Rachael Kane

FINDING MEANING IN LIFE, SPIRITUAL CRISIS

For some people, a lack of meaning or purpose in life can provide fer tile ground for the development of panic attacks, phobias or depression. Although anxiety may be caused by a number of factors, it sometimes reflects a sudden revelation (and desperation) that your life has no obvious direction. Similarly, the fear of being trapped or confined, or unable to escape, that under lies so many phobias may reflect a deeper fear of being trapped by your current circumstances in life, whether involving a dead-end career, relationship, or any other situation that feels confining yet would require substantial risks to move out of. Anxious avoidance may reflect a deeper avoidance of the very risks that are necessary to realize your full potential and life purpose.

If you currently feel out of touch with your life purpose, how do you go about discovering what it is?

Realizing what truly gives your life meaning and purpose is likely to carry you beyond your own personal needs and to have a beneficial impact on someone else. Whether that someone is a child, the people you work for, your community, or anyone to whom you convey what you’ve learned from your experience. In discovering your true purpose and potential, you move beyond immediate concerns for personal security and satisfaction toward a meaningful contribution.

Developing a spiritual practice may provide a direction in which to find answers to your life’s meaning. Not only may a spiritual practice provide life with greater meaning, but it can help overcome anxiety or depressive symptoms because it leads to qualities such as inner peace, serenity, unconditional love, and an engagement with life. A spiritual awareness and growth can effect a transformation in your whole being.