A few years ago our family watched "Lady in the Water," one of M. Night Shyamalan's creative endeavors. No matter what the critics (and even some of my imaginatively resistant family members) say, I think that his work is consistently brilliant, in particular due to his bold imagination, incredible gift for storytelling, and the greatly anticipated metaphysical lessons that underly each of the story lines in both his books and his movies.
I think I also have an affinity for M. Night in general, as he was born just a year after me, is Indian, and he clearly has an incredible imagination and a gift for weaving symbolism into his story lines.
He also comes across as unassuming, quite humble, and I truly see him as an example of a bold creative; one who surrenders to his imagination and vision, regardless of any desire to be liked, respected, or accepted by mainstream society (or in his case movie critics and people who have already decided that fantasy and fairy tales are hogwash).
I think that in order to receive the higher messages in his movies, one has to be willing to let go of the limitations of impossibility thinking, step into the deliciousness of fantasy and imagination and explore the metaphysical nuggets that are ALWAYS present in his work.
For me, "Lady in the Water," provided some much needed reminders of how absolutely important, critical in fact, it is when one fully surrenders to their PURPOSE.
It is important not only for the individual, but for the entire human race, a concept we don't often or naturally explore. Just as we explore IMPACT as one of the 7 Keys to Awakening to Purpose, it is important to consider the Universal Impact of fully stepping into one's PURPOSE.
After all, it is the expression of one's PURPOSE in the world that has the greatest potential for exponential impact.
We live in a world of self-limiting practicality; a world that we, in fact, define by our own beliefs about what is acceptable vs. unacceptable, possible vs. impossible, real vs. fantasy.
It is what we choose to do when we find ourselves at the intersections of these strong cultural dynamics, that truly defines us.
Our choices to become an active expression of purpose build our sense of worthiness and importance, and lead us to live a life defined by a sense of significance, accomplishment, and great value - value for the gifts we have and how amazing life can be when we surrender to our gifts and share them with others in a powerfully authentic way.
Although I realize that we flavor our interpretations through our own perceptual filters, I believe the essence of M. Night Shyamalan's message in "Lady in the Water" can be summarized in the following way;
- One does not necessarily choose Purpose, Purpose chooses you
- Even when we turn away from our unique and divine purpose, the Universe has a way of moving past our own resistance (you will see this occur with the main character, brilliantly played by Paul Giamatti) and ultimately creates the conditions that provide opportunities to show up in ways that are beyond our wildest imagination
- Although we may not choose our purpose, we do choose whether we act on it
- We are often unconsciously drawn to Purpose related activities - our quirks and talents reveal a great deal to us regarding our purpose
- What seems obvious to us may actually be masking the Truth - but even our misinterpretations lead to great discoveries (like when Paul Giammatti misinterprets his role and purpose and then ultimately gives in to the TRUTH - wow, just watch what happens next!)
- When we move from misinterpretation to Truth, especially when it comes down to our Purpose, our highest potential is revealed in incredibly powerful ways
- We may not experience immediate rewards, yet the ripple we cast by stepping powerfully into our Purpose, often creates an impact that is far beyond what our own imagination invites into our consciousness
- Partnering with our Purpose feeds a universal hunger that the "world" may not even know exists
I firmly believe that when we are aligned with our purpose (in thought and action) and when we align with others whose purposes are connected to ours (for an even higher reason or purpose) that everything that previously felt out of wack just sort of falls into place.
At one point during the movie, it became clear that once the right people - each with their own unique purpose - came together in faith, unity, and courage, that everything in the Universe would immediately line up and fall into place.
It was this divine combination of purpose, people, place, divine timing, trust, faith and willingness (all of these people had been drawn, for unknown reasons, to move to this apartment complex) that enabled them to co-create a happy ending, thus enabling one man to live out his supreme legacy.
When we are out of alignment; whether it be with purpose, talents, or even the people who are MEANT to help us express our purpose, we find ourselves struggling to fit in, talking ourselves into being happy with our current circumstances and often expend a lot of energy and effort with less than stellar results.
When we are not aligned with our purpose, we ultimately set ourselves up to experience disappointment and discontent...a Divine Discontent of sorts...yet we ignore the signs, resist our path, fight against our Purpose, make excuses for not stepping into our Power, and then wonder why we are so miserable.
Yet, once we "get it," once we we fully discover and claim our purpose, the Universe responds with a "Oh, Hallelujah, she finally figured it out...here ya go, every thing's ready and waiting!"
There were a few timely and incredible personal reminders offered to me in "Lady in the Water."
One had to do with managing my expectations, in particular around timing. I am inherently quite impatient. I realize I may not seem to be impatient, but trust me, most of the time nothing or no one is moving quite fast enough, especially me.
It was quite profound to be reminded that writing a book for example, may in fact, never have the impact we hope for, at least not in the way that we dream of.
It may be, like in "Lady in the Water," that one person will be touched and changed by a book (or any other purpose driven gift to the world) and then they may grow up and have a huge impact on the world, attributing much of who they are to the wisdom that they learned in a book they read decades before.
My work may not meet the standards of success defined by cultural co-dependencies, cultural beliefs, or even my own friends and family, yet there are hidden and unexpected results that can be even more profound.
I may never publish a bestseller or earn millions. I may never get invited to hang with Oprah or win the Nobel Peace Prize. I may never get to share my writing or music on a large scale and we may never get a distribution deal or win a Grammy, yet who is to say that one life changed as a result of my/our work isn't enough of a reward?
Who is to say that bringing light, hope and a sense of purpose to just one other person on the planet isn't a worthy ambition?
The impact of expressing our purpose through our talents, passions, and authentic expressions may not yield the exact results we imagine, in the timing we would prefer, or even with the people we wish to impact.
The fact that the impact may come after we are long gone from this world, does not lessen the fact that one person's purpose, expressed through their gifts and passions (remember me talking about your authentic expressions of your purpose?), can cast huge and important ripples, yet may never be seen by the giver of the "gift."
And, the mere fact that we may not "see" our ripples, does not mean that the ripples are not occurring!
Yet, keep in mind that "we only see that which we are ready and willing to see, and only believe that which we are willing to believe."
And, as my husband so eloquently reminded me, so often the reality of our potential impact is far greater than what we ourselves are willing to imagine.
We are, on some level, afraid to dream big, less we risk feeling disappointed, rejected, hurt, or find ourselves challenged to maintain our faith in self, God and others.
For me, as someone who is always perceiving my experiences in metaphysical terms, watching "Lady in the Water" felt like God was tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "Keep going Anita, your work in helping people discover their Purpose, and step into the "Power of Their Way," is not only worth the struggle and sacrifice, it is important for the whole world.
So too is your own commitment to discovering your purpose and finding your authentic expressions in the world. The hard part is staying in the faith when things get tough or seem impossible. Yet, as I was so beautifully reminded as I sat in the movie theater, surrendering to one's purpose unleashes a potential far beyond our current capacity to imagine.
And, even though we may not realize it today, or even tomorrow, the work we do in support of our Purpose, will yield great rewards and in ways that we can not even possibly predict.
Visit www.awakeningtopurpose.com and begin this powerful journey today!
Copyright 2006 Anita Pathik Law
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