How to Discover Your Purpose

In this episode of What’s the Universe Say About That?, Mary and Michael explore one of life’s biggest questions: purpose.

Why are we here? How do we discover our purpose when we are searching for direction or feeling a longing for something more?

The guidance the Universe shares is surprisingly simple and deeply comforting, offering a fresh perspective on living in joyful alignment with your true purpose. This meaningful conversation may shift how you see yourself and why you’re here.

We invite you to set aside a little extra time for this special episode. It’s one you’ll want to fully take in.

Follow Mike and Mary on Instagram @mikeandmaryofficial

Questions or comments for Mike and Mary?
Email them at: WhatsTheUniverseSay@gmail.com

To learn more about Mike and Mary's work with The Food Whisperers, please visit:
thefoodwhisperers.com

To learn more about Mary Obana, visit her website:
maryobana.com

To arrange a private reading with Mary to receive the guidance the Universe has for you, visit:
maryobana.com/private-readings

For more information about Mary's book "Shine: A Simple Guide to Finding Your Light and Letting It Shine on the World", visit:
maryobana.com/amazon

Transcript

[Michael Lannon]

What's the purpose of your life?

[Mary Obana]

Wow, that's a big question. And I think one that everyone asks at some point in their life.

[Michael Lannon]

So we asked the universe.

[Mary Obana]

Welcome to this episode of What's the Universe Say About That. I'm Mary Obana, and along with my husband, Michael, we ask the universe for answers.

You see, I'm blessed with this beautiful gift where I get quiet, and I can connect with the loving guidance of the universe.

[Michael Lannon]

So today, you'll see and hear Mary connect directly to that divine guidance and hear the words of wisdom flow directly through her in response to questions about life and the challenges we all face at certain times.

[Mary Obana]

So welcome to our home.

[Michael Lannon]

And welcome to this now normal, but always amazing part of our daily lives. So sit back, get ready, and let's hear what the universe has to say about that.

[Mary Obana]

Let's do it. Hello, welcome back.

[Michael Lannon]

Hey, everybody. Today, we're going to talk about purpose. You know, there's someone famous or maybe not so famous once said that the two most important days of your life are the day you're born and the day you find out why.

So today, we're going to find out how to find out why you were born, to find your purpose, find your meaning. And I think a lot of people struggle with this. I certainly did, where, you know, you get to this, you start to think about kind of, is there more?

[Mary Obana]

Why I'm here?

[Michael Lannon]

Yeah, why you're here. Is there more?

[Mary Obana]

Yeah.

[Michael Lannon]

Is there a purpose? And you can kind of start grasping out, like, maybe I should join the Peace Corps or something like that. And I think there's probably a clearer, cleaner, easier message for us to hear.

[Mary Obana]

There always is.

[Michael Lannon]

There always is. Okay. Okay.

So let's see what the universe has to say about finding your purpose.

[Mary Obana]

All right.

[Michael Lannon]

Okay.

[Mary Obana]

Great. It's a great question. Good. One that's always on people's minds.

[Michael Lannon]

Absolutely.

[Mary Obana]

At certain points in their life.

[Michael Lannon]

Yeah, exactly.

[Mary Obana]

Yeah.

[Michael Lannon]

You're not thinking about it when you're eight years old.

[Mary Obana]

Yeah. My purpose is to play with this toy.

[Michael Lannon]

Exactly. Okay.

[Mary Obana]

All right. Great. Let's do it.

[Michael Lannon]

All right.

[The Universe]

Hello. It is always good to be with you. And this is a question that is often asked, whether it's asked aloud or to oneself. Purpose. The human condition, people often think their purpose is what they do. What they do with their lives.

Often, they believe it is the job they hold or the title they have. People often also believe that

purpose must be tied to something very grand. Saving the world. Doing something that is magnificent. And world-shifting. Purpose.

It is true. You are here, each of you in this life experience, to discover why you are here. But you see, why you are here isn't always what you think.

Each of you has come to this life experience to expand yourself and the world around you. Each of you has come to expand through love. Everyone is connected to this infinite source of love that is part of who you are. 

