#3 HOW TO CREATE PURPOSE IN LIFE

Welcome to the third episode of Cirque du Souls  "What is the meaning and purpose of life?"

During this episode, the Bald Brothers discuss the meaning of purposeful life and how to create that purpose. Kim talks about his definition of purpose in life while Gary gives a simple guide to creating and maintaining goals and directions used to creating a purposeful life. This is a very insightful look into creating your purpose in life. As always, the podcast closes with a story from one of our listeners. We believe that these lived stories can be someone's playbook for navigating the trials and tribulations in their lives. 

Please send us your questions for discussion or a story describing how you were able to navigate a challenging time in your life. Send to cirquedusoul444@gmail.com.

Also, please support our podcast and help us to help others:

CashApp: @cirquedusoul444  

Transcript

0:02

Hey everybody. Welcome to Cirque to Soul, the only uncut, unedited podcast that's dedicated to helping you to find spiritual peace in your life. This is Gary and I'm joined by my brother, Kim. Kim. Hello. Hello everybody. Last week we talked about how to find your life's purpose. This week we wanna discuss how to create and then follow the path of having a purposeful life. So today we're asking the question, how do you create and plan the path to having purpose in life again? Last week, you gave a good guide to helping to start the process of creating your purpose in life. So just to review, Gary, I think you said there were three things that the one could or should do in order to start on the path of creating your purpose in life. One was recognize your God given talents. Two. Understand you're passionate about that. And three, understand your value system. If you can put these three things into play in your life, then you're on the way to creating a living and purposeful life. I agree with this, but I would add that I believe that you must first attain us a space of peace within your spirit. Okay. Alright. So what I'm hearing you say is that in order to start on this path of living a purposeful life. One must first be able to find spiritual peace, so just checking. You believe that purpose in life has a connection to spiritual wellbeing? Yes. So I'm gonna ask a quick question. Okay. And that question is. What is your definition of spiritual peace? A spiritual wellbeing? What, how do you define that? And I think we need to know that because, we throw the term around spiritual peace a lot, but what does it mean? What does it mean? Yeah. Yeah. That's a good question. I kinda look, I think I've got two answers for that, honestly. Okay. One is, if you're comfortable with your. Religion or your practice or even your meditation, if that's what you're comfortable with, then I think you can find, you'll have your spiritual peace because you're comfortable with what you're doing. I'm comfortable with my meditation, so that's a spiritual peace for me. Now, the second part of that, I think, is that. The higher level part is that you kinda remain at peace no matter what's going on around you, no matter what stressful situation is going on, no matter what kind of problems you think there may be, there's something inside of you that just has that calmness and that peace, and I think that comes from, or your spiritual practice, whatever that may be, your Christianity or Buddhism or whatever that spiritual practice may be, there's a, there's something inside of you that just, you remain at peace no matter what's going on around you. So I think that's two, two facets of spiritual peace and that's my definitions of it. Okay. Alright. Look, I did something, I went out to AI and I asked the question, what is spiritual peace? And it says it's a deep sense of tranquility, harmony, and wholeness, often described as a gift from God. That's what AI said. And here's a more detailed explanation. It says, beyond absence of conflict, meaning, there's no fight in between. Wholeness and completeness. Completeness to tie together as a whole when all essential parts are joined together, transcendental, calm. Spiritual peace is often described as a calm that transcends circumstances or human understanding, a feeling of stability and assurance even in the face of adversity. And this one is the one that kind of got me. It said, cultivated through practice while often seen as a gift. Spiritual peace can often also be cultivated through practices like prayer, meditation, mindfulness. Engaging in activities that promote wellbeing and connection. I understand what you say. You say, it's this place. But I guess I was trying to understand so people understand what is peace? What is it, what's the definition? Yeah. And it, that may be different for different people. But to me, the ultimate thing is when you are just calm inside, no matter what's going on around you. To me, that's the definition of just peace. And I know some things happen sometimes and, we react right away. But then if we do our practice, whatever it is, meditation, prayer, whatever. You kinda calm yourself and get back to that calmness. You may, even if it means counting to 10 or something, but you're conscious of your living and you say whoa. And you count to five and you come back to that, that that peaceful place within yourself. That peace that surpasses all understanding as the Bible says. I gotcha. That example, we had a couple of episodes ago the guy on the boat relaxing out in the middle of the lake and. He another boat bumps him and he opens his eyes and finds out that it was the anger within him that he had no, yeah. He didn't control. Okay. Let me a couple other different things. A couple of