What if your purpose has nothing to do with your income? 

In western society, we often associate our “purpose” with our line of work or profession. 

But in yoga philosophy, Dharma or “purpose” describes living according to the immutable laws of the universe and following the right path toward enlightenment. 

This implies that our Dharma is bestowed upon us by circumstance or cosmic will rather than being chosen by us. 

This paradigm asks us to surrender our will to something greater than ourselves. 

But this is counterintuitive in western culture. We may be able to choose certain aspects of our circumstances. We can improve our interactions with kindness, we can change our financial circumstances with education and work, we can change our laws through participation in government..but eventually we all hit a road block. 

There is always some aspect of life that we cannot change. There is injury, illness, life choices of loved ones, and uncontrollable disasters that occur.

It is in these circumstances that we meet our Dharma head on. This is where we meet our purpose..

This is where we learn WHY WE MATTER. 

As simple and limited human beings, sometimes our only option is to live humbly, to de-escalate conflict when we can, to demonstrate compassion to those people in power, to offer a safe space for others, and to prove that a person can maintain boundaries with grace instead of spite. We can maintain daily rituals to keep our peace, because someone is always watching. We are always watching. And in doing so, we find our purpose. 

It has been said that honey is the Dharma of the bee. The bee may choose the garden and the flowers to visit, but in the end the result is the same. He is gathering pollen to make honey for the hive. As are we all.