And each of you is here to share your love in a way only you can. When we speak of this love, it is a love for others. It is the way you make those around you better. The way you lift others. The way you help others. The way you are uniquely designed, meant, capable to serve. 

So, now that we've overcome the misconceptions of what purpose can mean, how does one find the true purpose that they are meant to live? You see, purpose is being who you are. It is

through this unique self, this unique ability to share your gift, this unique way that you share your love with others.

Purpose is how you give of yourself. So, finding purpose, finding what it is that is unique to you, the way, the unique way you can share that love, your love, with the world. How to find it.

People, when they reach this point in their life where they seek it, where they look for the meaning of their life experience, many people are drawn to this question when they feel a tug, a pull, being drawn to something more. People can have a fulfilled life. They can have happiness and joy.

They can have relationships with those they love and that love them. But you see, the purpose comes from understanding who you are. You are being called to not look at what you do, but to find, recognize, and honor who you are.

It is from this place that the purpose is lived. People feel that purpose is something that must be a challenge to build homes for those who need them, to come up with disease cures that can save the world. Purpose comes from the way you are.

You come to this life experience with this beautiful gift. It is part of you. It is innate to you.

Finding and recognizing that within yourself is what you are being called to do. The thing that is within each of you that is so unique and special to you, the thing you are looking for, the thing you are looking to acknowledge in yourself, is that part of you that comes with great ease. It's the part of you that comes naturally.

It is, of course, who you are, not what you do. So, how do you share your love with others? 

Love comes in many forms, but it always is given from a place of goodness, of giving.

It is never given so that you can get something. It is something that you just give because it's you, and it is something that others respond favorably to. It is something that when you give it, lifts others up. Love feels good to give, and love always feels good to receive. This can come again in many forms. 

Mary speaks of a relationship she had with somebody she went to college with. This dear friend, after reading her book Shine, had a revelation. She discovered something that she had not before recognized. You see, this friend of Mary's, who is also named Mary, all she wanted was to have a family, to give of herself, but she always felt this pressure to get a big job, to create something that would have a great impact on others, a company, an invention.

What she discovered is that the gift she had, the purpose of her life was not to have a job, to create a company, though she could have. Her gift instead came from her unique ability to put others at ease, and she did it through humor, through an amazing natural ability to make others laugh. She brought great happiness to others.

She had great joy within herself. She didn't realize that was her gift, that was her purpose, to share, to shine in this way. She always felt that she had to do something, create something, because she thought only that would help her and make her be something.

But you see, all along she had been this holder of this light. This gift of bringing joy to others in the way she could so naturally was not something she appreciated because it came so easily to her, it was part of who she was. This is the thing about the gift that you have.

It always comes naturally because it is a part of who you are. So how do you share this with others? Because you are meant not to keep this gift to yourself.

This gift, Mary calls it this light, is meant to be discovered and shared with others. How you share it with others can take many, many forms. So it didn't mean that her friend Mary needed to be a comedian because of this gift of humor and putting people at ease, giving people joy.

It didn't mean that she had to do that. You see, she had been sharing and giving this gift her entire life, but something happens and something happened to her when she recognized that it was so. It helped her see herself with a greater appreciation and recognize that that was enough.

And it was from that point that she also celebrated it, was more conscious about sharing it.

People think that so much of their value comes from their occupation. This Western world that you live in is very focused on that. People often ask when they meet another quickly, what do you do? But you see, the purpose you are seeking is not in the job you hold, the profession you have. It is in recognizing who you are.

So this is a difficult thing to understand. It is a difficult thing to find. Why?

Because it is difficult to see the gift within yourself. You can each, we are certain, pinpoint the thing in another you are close to that makes them so special, that makes them so them, the way they share their love. But it's difficult to see in yourself.

So to find it, it is often best to ask those who know you best through all parts of your life. Back to Mary's friend Mary, she said in a conversation with friends who she had gone to elementary school with, they always said to her, you were so funny. And she said, I never think of myself as funny, and I don't remember being funny when I was that young.

But you see, it is part of you. It is who you are. But you see, that gift, that way you express and share and give of yourself to others in the way only you can, is a gift.

