy if it has a DEFINED BORDER and that border is PERMEABLE.

If it becomes too rigid, it becomes unhealthy and dies.

Same with skin.  Same with ecosystems.  Same with organizations.  Same with ideas.

We stay open, permeable, affected by the world

and we continue to define what is ours to do.

We draw our circle and we stay permeable.

Someday we will have to re-draw our circle.

Our purpose shifts, deepens, unlocks a new level.

A season ends and a new season begins.

But we still must define what is ours to do.

We must draw the circle.

Where do you draw your circle?

You CANNOT answer that with your HEAD.

There's no "correct" answer, no logical answer that you can reason your way to.

Your purpose must come from somewhere deeper,

from the CENTER of yourself.

Then your head becomes a useful tool in figuring out the next steps,

but it doesn't know how to decide where to draw the circle.

If you try to decide your purpose with your head

You'll change your mind in 2 weeks.

You'll second-guess yourself.

You'll compare yourself to others and wonder if you're on the right path.

But the DEEPEST YOU knows what is yours to do right now.

Tune into that when you draw your circle.

What we are learning to do is TRUST our deepest Self.

Listen to where it knows our focus and energy should be directed in this season.

Then we draw our circle around it,

we can make peace with everything that is outside of our circle,

and we throw ourselves fully into what is ours to do.

That is how we live with peace, joy,

and create a meaningful life.