A Game Called Life…
For 10 months, I lived in Ubud, Bali — one the most powerful places in the world for inner work and transformation.
It’s no secret that Bali’s intense energy vortex gives way to the highest highs and the lowest lows, forcing many to actually listen to their inner dialogue.
When you arrive here you’ll be given two choices —
Surrender, listen to your inner voice, and feel every drop of it.
Or run from it, ignore it, and feed the struggle with an ice cold bintang.
At the beginning of my time here I picked the latter and with resistance in Bali comes GREAT intensity.
In 2 weeks, I got sick 3 times, nearly killed myself twice on my motorbike, and ran out of money. A common occurrence here on the island of the gods.
On any given day walking on the streets, I bet you could spot at least 5 people with wrapped up arms and legs from bike accidents.
They like to call it the Bali Kiss or in other words, Bali Initiation.
It was up until this moment that my spirituality and belief of the inner spirit was non-existent. For my whole life I turned a blind eye, thinking of it as a complete hoax, far from who we were as human beings.
Turns out that hoax was real.
The Bali vortex or in plain terms (me actually listening to myself) has enabled me to grow at an unprecedented speed.
I’m connecting with people at deeper levels, discovering my essence, and even picking up empowering habits like meditation and yoga.
Most important of all, I think that I’ve discovered my purpose. Dharma, as the buddha says.
The thing that makes me tick,
How I’m going to make my small mark on the world,
My reason to exist.
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Over the course of my short life I put an immense amount of pressure on myself to discover what it is that makes me go round.
In school I studied two majors thinking that I could kill two birds with one stone. I interned in 8 different industries across a large variety of roles doing things like brand marketing, IT, & fashion to music, real estate, & law.
I spent all of my time running around cubicles feeling as if I could fit into one of these dam boxes.
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A handful of years ago, a few friends of mine and I launched our first company that allowed us to quit our office jobs and work in our pajamas.
We called it Idea Shop, a free-thinking out-of-the box solution for companies looking to hire young marketers.
It was the very first time that I actually began to think for myself which allowed my brain to begin working in ways I couldn’t even imagine. I woke up on Mondays more excited than I used to feel on Friday afternoons when my boss left early and I could sneak out without anybody knowing.
As things went along, I felt the urge to discover more about myself and decided to move to Bali.
It is here that I’ve been given the opportunity to connect with the most inspiring people in the world- like minded folks who’ve said no to the system in search of (or already pursuing) their passions with uncanny velocity.
When I first got here, I joined a master mind group called The Crew led by one of the world’s most amazing emotional intelligence coaches, Colleen Schell.
I was taught that life is to be treated like a game, light & fun, yet with intention. I began digging into myself in hopes of discovering what lie under the moldy rugs.
My spiritual journey was in full force.
I tried to start a few new companies, one of them I sold off, another I passed the torch off to, and the last, another marketing agency with two wonderful partners.
I worked extremely hard on myself, met with powerful coaches, connected with locals, read tons of books, listened to speakers, went to the gym everyday, and spilled my heart to everybody in my path.
Yet, here I was still without an answer to my burning question.
Why am I here on earth? Who am I? What am I supposed to do in this world? What really is my purpose?
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A few mentors of mine mentioned to me that I had been in a drowning state of controlling and not allowing.
Never listening, only doing. Not only that, I had this fat layer of lard blocking my connection to myself that I needed to learn about.
It was this idea about having lots and lots of money so that I could spend more time building the projects that I was passionate about. Something I picked up in a wealthy neighborhood that I grew up in.
Crazy, I know ;)
Don’t get me wrong, money is important and its OKAY to want to a lot of it. For me, I was wrong about what it meant to me. I don’t need tons of money to work on projects that I‘m passionate about and I don’t need it to be happy.
I can be happy today even with $0 sitting in my bank account.
I began researching this state of allowing which lead me to The Law Of Attraction and the art of being truly Present.
I read books like The Secret, Think & Grow Rich, The Law of Attraction, The Power of Now, and The Act of Consciousness. The list goes on.
They gave me the tools to have control over my mind, listen to myself, and follow my dreams.
I slowly introduced new habits like meditation, yoga, and a written workshop every morning. These things all helped me communicate with and listen to my inner self.
