Group Objective: To explore what it means to live on purpose.
Key Teaching Points: Often people think that purpose is an “action” or a role they play. This group will explore the possibility that purpose is actually a quality or and inner resource. (The take-away is that when we are living our inner qualities we naturally experience a deeper sense of purpose both internally and externally.
Materials Needed: Handouts, pens, clipboards (Or something to write on).
Reading from Conscious Recovery: When we talk about purpose, we generally refer to something in the outer realm, something we want to do. We tend to believe that if we achieve this thing or that thing, then we will acquire what we want, whether that’s fulfillment or happiness or a better standard of living. We often look at our goals and achievements as effort, striving, even as struggle. What we’re discovering together in this book is the power of the inward-looking approach. Tapping into our wholeness, into our divine nature, is our most fundamental purpose. Our primary purpose is simply to awaken. Being grounded in that space of essential wholeness makes pursuing any intention in the outer realm much easier, more powerful and connected. When we tap into the truth of who and what we are, life naturally becomes purposeful. There’s no striving to achieve something beyond us. We are simply guided in a very powerful way to what’s already there.
I want to examine two levels of purpose: our common inner purpose and our individual, outer-directed purposes. Our fundamental purpose is simply to awaken—to become conscious of our inherent wholeness, to live in a state of presence, to become aware of our oneness with Source. And as we grow in awareness of this purpose, it becomes manifest in all our outer-directed purposes. This isn’t about figuring it out. It isn’t about latching onto a new set of beliefs or perfecting our spiritual technique to do it correctly. It’s about deepening the awareness of our essential wholeness. It’s also about moving from our head, into our heart, and ultimately living in a deep awareness of our intuition. It is shifting from feeling trapped by our thoughts and ego-driven goals into experiencing a deeper, more authentic feeling tone.
Residential: Week 12 Group Outline Living on Purpose
(10 Minutes) Meditation
(10 Minutes) Check-in: Everyone says their name and one thing about what it means to live on purpose.
Review Shared Agreements
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One Person Speaks at a Time
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Confidentiality
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Share the Air
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No “Fixing”
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“I” Statements
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Feedback Upon Request
(15 Minutes) Group Process (Reading Handout): Read out loud and discuss. (As a group or in smaller groups/pairs)
(15 Minutes) Group Activity: Have each group member write two or three false beliefs on an index card. Have each of them stand in front of the room and read the cards. Now ask them to tear the card up and throw away. (Into bowl) IMPORTANT: They are not processing or giving feedback/discussing.
(15 Minutes) Group Activity: Make a list of seven people…three qualities…have participants fill out sheet. Let them know it’s ok if words repeat. When they are finished filling out the sheet, ask them to circle any words that repeat. Ask them to write down the THREE words that repeat most often on an index card.
Teaching Point: We can only recognize traits in others if you have them in yourself.
(10 Minutes) Group Activity: Have participant make two lines facing each other. Each person will read their card to the person standing in front of them saying: My name is ___ and I AM____. Now one person moves to the other end of the line.
(10 Minutes) Teaching Point: When we are “living on our card” (practicing the three words) we are living on purpose. (Practicing authenticity)
Symptoms of Authenticity: Satisfaction, Fulfillment, Meaning, Harmony Symptoms of IN-Authenticity: Frustration, Defensiveness, Conflict, Judgment
Say something like: “When we are living on our cards, we experience the symptoms of authenticity. If you find yourself feeling frustrated, getting defensive, etc. you can simply read your card and remind yourself of who and what you really are.
(5 Minutes) Closing Reading: Our Greatest Fear
READING FROM CONSCIOUS BEING By TJ Woodward
In our action-oriented society, people tend to think of their purpose as solely an external activity. When asked “What is your purpose in life?” most people say it is about the roles they play, or want to play, in the world. Some say they want to be a good mother, or a loving and supportive husband. Others say they hope to be successful in their career, or to fulfill certain goals and dreams. Rarely does it occur to them to take a step back and connect with their state of being first, before concerning themselves with doing.
The experiences of my earlier life taught me that if my doing is not fully grounded in my being, then it is like building a house on sand rather than on solid ground. Another way of saying this is that conscious being naturally gives rise to conscious doing. I used to believe that if I could figure out what was mine to do in life, and if I successfully accomplished it, then I would be living on purpose. Consequently, I would feel fulfilled. So I spent my early years building what I thought was “the life of my dreams.” That included a successful career along with the external trappings I thought I needed. I believed I was living my purpose. However, it was not long before everything for which I had worked so hard came tumbling down. In retrospect, I realize that during that period, my doing was primarily divorced from my being. The life that I had strived so hard to build fell apart because there was no solid foundation beneath it.
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OUR GREATEST FEAR Marianne Williamson |
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.