Marina Shakour Haber

Awakening to our spiritual or purpose gives our lives deeper meaning and clear direction. Although essential, finding our purpose and expressing what truly matters to us can be challenging. Without clarity as to who we are and what stirs our soul, we cannot inspire and awaken others. However, many people don’t know what they want nor why they do what they do. Many don’t know themselves well enough to appreciate the gifts they have been given so that they may use them for the greater good of all. Awakening to your purpose is about you finding yourself within. When you are aware, you start living your life out of your intentions – you know who you are and what you want. Now you can now move forward and towards that. Your life with purpose is a life lived deliberately and intentionally.

If you feel self-conscious, insecure and believe you're not enough, you single-handedly undermine your relationships – starting with yourself, your career, and your happiness. I invite you to start changing your beliefs about yourself, to see yourself from a different perspective and to ultimately take your power back and become who you truly are. Everybody talks about changing their life – are you going to be the one who takes action and does something about it? Change starts with changing ourselves. Having self-confidence is the mental state that sets you free...that gets you on your path to become empowered and unstoppable. And when you’re confident, you’re sexy...as in attractive and attracting all good things towards you.

Anyone who has been deeply hurt by another person or by horrific events can get caught in a vortex of anger, depression and resentment. Anyone who has hurt others or has caused horrific events can get caught up in a downward spiral of guilt, self-loathing and self-punishment. Forgiveness, however, can reduce anxiety and depression while increasing self-esteem and hopefulness towards one’s future. Forgiveness is about letting go of what no longer serves us, or even of what only harms us while leading us on a path of clarity and peace. It benefits the forgiver more than the forgiven. It is not about condoning or accepting offensive acts or even reconciling with the offenders, but rather understanding that forgiveness will set the forgiver free. Forgiveness helps us confront our pain and let go of the attachment to the events and/or people and move from being a victim to being in control of our lives.