Because love, your unique brand of love that you share, lights up the world. It lifts others. Now, if you are able to find a way to use that gift to serve others actively and with intention, that is magic.

But do not underestimate the power of your giving of yourself every moment of every day with that which is innate to you and the power that has, because it is enough. Does this make sense?

[Michael Lannon]

Yes. There's one... I think most people...

There's one more question I have. I think most people... That's a big revelation to realize that purpose and meaning comes from finding and looking within as opposed to doing on the outside.

Kind of full stop there. I see that. However, or and, most people live in a world where they have a job and they want it to be fulfilling. I'll call it purposeful. They want to feel like they're using their talent, skill, not gift, but skill, in that maybe they went to school to learn that skill. How do the two sides or two halves, two parts of one's life happily coexist?

The two parts meaning, okay, I am living my... I recognize my gift internally and I am sharing it and then I have this job that may not be saving the world, but I want to feel purposeful there.

Can those two things… do they contradict each other or how do those live peacefully coexist?

[The Universe]

So your essence of who you are, there is no shaking it, you see. Once you recognize it, however, you can celebrate it, use it, share it. When you have identified that gift within yourself and you, using your example, look at the work that you do, you can ask, does this work, does this place, does this opportunity allow me to share my gift, use my gift, express my gift?

Is there room for it here? 

If you feel your place of work doesn't allow you to be your true self, this is typically a sign that, which that is the job, the work that you do is not as fulfilling. It can be intellectually fulfilling, it can be financially fulfilling, it can be fulfilling to your ego, but does it light you up and does it light others up?

You see, there's room to share who you are, to bring who you are in places that can benefit most strongly from it. If you have to hide who you are, compartmentalize who you are, you are dimming your light. Nothing feels better than when you are able to shine because it feels good for you and it feels good because you know the impact that light has on others.

And no one, no one does it better. So you see, being yourself, understanding who you are and being true to that in all facets of your life. Back to the example of Mary's friend Mary.

Does this mean that she has to be in a place that can only, everyone's laughing all the time? 

No, but it does mean that she is able to bring her true self to that place, to those people, in those moments that she can put people at ease. Being yourself, there's nothing better, nothing that comes more naturally.

Recognizing the gift that is within you then comes with the responsibility to share that actively with others in the way that only you uniquely can. The light that is dimmed creates a darker world. The light that is allowed to shine ignites light in others. It cannot help but to be so. Did this answer your question?

[Michael Lannon]

So be yourself, no matter what your job is or what you, quote unquote, do. Bring yourself to whatever you do.

[The Universe]

Yes. Yes.

[Michael Lannon]

Yeah.

[The Universe]

The greatest gift you have is who you are. Why? Why would you ever want to hide that?

Suppress that? Change that?

[Michael Lannon]

Would you say that people feel, you know, they call it a midlife crisis, but people feel this, what am I doing? Why am I here? What's my purpose?

Is that a result of them being in situations or their doing isn't aligned with their being, who they are? Is that where that comes from?

[The Universe]

When you are in alignment with who you are, when you recognize and share that gift that is within you, nothing feels better. When you are in a place absent of it, its recognition and understanding, it is less fulfilling.

[Michael Lannon]

That's where the questioning starts.

[The Universe]

This is where the questioning starts.

[Michael Lannon]

Yeah.

[The Universe]

You see, with Mary, not Mary's friend Mary, but Mary, Mary had a fulfilling career.

She had work that she cared deeply about. It was fulfilling in many ways, but there was something within her that was calling her. She knew there was more.

Does this mean that she wasn't able to use her gift in a way with the work she was doing? She was, but there was something more she felt she needed to do with it before she even knew what it was. That sense within you, that searching for fulfillment, that sense of there's something more.

Questioning, is this what I'm here for? When you are doing what you are to be doing because you are being who you are and recognizing the beauty of that wonderful, special light, you don't question because you know you are living in alignment with that truth. Nothing feels better.

You stop searching when you've found it. And when you have found it, again, it's not an intellectual thing. It's a feeling. It's a feeling of knowing that you are where you are to be because you are who you are meant to be.

[Michael Lannon]

Thank you. That's amazing.

[The Universe]

If you are feeling the tug, wondering, it is an invitation.