different perspectives on spiritual peace. Christianity says. Spiritual peace is seen as a gift from God, a result of his grace and a fruit of the spirit that believers are encouraged to cultivate in their own lives. In my mind, that doesn't define spiritual peace. It just says, it, it is seen as a gift from God. The Hindu religion, it says spiritual peace denotes a state of eternal tranquility. Atta attained through devotion to God and righteous actions. So that's a, I think a better definition of what spiritual peace is. And then Buddhism it says in Buddhism it emphasizes inner peace as a state of equanimity and non-attachment to external conditions. Achieved through mindful and compassion. And in my mind that is like the definition that you just said because it says, you peace. Non-attachment to external conditions. I know that you've studied Buddhism, yeah. Yeah. You know the first two that you said, the Christianity and the Hinduism, I think is what you said. Yes. Those two requires a lot of faith. Faith that, the higher being God, is giving you the grace. You have to have a lot of faith. The buddism part is. S more that you have to achieve within your own self. And, Buddha, he did the meditation for years and years until he finally found it. And basically what he was saying is don't be attached to anything. Stay in the middle. Don't get too high, don't get too low. Keep that piece right there in the middle. And that's the, that's what I get from the bootle. And it's hard to do a lot. It's hard to do until you get to that level where it becomes second nature. Yeah. Okay. So it takes a lot of meditation, a lot of meditation, and then yeah. Sticking to it, right? Exactly. You have to be consistent with your practice. Yes. Okay, so we have now, put a little definition on spiritual wellbeing. Now, I know before you said that you feel like you found your purpose in life. Last week. The reason why I bought up this definition,'cause last week you placed big emphasis on quieting your mind and learning to find peace in your life. That's why I felt that we had to talk about what peace in life is. Gotcha. How did you get to the point of finding spiritual peace or, are you're still trying to find it? Find. That's, I think it's everyday. Practice, if you may. I just think it's a lot of reading and studying. You know what? I'll be honest with you, even this morning, okay? I came up with another conclusion, okay? Because you know what? As hard as we try, we may try to live the life of Jesus or Buddha or Christian or Bobby G whatever. They all tell you have to do it at, you have to do it for at your own pace. You're on your own spiritual level. And so I was thinking, Kim, you're not on their level yet. You're just not there, right? So you have to live your life according to where you are each day and just try to be conscious of your living. And I think if you're conscious of your living on a. Hourly, minute by minute. I think you can have that inner peace if you are conscious of what, of how you're living at that moment. And so that's what I try to go to, try to live at Conscious Living at each moment. And that's how I have my spiritual piece. Again, I don't have it all the time. It's hard to do. It's hard to do, but if you have it in your heart. You catch yourself and you bring yourself back. That's how I've achieved my spiritual peace. Okay. That makes sense. I understand. Yeah. It's not easy. No, it's not easy. It's not easy. Let me tell you how I think I got there. Okay? Okay. First. I don't know that I've really gotten to the point that my spirit is at peace all the time. But, for a lot of folks, and I know there are a lot of folks here, trying to understand what it means and, maybe on a path beginning this path, the way I started was something that was totally crazy. Totally crazy. I started this path because I was suffering from migraine headaches. Believe it or not. Migraine headache, huh? Yeah. So what is my, okay. What's migraine headache have to do? Find a spiritual piece. Okay. This is funny. I've told you about, the car accident and all that and it set me on a path, and I was searching, but when I was younger, I, from migraine headaches I remember. And, the headaches, they were so severe, I'd usually end up going to the hospital and get a shot of this drug called Demerol. And basically the drugs just put me to sleep for, 11 to 12 hours until the worst of the headache passed. One day I was at work and, I felt one of these migraines coming on and it was this older engineer that introduced me to this thing called biofeedback. Okay, now we call it meditation now. Okay. He taught me how to mentally focus on one thing, and when you can focus on one thing and you're able to learn to block everything out, then you've attained the level of living in the present. And then from there, I was able to focus on the headaches, whenever I felt it coming on and I could push it out. Okay, so you know this thing called biofeedback, which is I think morphed into what we call meditation now. I learned, and it took me a few years to master that. It was, like you said, it doesn't happen right away. It takes time and it takes practice. But it took me a few years and I was able to. Get to the point where I could live in the present. I could live for that moment because the only thing that was happening was that moment. I wasn't thinking about the past, I wasn't thinking about the future. I was only thinking about this one thing on my mind got it. Is this act of being present, would you call that finding peace? I, I do up to a certain about 80%. There's also that I, the 20% I would say maybe not even, maybe 10%. It's like your problem was the migraine headaches. You could