One of my very favourite authors is Dr Wayne Dyer, author of over 30 books, many audio CD’s and more recently the movie, book and Audio called The Shift – Taking your life from Ambition to Meaning.
The Shift, available in DVD, Audio and Book
For those of you who may not be familiar with Dr Dyer, Wayne, in his own words, was brought into this world to experience great challenges. He spent most of his childhood in foster care, started with nothing financially, has been through the addiction route with alcohol and drugs and has experienced the break-up of two marriages. What these experiences taught him was self reliance and he now teaches others how to reach their own place of self reliance.
Dr Dyer’s most recent work is based on the concept that at a certain point in our lives some of us reach a place where we are largely unfulfilled by things that may have previously been important or fulfilling for us. Dr Dyer calls this transition ‘The Shift’ where we move from having a focus on ambition and turn toward a life with greater meaning.
In the book version of The Shift Dr Dyer quotes from a documentary about the Kalahari Bushmen called Hasten Slowly:
The Bushman in the Kalahari desert talk about two “Hungers”. There is the Great Hunger and there is Little Hunger. The Little Hunger wants food for the belly; But the Great Hunger, The greatest hunger of all, is the hunger for meaning… There is ultimately only one thing that makes Human beings deeply and profoundly bitter, And that is to have thrust upon them A life without meaning… There is nothing wrong in searching for happiness… But of far more comfort to the soul… Is something greater than happiness Or unhappiness, and that is meaning. Because meaning transfigures all… Once what you are doing has for you meaning, It is irrelevant whether you’re happy Or unhappy. You are content – you are not alone In your spirit – you belong. -*-So many people talk about purpose and finding meaning in their life, we often ask ‘what is my purpose, how do I find it, it always seems to be eluding me”. Dr Dyer has always felt that the real purpose in life is just to be happy, to enjoy our life and to get to a place where we are not trying to get someplace else.
I can certainly relate to this as someone who spent her life striving to get to somewhere I wasn’t and never arriving. Until I watched this DVD, heard the audio book and read the book that is…
If you can relate to this in some way then stay tuned for my next post as we delve into Dr Dyers concepts a little more deeply.
Take care
Helen.