In today’s world, information overload and distracting technology force us to build walls of dopamine addiction that hinder us from listening and ultimately, connecting with ourselves.
A large part of our earth is completely consumed with the outside world so much so that some of us have lost the ability to differentiate ourselves from others. Walking around like social media robots — our minds completely consumed by the overwhelming amount of information we intake on a day to day.
This is some serious stuff, we really need to start listening to ourselves.
By listening to our hearts, we begin to discover who we are.
When we discover who we are, we enable ourselves to take inspired action.
When we take inspired action we bring to the world our best self.
And by bringing our best self to the world we become new leaders that are able to make the biggest imprint on earth in the BEST way we know how!
By doing things like yoga, meditation, reading, exercising, and morning writing we can allow that connection to flourish again. By running free of the booze filled IV bags , we take control over our lives, and create a better future for ourselves and all of humanity.
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It was Sunday evening here in Bali. I had just finished an amazing weekend by the beach with a group of 10 friends.
5 motor bikes in the group, we zoomed through rice fields, music in our ears, heading back to Ubud where we all lived.
It was on this path that I’d cry of pure and utter joy due to the unsurmountable amount of freedom, beauty, and adventure felt in those past moments.
The sun was rolling down and I was deep, deep in thought reminiscing about my time here in Bali. Thinking about how intense it’s been. The conversations I had, people I loved, and things I learned.
I thought about the weekend, how my heart was filled with love, and what it felt like to say good bye to a close friend the next day.
Per usual, I began to dig inside myself to see if I had an answer to the ever looming question sitting over my head.
What. Is. My. Purpose. I asked.
I looked in my rearview mirror to see the sun blasting bright orange lighting the miles of surrounding rice paddies, my favorite song ringing in my ears, wind zooming past my face, friends riding beside me and suddenly…. it hit me.
The tears came rushing down my face as I was immersed in every emotion all at once.
I cried for nearly 10 minutes.
My body cleansed itself from what seemed like years of inner turmoil fighting against who I was meant to be.
I was deep in the Bali vortex and loving every second of it.
I had peeled back a few layers, let everything out, and felt my soul lift off the ground like a bald eagle taking flight off a doomed avalanche.
This must be it I thought, it’s got to be. I mean, I’ve been crying like a newborn child for nearly 10 MINUTES.
What is is happening to me.
Well, you may be wondering- so Jared, what is your purpose?
I have an answer and after many years testing it out, I’ve finally confirmed that it is… why I was meant to exist.
For the first time in my life, I’m really listening to that inner fire that is has been yelling the same thing for my entire life.
That alone, is enough to fill up my tank, make me feel whole, inspired, and empowered.
Along the way I picked up a few little drops of wisdom from those who’ve lived longer than I. Take these cheesy little things with a huge grain of salt:
1.For starters, embrace that there is something non-physical that exists inside of you. It has a voice. Listen to it.
2. Try and be a bit more open-minded. This is one of the biggest issues in our world. So please, listen to your neighbors.
3. Don’t be afraid to jump. The #1 reason people never step into themselves fully is due to an overwhelming fear of the unknown. It’s scary, but it’s only by doing that you can make strides towards a life that you love.
4. Try not to hide your emotions. We are all going through something… its okay :) Talk about them and have a healthy conversation with a friend.
5. Last but not least, see the world. The earths problems are fueled by a misunderstanding of our neighbors. Give yourself a new lens by stepping into somebody else’s shoes.
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Cool Jared, but what now?
Well.
Let’s say you’ve been dealt a hand of cards for the game of life.
Your hand could be good… or it could be bad.
Its your turn, and the dealer at the table asks
“do you want to play or do you want to fold?”
It seems that he’s looking right at ya and you just sit there waiting for your response. He asks again,
“What are you going to do?”
Its in your answer where you’ll find all that you need to know.
You either play or you don’t.
Those that play will fly high.
Those that don’t may never leave the ground.
The only person that can make this choice is yourself.
So let me ask again,
What are you going to do?
If you wake up every morning and ask yourself that question, you will find solace in the idea that you don’t need to know how to move forward, all you gotta do is try.