focus on the present moment. I. If your focus is on a problem or a stressful thing that you have, that you're experiencing at the moment that's not peaceful living, so I would say 90% of that living in the moment is the piece, but it, I think it depends on what you're focusing on at the present moment. Okay. Yeah. So that, go ahead. Live in the present moment. I, yeah, I think that's the best way to get that piece, but just think about what you're focusing that present moment on also. Okay. All right. Okay. But I, I believe that the spiritual piece is a part of the process of creating your purposeful life, though I believe that it's important, it's an important first step. But let's get back to the original topic here of how to execute or plan for your purpose, okay? Okay. I know that you're a person that likes to break things down and make it easy to understand. Do you have a plan or a way to help people to live their purpose in life? I. Yeah, you know what, again, I'll say I'm one of those people that, I like to have a plan. I like to, have something to start from. And then, if you can establish a basis, then you can grow from there because, if someone doesn't know, they don't know where to start, let me first say though that I would agree with you that being on this path of finding spiritual peace, it is a prerequisite. It's a prerequisite to. Creating your path to a purposeful life. It is. And to answer to the second question, I do have a simple formula for planning for a purposeful life. We've talked about life's purpose and we're calling it a purposeful life now. But I'm gonna take a few minutes to explain. Okay. This is something I think, we need to understand. We all want to be successful in what we do. I think that, that's just human nature. Being successful in executing your purpose in life, that's no different. Now, the one thing that we know is that you can't just leave things to chance. If you leave things to chance, then you never progress. You don't? It's hit or miss, I'll put it that way. You can't move, you won't move for it without purpose. So again, I like to have guides. I like to have structure when I'm taking on a project and I feel that, living your life's purpose, it is a project. It's a project. Finding your purpose in life and then working towards putting that in play. It's no different. So I believe you have to plan your life. Do you think any differently? Does that make sense? Planning your life, planning your purpose in life. Yeah. I agree with that. I read that living a Purposeful Life means aligning your actions and decisions with a sense of meaning and direction, and you have to prioritize what truly matters to you, and striving to make a positive impact in the world. In other words, you have to plan your life, okay? So how do you plan, how do you create and live your purposeful life? Okay, look. If we can agree that life's purpose needs to be planned, and I think we do. Then I have a simple formula. Okay. Okay. And we call it, the success in life formula. The formula for success is within the word success. And let me explain this quickly. I'm not gonna dive into it, but I'm gonna explain it to you. So if you spell success, you know how to spell success. S-U-C-C-E-S-S. Each one of those letters stands for a step that you should take in trying to live a purposeful life, I believe. Okay, that first S stands for set goals. You have to have goals. Again, going back, if you don't have goals, then you're just floating around, not doing anything. The you in success stands for understand the obstacles. As we are traveling or going through life, if we're going through and thinking that we're gonna go from point A to point B without any problems, I think that's immature and naive. Yeah. So as we plan and we see that goal, we have to look at what kind of things are out there that gonna keep me from getting to the that goal so that you understanding the obstacles. We have to give some thought to it. We have to think about how are we gonna get from where I am now to that goal. So understand the obstacles, and then the c create a plan, what that plan does. That plan tells us how to get past those obstacles so we can get to the goal. So we're not going to be able to, foresee every obstacle, but if you can take out half the obstacles and plan for it, then it makes it much, much easier as you're going down the path of trying to reach your goal. Yes. Okay. That second C stands for create a Positive Mental Image. As well as I know everything is about creating po a positive mental image. If you can't see yourself doing something, guess what? You won't do it. So you have to see that you can accomplish what it is that you wanna do, and then e embrace the challenge. It's good to understand and create a positive mental image, but you have to take the first step, embrace the challenge, and move. And then the first s in success that, at the end is stay on track. How many times have we tried to do something, set a goal and then we get sidetracked? You're in the fitness world. I've been in the fitness world. How many times do we see people come in, on January 2nd, January 3rd, with the goal of trying to get in shape? Yeah. And then what happens? Something else derails them and they get off track. Yep. Yep. So you have to be able to stay on track, and that's discipline and perseverance. And then the last s is show the world. You can do it, once someone sees that you're doing something positive, guess what? They start talking about you, they start giving you more kudos. You get motivated and then you keep going and you keep going and you keep going. It snowballs into something. That's my simple, formula for success. And, I wrote a book on this a few