Lindsey had worked for many years breaking free of limitations, bit by bit.  Only recently her life had been hit by an unexpected hurricane… blowing what was left of old emotions, and obsolete thoughts and beliefs in all directions.    She’d spent the previous few months sifting through the debris, salvaging what had value, discarding the rest.  From a greater perspective, however, her personal storm had blown her into a whole new realm of consciousness. 

 Now, the moment had dawned for Lindsey to see her “real self” manifested.  I prompted her to revisit a specific past life that she had unearthed the week before.   In that lifetime, she had died resistant to living her “real self,” angry with having to be embodied at all and feeling like a failure.   She knew her present situation was the chance to create a new story ending.  It was time to just get on with her purpose.  A deep inner drive to stand in her own power and bring the best of herself to the world was overriding her resistance.  “But what is my purpose?” she begged for the umpteenth time.

I questioned myself. What tool, what information could I bring forth to aid Lindsey in answering her own question?  She needed a story—a parable—to gain understanding.   Much to my surprise, a fictional piece for adolescents came to mind.  

A wealthy couple put their young son on a ship delivering him to relatives for holiday.  The ship sank on the way and only the boy and an elderly black man survived…being washed ashore on a small, uninhabited island.  Having lived a privileged life, the boy was helpless.   This was not the case for the elder.

It was an odd relationship, boy only willing to see his elder as a servant while the elder was only willing to help the boy become self-sufficient.   Stuck together in such a fashion, the two gradually began to form a deep bond.   Days drifted by.  Storms came and went.  The search for food was a constant exercise.

 One day, the elder began to read the sky— a formidable storm was approaching.  In fact, the perfect storm!  He gathered the boy and hastened to prepare.   Taking the final step, the old man secured the boy and then himself to the strongest palm. 

After the hurricane had passed, the boy rose from his crouched position on the leeward side of the tree.  This was not the case for the elder.   Grief-stricken, the boy gathered himself together and focused on getting down to practical matters.  The elder had taught him well.  Days later, a ship anchored off-shore.  The boy who had survived the shipwreck was not the boy returning home. 

Accustomed to my stories, Lindsey charged deep in pursuit of the message…the tool…the gift.  “Am I the boy changed forever?  Am I the elder, wise and caring?”  She queried…and sorted…and sifted—as usual. 

Finally, I said, “’Yes!’  You are the boy who is the better off for having been shipwrecked.  And, ’Yes!’ you are the wise, patient and loving elder.   But more exactly, you are the tree.”  Her long silence revealed that she was connecting  to the deep truth of my announcement.  She was, in fact, embodying the energy of the tree. 

 “Yes, you are the tree.”  I continued.  “In fact, you are a spirit tree.  The tree that holds strong through the storm of storms—through the perfect storm.  You’ve recently survived your own hurricane.  You have emerged stronger than you can yet imagine.   You understand hurricane force winds.  You understand the winds of change.  You’ve just lived your own.

Deeper silence followed.  When Lindsey finally spoke, it was from a place of crystal clarity, “A spirit tree has deep roots… very deep.  At the same time, it is supple and resilient.  It bends in the wind, but it does not break.  It reaches to the heavens, while anchored deeply in the earth mother.”   Her spirit tree self—her “real self”— was coming alive…bringing forth the truth of her purpose and her place in the world.   In the process, her long-held resistance to being embodied was dissolving.   And her spirit guides were jubilant.

I went on to articulate, “The world needs as many spirit trees as possible right now as these winds of change upon planet Earth pick up speed.  You were not destroyed by your own hurricane.  You are alive and well, stronger than ever.  You know how to stand strong.   People will need strong trees to secure themselves to now.  Without a plethora of spirit trees, many will perish in the coming storm.  You know you are designed to provide refuge for others in stormy times.  You know that your profound strength and intuitive powers are coming alive.  This is your time.”

Lindsey wept deeply, realizing that her “real self” was emerging.  She wept out of gratitude.  She wept in acknowledgment that she was once-and-for-all anchoring deeply into the center of her own purpose—like a spirit tree.   While she wept, the heavens opened and spirit trees everywhere embraced her stance among them.

What is my purpose?  Why am I here?  These questions are becoming more and more common.   Lindsey has been asking these two questions for many years.  At the same time, she’s been chipping away at the layers of illusion that encrust her real self—the “God Self”.   Our God Self steps forth as  ego dies.   (Our linear mind is not capable of grasping this.)   To understand God Self is to understand purpose for they are one and the same.  Ultimately, we are the purpose we are seeking.