[Michael Lannon]

Yeah. Yeah. That's beautiful. Thank you so much.

[The Universe]

It is always our greatest pleasure.

[Michael Lannon]

That was awesome. I always say that. That was awesome.

That was great. That was amazing. That was beautiful. Ah.

[Mary Obana]

What was so revelatory for you in that? What was?

[Michael Lannon]

Um, there was a bunch of things, but I think I love just the last word, which was it's an invitation. Instead of this, I can kind of see, like, I feel like, um, it's a gap or your life's not quite sharply in focus and you're wondering why, or you think it can be better. And instead of thinking there's something wrong with my life, my job, my wife, my whatever, it's an invitation to look inside and, uh, as opposed to, I've got to change all the, I've got to move the furniture around in my life, it's an invitation and it's a, it's a good thing.

That's a good thing. Um, um, so that was, that was one, the, the one thing that our son, I'm saying our son, you know who our son is, Kai?

[Mary Obana]

Yeah. I met him.

[Michael Lannon]

But I, I remember when he was applying for colleges and that one brochure we got from one school, the first page and gigantic letters to an 18 year old prospective freshman was, how are you going to change the world? And I remember thinking, this kid's 18 years old, you know, I'm hoping he can figure out how to open up a bank account and, uh, and I think there's just so much pressure to, I've got to, I've got to do, I've got to do, I've got to become someone to have value and have an impact and, uh, looking inside first, discovering or remembering who you are and then bringing that to no matter what you do is the whole thing.

That's the magic. And if, if who you are aligns with what you do, that's, you just hit the lottery.

[Mary Obana]

It's kind of funny when you, after hearing that message and you think about that brochure. How are you going to change the world? The answer we all jump to is what are you going to do? Right. But what if they meant in that question, the answer was to find yourself.

[Michael Lannon]

Yeah. And it, it wasn't, it wasn't because it was what courses are you going to take? You know, what are you going to study?

What skills are you going to develop? And uh, I just think that's normal, natural. It's the way we're, it's kind of beaten into us.

[Mary Obana]

Yeah.

[Michael Lannon]

Um, and it should start, you know, I started this off with the day you're, day you're born and the day you find out why, if you find out that why the sooner you find that out, the greater your life will be for years for you as well as for everyone else.

[Mary Obana]

Yeah.

[Michael Lannon]

And you feel so locked into, you know, and I think, you know, being one who was always about doing, um, and that felt, I'm going to say empowering, you know, like, well, I can do this and I can work harder, I can study this and I, I can be this and all that stuff. But that felt, you know, to use an overused expression, empowering, like I, I can do it. But this is, I would say even more empowering, impactful because I've got this gift and if I can just bring that out and share it, I can be doing that no matter, I can bring that to no matter what I do.

[Mary Obana]

Yeah.

[Michael Lannon]

And that's your superpower kind of thing.

[Mary Obana]

It is.

[Michael Lannon]

Um.

[Mary Obana]

It is. It is. And, you know, I've said this in my book too, but if you don't share that or find that, it's something that only you can share in the way you can share it.

So if you don't find it and share it, then the world has to go on without it and that's a bummer.

[Michael Lannon]

Yeah.

[Mary Obana]

You know?

[Michael Lannon]

That's the missed opportunity of your life.

[Mary Obana]

That's like this, that's yeah. And then the world doesn't like, didn't get it from you, you know?

[Michael Lannon]

So everyone pays the price,

[Mary Obana]

or everyone benefits when you find it. Yeah.

[Michael Lannon]

Yeah.

[Mary Obana]

So it's a great question.

[Michael Lannon]

Great answer. So, well, thank you so much. Another episode in the books and we will see you again next time.

[Mary Obana]

Sure will.

[Michael Lannon]

All righty.

[Mary Obana]

Same bat channel. 

Also, definitely, um, uh, just rate and, and subscribe, um, and comment on these episodes. It helps a lot for others to find them too. So anyway, hope you share it and hopefully it's been helpful.

[Michael Lannon]

That was a message from our sponsor. Thank you guys.

[Mary Obana]

Bye. Take it easy.

[Michael Lannon]

Bye.