As you will see, the soul’s guiding light is easy to detect. It is directly linked with the energy that sustains life. Your greatest joy and excitement are also indicators of your soul’s divine purpose, which makes you feel profoundly alive. What brings you the greatest joy? What would you do with your life if you had no limits of time or money? Is there anything you would like to do to help other people and the planet?

All of these questions evoke your soul’s presence, because achieving more joy, love, and freedom are part of your soul’s purpose. Focusing on making these positive states a reality is a key to progressing on the spiritual journey. Conversely, stifling your joy and excitement diminishes your life energy and slows your evolution. This is why so many people face depression. In the United States, as many as one in five women and one in ten men fight depression at some time in their lives.

Here is another important question. Do you believe that you can have a life filled with joy, love, and freedom, where you can play a role in bettering society? If not, what is stopping you? It is common to have doubts, but, sooner or later, a loving and joyful life is where your soul’s journey will lead.

Here is how the Dalai Lama suggests reaching this goal in his book The Art of Happiness: "One begins by identifying those factors which lead to happiness and those factors which lead to suffering. Having done this, one then sets about gradually eliminating those factors which lead to suffering and cultivating those which lead to happiness."

Studies show that simply focusing on positive feelings like joy and gratitude makes a difference. A local newspaper article described a study conducted at the University of California at Davis. One of the professors wanted to test the effects of focusing on positive things. He divided his class of two hundred students into three groups. During each of the following ten weeks, the first group was asked to make a list of five things they were grateful for. The second group was asked to write down five things they found irritating. The third group was asked to simply list five major events of the week.

At the end of the ten weeks, the students were all asked how they felt about their lives and how they felt physically, among other things. Overall, the first group reported feeling better than before. They also felt happier overall than either of the other groups and showed less symptoms of physical illness. Interestingly, the group that focused on major events tended to list negative events more than positive ones and had results that were similar to the group that focused on irritations.

KEEPING A JOY JOURNAL

Keeping a joy journal can help you to cultivate happiness. It is also a wonderful way to open to the unlimited possibilities of the soul. Write down what comes into your mind when you ask yourself a question like the one at the beginning of this chapter: If you did not have any limits of time, money, location, or anything else that limits you now, what would bring you the most joy and fulfillment? There may be some big things and some small things. There may be some things you have wanted to do for many years or that you used to do when you were younger. There may be some things you have thought about, but haven’t taken that final step of including them in your life. There may be some things you long to do to help others.

Money is a subject we all need to address. The idea that money creates happiness is one of our society’s great myths. When people want more of it, they are usually expecting that the money will bring them something else. If you think money will solve your problems, ask yourself what it would provide. Some common answers are increased security, less stress, more fun, and greater freedom. Understanding what you really want can help, because money alone is usually not the solution. In many cases, money has little or nothing to do with it.

We have helped many people to connect with their soul’s purpose and have noticed that there are usually some simple steps that they can take that do not necessitate making major changes. One example is a lovely woman we will call Elaine, who received some counseling from Jane. Elaine enjoyed singing until she married a controlling man who was critical of the sound of her voice. She stopped singing then and had missed it ever since. At the time she spoke with Jane, Elaine had left this relationship and was living alone. She could do as she pleased, but had not started singing again, even though the thought frequently entered her mind.

This may seem like a small thing, but singing is an aspect of Elaine’s soul expression. If she withholds that expression from her life, she is denying a part of her soul and her true joy. Instead she is unwittingly strengthening her wounded ego, which often resists taking such steps toward soul expression out of fear of losing its control. To shift the balance, it is important to bring your soul’s expression into your reality by doing things that bring you joy.

Some of your soul’s desires may not manifest so quickly. In such cases, you can approach them incrementally. In this regard, intent is much more powerful than you may realize. You just start by making small shifts in the direction that your soul’s joy is guiding you. We have done this ourselves with amazing success. For example, we realized a while ago that we enjoyed traveling and wanted to see more of the world. We could not stop everything we were doing right then and see the world, but we started focusing on traveling more. Now traveling has become an integral part of our work and our souls’ joy.

Living your soul’s purpose may also involve making difficult decisions that shake the foundation of your reality. If you are in personal or business relationships that limit your joyful expression, you may need to make some major changes. As you move into your soul’s expression, you deserve to be surrounded by people who nurture your development and encourage the emergence of your divine purpose. You would not be here, and your soul would not have its desires if you were not intended to manifest them. By looking carefully, though, you will notice that there is often a fine line between a desire to express the joy of the soul and a desire to relieve the pain or fear of the ego. You need to look deeply within for your truth. This book will help you in your search.

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Copyright 2010 Dr. Phillip Mountrose and Dr. Jane Mountrose. All rights reserved.