Prayer can be efficacious in bringing about healing. Naming your illness, whether it is in your body, mind, or spirit, can empower you to pray for its fading. It’s like naming your adversary or your enemy. Perhaps you hold anger inside (psychologists say that anger turned inward can become depression), or you have hurt someone through gossip or through some thoughtless action. Seek forgiveness from the divine, but forgive yourself first. As you pray over that or any other issue or decision, ask God to open your spiritual eyes to understand the truth of your motives. Take time to consider the possible consequences of how the decisions you have made, wittingly or recklessly, will impact all areas of your life (your own mental, physical, and spiritual well being, as well as that of your family). Moreover, ask to be guided when making any decisions for your life. You want your will to align with God’s will, so you can have the highest outcome of your decisions. Ultimately, we all have to live by the choices we make every day. Make choices that are divinely inspired and guided. When in doubt, always choose the high ground—what’s morally and ethically right and what doesn’t hurt others. Luciano de Crescenzo, the Italian writer and film director, observed that, “We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can fly by embracing one another.”
When you make good choices for your life and choose to heal old wounds (by correcting past mistakes or coming to terms with the consequences and releasing those old hurts), you begin to live more joyfully. When you choose to do work you feel passionate about, it is no longer work, but rather pleasurable activity. When you can tap the powers of your intellect and concentrate your thought energy internally, what is there than you cannot do? The impossible becomes possible. More importantly, doubts are eradicated. Tap into the invisible network of God’s helpers and messengers, who are ready to come to your aid in a heartbeat. They are closer than you might think. As Saint Francis de Sales, the sixteenth century French Roman Catholic bishop of Geneva so eloquently counseled, “Make friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you. Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritual affairs.”
When you are expressing who you are and doing what you love to do from your authentic self, you are living in purpose. You share with others your gifts, your talents, and your passions. When you’re in purpose, you feel good about yourself because you know you’re making a contribution to help others in some way.
If you enjoy pumping gas and greeting your customers with a smile on your face, you are in purpose. If you are a nurse and you feel compassionate when assisting others along their journey from illness to wellness, you are in purpose. If you spend your day on the front porch waving to all those that pass by, you are in purpose. If you love staying home with your children and you love being a mom, you are in your purpose. Purpose is what brings you joy, happiness, peace, and fulfillment. As humans, we are meant to live our lives joyfully. That means we ought to at least try to discover our life’s purpose to live with joyful spirit.