I have been serving humanity for many years in my work as a psychotherapist and therapeutic life coach, working one-on-one with clients, occasionally doing small group work, and fulfilling what I felt was my divine purpose. I believe we all have one, and I was grateful I had been guided to find mine. I was comfortable and content serving in this capacity and imagined I would be doing this kind of work well into old age.
In the fall of 2018, however, something shifted, and I found myself called to serve in a more significant, bolder way. I got wind of a Soul’s Purpose Business and Marketing Consultant in an email that landed in my inbox. It wasn’t from someone I knew very well at all, but oddly, I felt compelled to reach out to this man. I chose to trust my intuition on this one, and we’ve been working together ever since.
The journey over the past year has allowed me to clearly define my soul’s purpose in a much more expansive, brave, and compelling way. It has been inspiring, energizing, exciting, arduous, scary, terrifying even. I’ve been challenged to do things that were well out of my comfort zone and which I found very difficult. As an introvert, there is definitely a part of me that would much prefer to not take risks, just do what I know, and continue to work on a smaller scale, precisely the way I have been.
I’ve never loved change, although the adult part of me understands it’s the only constant in life. I go for sameness. I stick to what I am used to. Most of the time.
Cynthia DaCosta
However, another part of me now yearns to speak from a deeper, more vulnerable place within and connect intimately with like-minded women traveling a similar path of higher self-evolution — a community where we each desire a compassionate and safe place to come together and share what’s it’s like to live intentionally with a commitment to lovingly evolve into our highest version of self.
As I explored this yearning, it became clear to me in my visioning process that I wanted to expand in a way that enhanced my lifestyle. I know many practitioners in the field of personal development who develop only to find themselves suffering from overwork and burnout. Listening to my soul’s calling to share my message with more women seeking to evolve into the highest version of the self possible needed to enhance my life, not bog me down. This is non-negotiable, and it’s an act of love and compassion to stand by it.
Just a few months into this process of defining my soul’s purpose, my father died. In my grief, I found it hard to focus and wanted to put my project on hold. At first, after making the decision to step back to be fully present to my loss, the rawness of it, and the pain, I found myself questioning this choice. Shouldn’t I just keep on keeping on? Can’t I uplevel and process my grief at the same time? Some shame began to fill the space created by my opening to and being with my hurting heart. This shame only served to add layers to the existing pain and distracted me from the truth of my loss and grief.
I took a breath. I caught myself. I stopped the behavior.
I said “No” to inflicting shame on top of pain. This was the most compassionate act I could gift myself. What if I could give myself permission to pause and fall into the grief and hold my vision of serving in a bigger and bolder way at the same time? What if either/or no longer needs to be a guiding principle? What if I am big enough to contain the truth of both urgings?
The answer is a resounding “Yes, I am.” I can feel the emotions that are real for me in a given moment while also listening to the callings of my soul, hearing her desire to create community, and serve more powerfully. Isn’t this what we do in life? We are always exploring and working our way through dissonant thoughts, beliefs, emotions. Why should this be any different? The truth is, I can be present to the loss of my beloved father and stand firmly in the knowledge that I am being called to serve in that more significant, bolder way.
Warmly, Cynthia
I’m a trained therapist and therapeutic life coach, as well as a mentor and guide for women who are seeking a profound evolution in their lives. A profound evolution beyond suffering and into living and loving fiercely. It is a deeply held belief of mine that identifying the cause of our suffering becomes the catalyst for compassionately moving through it and toward a life lived from the highest version of self possible.