I've had a feeling for sometime now that there's a deeper level to go with the Life On Purpose Process. It's been incubating for several months, surfacing from time to time, often while I'm reading something of a spiritual nature.

I'm now ready to give a first cut at it. I'll begin with the idea that with the Life On Purpose Process we can address the question of "who am I?" For example, when someone says, "My life purpose is..." Who is the my/I that they are referring to?

During the first part of the process, it becomes clear to people that they've been living a life of 'mistaken identity,' as they uncover their Inherited Purpose. In this process they realize that they are not their Inherited Purpose, but instead they have an Inherited Purpose. With this insight comes the possibility of shifting from being the Inherited Purpose (or perhaps it's more accurate to say, 'being had' by the Inherited Purpose) to only having an Inherited Purpose.

So, if we're not our Inherited Purpose, who are we?

Well, it might be natural to say, we're our true, divinely inspired life purpose, also known as the created life purpose. While this is closer, it's not quite accurate. Here's what I see.

In the Prime Your Passion exercise that we use to clarify a person's true life purpose we use the metaphor of standing in front of a canvas. Previously, what was on that canvas was the picture of the person, or at least of whom they've considered themselves to be - their Inherited Purpose. And then in the process of uncovering the Inherited Purpose for what it truly is, they are able to lift it from the canvas, leaving themselves with a blank canvas upon which to create. And what they then can create or paint on the canvas is their true, created life purpose.

So, based on all of that, who are we? Try this on.

It appears to me that who we truly are, is the blank canvas. Or perhaps we're both the blank canvas AND the artist. It resonates for me to view myself, the individual as the canvas -- the canvas being the individualized soul that resides here on earth in the body. It's this individualized soul that I am, also known as the observer or witness. Then there's the artist who could be thought of as the oversoul or God, but in a sense it is all one and the same at this level. (A bit like a wave being an integral part of the whole ocean.)

Just to finish out the metaphor, the paints we use are the different "pigments of meaning" (composed of thoughts and feelings) that we dab onto our blank canvas with the brushes of our heart and our mind. What becomes possible is our personal life on purpose masterpiece.

©2005 Brad Swift of Life On Purpose Institute, Inc. This article can be reprinted freely online, as long as the entire article and this resource box are included.

Dr. Brad Swift founded Life On Purpose Institute in 1996 with the vision of creating a World On Purpose by assisting people like yourself to clarify their life purpose & live true to it. Determine how on or off purpose your life is with the fun & insightful Self Test at: http://lifeonpurpose.com/_forms/self-test.php?source=ezart Inspire yourself with a fr.ee subscription to Purposeful Pondering Ezine: http://lifeonpurpose.com/index.php?dir=_ezines&task=view-ezines

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