Hello friends! I hope you’re all having a great weekend. I’ve been pulled quite a bit this week to continue navigating a belief system that I feel is vital to our mental, spiritual and physical health. I’m excited to share!

I met with a good friend of mine Wednesday for lunch. Tony Janssen is a different type of chiropractor in Queen Creek, Arizona. I wrote about him in a recent post- “Holding Space.” I enjoy our meetings because I know we’ll have spiritually based, meaningful conversations. When I first met Tony I was in physical and emotional pain. I remember something he said as he drew a straight line across a piece of paper, arrows pointing both directions. Health was written on one end, disease on the other. He then explained something I still agree with to this day:

“We are constantly heading one way or another, either toward health or toward disease.”

Tony basically believes there is a spectrum of health. Our bodies don’t lie to us. Wednesday he said something similar. I was happy to hear him describe his perspective with different verbiage now, as it aligns with what my heart has been telling me for months:

“We are constantly either heading away from, or toward, the person that God created us to be.”

I have such a strong belief that we are designed for a purpose. I believe a leading indicator to whether we’re fulfilling our true Divine calling in life is whether we are experiencing JOY along the way. I’m not describing temporary happiness. I’m describing true JOY, the deep down fulfilling kind that lasts.

Question, even if just for fun: “Are you JOYFUL to wake up and walk through your daily life?”

Let’s pick on our jobs/careers for a moment. I’ll preface that our career doesn’t necessarily correlate to our Divine Calling, but play along for a moment. Do you find JOY as you walk your current path at work?

I wrote a blog post a few months ago called “95% JOY.” This post was about a man who I respect greatly. Ben Newman gave up his very successful role within a Fortune 500 company to pursue his true passion of continuing his mother’s legacy of teaching others HOW TO LIVE LIFE! I would say Ben is more successful today by a landslide, despite his success in the previous entity. Ben isn’t more successful today because he makes more money, or has more of what money can buy. Ben is more successful in my opinion because he’s truly finding JOY via his work of helping others. I believe Ben is one of the few that followed his gut, took a big chance, and found his true calling BECAUSE HE WENT FOR HIS JOY OVER COMFORT. As I wrote before, sign me up for 95% JOY in any venture I tackle, personally or professionally, as I believe this is rare in our world!

I want to encourage you today. I want to challenge you as well. I hope you’ll continue to encourage and challenge me as well. I don’t know what you find joyful in this world, but I’ll make you a friendly wager: I bet if you start doing more of what adds JOY to your life, you’ll fine more purpose as well. I truly believe we all have a Devine Calling. I believe we were put here on Earth with a specific purpose in mind (possibly multiple). Tony and I believe that our mental and physical health are directly correlated to whether we’re moving toward or away from the purpose-filled Devine Version of ourselves.

Just consider a few questions. What if our physical body is designed as a vessel for our soul’s work here on Earth? What if our task is to fulfill a God-given destiny? This idea doesn’t seem too crazy right? The world has a funny way of getting in the way of our true calling however. Life happens, wounds build up, conditioning ensues, and often we find ourselves in the ego states of scarcity and indifference. What if the further we are from our God-assigned purpose, the more we experience physical and mental anguish? Perhaps even the more we experience disorders or diseases? What if anxiety is linked? Most feel this to some extent, right? What if our bodies and minds breaking down could be directly related to whether we are on the right track with God? What if the more we find ourselves in a relationship with HIM, the healthier our minds and bodies become?

I’m going to expand on this topic. I’m going to have more discussions with Tony. I’m going to VLOG about this topic as well. I have a burning desire and excitement to dive deeper with all of you.

Joy is the antidote. Joy is a beacon to our TRUE CALLING. Our TRUE CALLING is in alignment with our most DIVINE VERSIONS of ourselves. Becoming this most DIVINE VERSION of ourselves then brings us closer to GOD, our Creator. I cannot think of a better formula for real success and true fulfillment. I cannot think of a better remedy for overall health.

I want to help others find their true passions. I want to encourage others to chase JOY for themselves. I want to help others focus more on who God created them to be, instead of who the world tells them they are. I want to help others have the courage and faith to step toward their true calling, which leads them toward their divine selves.

I don’t know what you find joyful, but I want to encourage you to think and pray for clarity around it. If you like to coach youth sports, perhaps sign up as an assistant coach next season. If you like to sing, perhaps inquire with your church to join the worship team, or get a singing lesson to sharpen your range. If you enjoy golf, perhaps commit to playing once per week or joining a local league. I don’t have all of my answers. Here’s what I know… I have always found it easiest to express myself via writing, so I finally started a blog. I realize I’ve struggled with control, so I’m finally intentionally surrendering to God each day. I’ve always wanted to take a road trip and spend time resetting my soul- I did so this summer. I don’t know what the future holds (hence surrendering), but what I do believe is that I’ll be better off tomorrow if I take another small step today toward what truly provides JOY in my life.

Here’s to not having all the answers. Here’s to the courage necessary to take one small step toward my Divine Purpose today. And here’s to using JOY as my barometer for each step I take moving forward!