years ago. And the name of that book is conquering Doubt, A Path to Success and Accomplishment. And it's a very simple read and it's sold on Amazon. So again. I'll say, if we can agree on the idea that living your life is purpose, it's like planning a project, then this formula will work for you. I've shared it with many people and it's helped them to set directions in their lives and it's helped them to, navigate the storms in their lives and help them to reach their goals. So living a purposeful life is no different than a project. We have to plan to be purposeful in our life. We do. Yes. I like this. I like it. It's really good. And if people, if anybody has any type of goal, no matter what it is, fitness goal, business goal spiritual goal, peaceful, whatever it is. These steps that you set forth are really good. And it's just a matter of just put, put'em in the plan, putting them into purpose and plan and going ahead and doing it. And I think people will see results right away. We're doing track now and I told all of our runners the other day, I said, see it, believe it, achieve it. That's just in simple form right there. See it, believe it, achieve it. And I've got them all saying, see it, believe it, achieve it. Boom, boom. See it. Believe it, achieve it. Boom, boom. And you. You have, like you said, you have to, the positive image is so important. So important. And then just stay with it. Stay with it, and then show the world that you can do it. Oh, absolutely. Your steps are, yeah, your steps are perfect. I like them. Great. Okay. Yeah. So let me say, because we are, coming up on the end of our our time here. So in summary, we discussed the importance of finding peace in your life are being present. And we went off on a discussion on what being present means our and spiritual peace. And I think, we've hammered that, but we'll have more discussion on that later. And how that's the first step. And then, we just discussed the formula to help us to find a purples light. Is there anything else before we get to our favorite part of this podcast? No I just I just, everything that you, we've talked about, I just hope people will take it and receive it with an open mind, open heart, and hopefully it will help'em. Great. Okay, good. All. So now we're at our favorite part of the podcast. We have a story from one of our listeners, describing a traumatic event in their life and how they were able to find peace and get through the storm. Today our story comes from David in California, and David writes this. Losing my wife to cancer was one of the hardest experiences of my life. The woman I had shared my dreams with, who had been my rock and my confidant was suddenly taken from me, leaving a void that seemed impossible to feel. The pain was indescribable, and there were days when I felt completely lost. Arif in a sea of grief. During this time of overwhelming sorrow, I found an unexpected source of strength and solace my spiritual faith. It became my anchor grounded me when I felt lost and alone in my moments of deepest despair, when hope seemed like a distant memory, prayer became my refuge. Through prayer, I connected with a source of unwavering love and support that eased my pain. Yeah. As I delve deeper into my spiritual journey, I began to see my loss, not merely as an end, but as a profound transition. My faith provided me with the clarity to understand that this painful chapter was part of a larger divine plan for my life. It taught me the power of acceptance. Not only regarding the loss of my wife, but also towards myself. Accepting my own grief and vulnerability was a crucial step in my healing process. My spiritual community played an essential role during this time, surrounded by individuals who shared my beliefs. I felt a sense of belonging and support. Their compassion and encouragement lifted me when I was too weak to stand on my own. Together we shared stories of strength and faith, creating a support network that strengthened my resolve and renewed my hope. In the end, my spiritual faith transformed my perception of my loss. What once seemed like an insurmountable obstacle became a profound testament to my resilience and growth. My faith taught me to trust in the journey. To embrace the lessons within the pain and to believe in the promise of a brighter tomorrow. Through this experience, I emerge stronger, more compassionate, and deeply connected to the divine presence that guided me through the storm. Wow. Yeah. Thank you David, for sitting your story. We hope that you have found some peace in your life. We believe that your lived life experience is someone's playbook for dealing with the storms in their lives. David, your story will help someone to find the strength to deal with the storms in their lives. Okay, and that was a great story from David. It was a great story. Yes. Alright, this will close our podcast for today. Thank you for joining us today on Cirque Soul. I hope it sparks some new thoughts about the meaning of life. If you would like to send us some questions for the discussion or if you would like to send your story, please email these to Cirque du soul4@gmail.com. Cirque du Soul, C-I-R-Q-U-E-D. I need my glasses, Gary, D-U-D-U-S-O-U l444@gmail.com. If you've found value in today's episode, please share it with someone who might benefit from it. Don't forget to like and subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. Great. Yeah, we need to get you those glasses. Alright folks. Remember, your spiritual journey is uniquely yours. It is yours, but guess what? You're never alone. Take care. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to the world around you. And until the next time, have a great day in paradise.