This is a book of thoughts. I've always been intrigued by thoughts. And now, in my mid-sixties, after a few successful careers, watching my kids grow into adults and having celebrated my 40th wedding anniversary, it has become clear to me that my life is definitely a direct reflection of the thoughts that I have held over all those years. I have read about this notion; and while intuitively it made sense to me, I now can say, with clarity, that my life is living proof that the emotional intensity and amount of time that I applied to a thought had a direct relationship to what results showed up in my life. My life has been a search for meaning and significance. The thoughts and quotes in this book have provided me with the greatest inspiration for reflection. I hope you take this book home - pick it up, put it down, reflect - and pick it up again and again.

A HIGHER PURPOSE

Living a Life of Meaning and SignificanceBy Jim Reger

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2012 Jim Reger
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-0567-2

Contents

Prologue......................................................viiDedication....................................................xiAcknowledgments...............................................xiiiIntroduction..................................................xvChapter 1—The Awakening.................................1Chapter 2—Purpose.......................................8Chapter 3—Cultural Influences...........................16Chapter 4—Becoming Ourselves............................23Chapter 5—Change and Transformation.....................31Chapter 6—Choice........................................40Chapter 7—Love, Fear and Happiness......................52About the Author..............................................59

Chapter One

The Awakening

"When faced with our own immortality, we no longer have time for insignificant matters—we have a greater calling beyond mere survival and the gratification of materialistic things that we have been conditioned to acquire. Our perspective changes and we recognize that we have a higher purpose in life. We do have a spiritual nature, a spiritual origin, and a spiritual destiny. What a shame it would be not to respond to our spiritual voice. When we listen, we will learn or remember who we really are." Jim

"If you are unaware and deny that there is any level of higher wisdom and guidance to your life, then the guidance must come through the density of physical events. Awareness first enters into an unaware personality through crisis.

... The awakening of the personality to the potential of the soul has come to require the loss of a mate, or the death of a child, or the collapse of a business, or some situation that renders the individual powerless. It requires the failure of external power.

... No understanding of evolution is adequate that does not have at its core that we are on a journey toward authentic power, and that authentic empowerment is the goal of our evolutionary process and the purpose of our being. We are evolving from a species that pursues external power into a species that pursues authentic power."

Gary Zukav The Seat of the Soul

"Those on the journey to living a higher-purpose life have a tenacious desire to live a life of meaning and significance. They tend to seek deeper, more loving and compassionate relationships. They live in the present and with a greater awareness of what they wish to create in their lives. They set their own moral standards, and one of their dominant qualities is a great respect for all of life. They recognize that the past is behind them, the future is the state towards which they are growing and the present is the path that will get them there. Their craft is the art of living, and they are their own work of art." Jim

"The spiritual quest usually begins as a search for purpose and meaning." Jim

"As we negotiate the curves and corners of our lives, we must continually give up parts of ourselves. The pain of giving up is the pain of death, but death of the old is birth of the new." M. Scott Peck, M.D.

"What do you want beyond economic and materialistic success? You often are clear about what you don't want before you are clear about what you do want. This question can be frustrating until you realize that you have to stop in order to change direction. The more certain you are about what you don't want, the sooner you will gain clarity about what is truly important. Be prepared to learn that there can be a difference between what you thought you wanted and what you really want. If you are uncertain about what you want and what is really important, you are bound to feel incomplete. This is a spiritual crisis; it is your soul's way of telling you to 'wake up.' If you recognize that the cause of the crisis is within, then you may become receptive to guidance that you would not have welcomed before; and then real change can begin, even though you fear what you may hear." Jim

"All men should learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why". James Thurber

"People can accept the inescapable fact of mortality. What frightens them more is the dread of insignificance, the notion that we will be born and live and one day die and none of it will matter .... people understand that the story of their lives has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. But what they desperately want is to live long enough to get it right, to feel that they have done something worthwhile with their lives, however long." Harold S. Kushner Living a Life that Matters

"We are all here to evolve at some level. We can evolve consciously or unconsciously, but we will evolve. Wouldn't it be better to evolve on purpose?" Jim

"When we enter a period of meaningful change in our lives, it is reassuring to know that there are many others on the same journey—and that there are roadmaps." Jim

"Any authentic search for our purpose and meaning must lead within. While it is normal to begin this search somewhere else, enlightenment is an inside job." Jim

"A search for meaning and significance often begins when we can let go of being measured by what we have, rather than who we are." Jim

"To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you lived—that is to have succeeded." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"When I visit my hometown, where I grew up as a kid, and run into my former neighbors, teachers and coaches; I always use Mr. or Mrs. when speaking to them. Yet, at my age, and while I do respect them; there is no need for me to use these titles, but I do because of this respect. I somehow feel this need because I still want to feel someone is in charge—just like I did when I was young. Did you ever wonder who is in charge of keeping it all in order, ensuring that it would eventually all make sense? I spent many years believing that politicians or religious leaders were supposed to be in charge and would straighten things out when things went astray. But my innocence died a long time ago, and I asked myself 'If they aren't in charge, who is?' Is it possible that no one is in charge? Just me?" Jim

Chapter Two

Purpose

    "Choose your thoughts carefully,
    They will make your life.

      Stay curious and...