![\"Three](\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2014\/10\/15175090519_3b1a748c38_k.jpg\")
<\/a>(Photo Used by Permission from www.MichelleMcSwain.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Yes, I actually ordered a pilots hat and a box of individually-wrapped pretzels, just like the kind you get on a commercial flight today. Just enough pretzels in each package to make you crave more.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m calling my keynote address: \u201cSuccessful People Fly First Class: Upgrade to a Happier, Healthier YOU!\u201d<\/em> Among the things I\u2019ll be saying is that, in order to live happier\u2026to live healthier\u2026you must get around to asking and answering the three biggest questions of life.<\/p>\n Nobody can answer these questions for you. Not your parents, your spouse, and, nope, not even your religion. Especially not your religion. These questions must be probed in the one-and-only-place they can be answered \u2013 deep within your soul.<\/p>\n Take each question and ask it of yourself.<\/p>\n 1. Who am I?<\/em><\/strong> One of the biggest mistakes each of us makes throughout much of our lives is to confuse who we are with who we aren\u2019t. Here\u2019s who you are not.<\/p>\n You are not your name. When you look into the mirror each morning, the image you see you may think is you. But it is not. What you are seeing is what Albert Einstein called \u201can optical illusion in consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n You could not be your body, however, because that would beg the question: \u201cWhich body?\u201d Your body is constantly dying and rising, changing every few minutes. That\u2019s right. When we began understanding molecular modification, we discovered that the cells in your body \u2013 and there are trillions of them \u2013 are constantly changing.<\/p>\n Which is why, among other things, you are aging. Which is a nice way of saying, you’re dying.<\/p>\n You say, \u201cWell, if I am not my body, my mind, my titles, trials, trophies or tragedies, then who the heck am I?\u201d<\/p>\n You are the awareness that is aware you are none of these things.<\/p>\n Why is this question important? And, how does this answering this questions contribute to my personal happiness and health?<\/p>\n Unless you constantly remind yourself that you are none of these things, you\u2019ll discover you get attached to these illusory images of yourself. Which explains why people in our culture resist aging and growing old with as much aversion as you do the Ebola virus. People work out in gyms in excessive fashions, eat and diet excessively, and seek magical products and potions that promise to reverse the aging process and, the truth is, we get caught up in such excessive madness because aging and death scare the hell out of us. As a consequence, we cling to almost anything that perpetuates the illusion of permanence.<\/p>\n Become the observer and notice when you\u2019re getting too attached to anything external to your inner, invisible you. Make this your spiritual practice. You\u2019ll discover the difference it makes to live detached, as the Buddha put it, to anything that is material and transitory.<\/p>\n The Buddha called it detachment; Jesus called it denial. In fact, he instructed that followers should \u201cdeny self\u201d(Matt. 16:24). Not your inner self \u2013 your soul \u2013 but all of these \u201csubstitute\u201d self\u2019s we might call them. Little ego attachments \u2013 titles, trophies, tragedies, and even time. We can get attached to \u201ctime\u201d too. And, time is really just an illusion. There is only this moment. Right now. This second. That\u2019s it. Whether it\u2019s 4:30PM today or 8:00AM tomorrow \u2013 when either actually shows up, it does so as now.<\/p>\n Do you know who you are? Don\u2019t make the mistake of thinking you are who you really aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n The second of the biggest questions of life is this\u2026<\/p>\n 2. What is My Life Purpose?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s what each of us needs to remember about life: the position you hold will never be as important as the purpose that holds you. What is your life purpose? The overarching reason for your being here?<\/p>\n Your happiness in life depends on how you answer this.<\/p>\n When I was a young minister I was misled to believe that the purpose of life is to get prepared for the life to come. So I went about telling everybody I met that they needed \u201cto get right with God.\u201d Otherwise, they would miss heaven, wind up in hell, and so thwart God\u2019s purpose for their lives.<\/p>\n I was just misguided in this thinking, however. That\u2019s NOT why any of us show up. But, unfortunately, it took me nearly a lifetime to figure that out.<\/p>\n God did not create the world so the world could get ready for another world, anymore than God created you to live this life just so you could get ready for the next life.<\/p>\n The whole notion is pretty silly and does little to answer this big question. Nope, you\u2019re here, either by some random accident or by divine design but, in either instance, you\u2019ve got to figure out why you did show up.<\/p>\n And, if you ask this question, and refuse what many religious folk do and that is cop out and take the easy road of avoiding this hard question while hiding behind religious rhetoric like, \u201cI just believe the Bible,\u201d you will be much better off.<\/p>\n It\u2019s OK to \u201cbelieve the Bible\u201d on this question of why you showed up. But just make sure your believing has been forged in the crucible of question asking and seeking. If you\u2019re just using your religion to avoid asking the question for yourself, then your faith is phony. Period. And, the only person being fooled is you.<\/p>\n Mark Twain used to say, \u201cThe two most important days of your life are these: the day you are born and the day you figure out why.\u201d<\/p>\n Have you figured it out? When you do, this purpose will serve as your internal GPS system. It will guide you in every decision of life you face.<\/p>\n Which is, of course, the real reason you must ask this hard question: \u201cWhat is My Purpose?\u201d<\/p>\n The third of the biggest questions is this:<\/p>\n 3. What is My Life Plan?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n For those of you who follow my posts regularly, you\u2019ll likely remember the story\/post I wrote last spring on the return flight from a speaking gig in Los Angeles, CA.<\/p>\n Remember the story of the baggage handler I, and other travelers, met on our short ride from the Airport Hilton to the LA airport? The middle aged man all of us marveled over because of his incredible work ethic, attitude, and ingenious method he had developed for loading everyone\u2019s luggage on board the bus, driving us to the airport, and remembering whose luggage belonged to whom, as he helped every passenger disembark from the bus?<\/p>\n I\u2019ve included the link here to that original post for those of you who never saw it.<\/a><\/p>\n I was the last one, you might remember, that he dropped off in front of the Delta terminal. As I got off the bus, I handed him a twenty dollar bill and my business card.<\/p>\n Remember what he told me when I asked him for the secret to his remarkable, as well as successful attitude, work ethic, and method for managing so many passengers?<\/p>\n He said, \u201cSir, I just try to live by something my daddy taught me when I was just a young man. He would say to me,<\/p>\n \u2018Son, you can\u2019t get there from here; you can only get here from there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWait, wait,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to write that down. Wow, that\u2019s really good.\u201d<\/p>\n He repeated it so I could write it down. But I ask you, \u201cWhat did he mean? What was he saying, \u2018You cannot get there from here; you can only get here from there?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n He was saying that everybody needs a life plan \u2013 a goal to shoot for\u2026so you\u2019ll know where you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n If clarity about your life purpose is what keeps you between the lines, so to speak,\u2026keeps you grounded\u2026helps you stay rooted to life and guides you in your daily decision-making, a LIFE PLAN is the goal or goals you establish for your life.<\/p>\n Everyone needs a goal or goals in life. Once you get clarity on where you\u2019re going\u2026where you\u2019re headed, then you will begin to see clearly the steps you must take in order to get there.<\/p>\n Now, this is how to live a healthier, happier life.<\/p>\n Ultimately, its not what you do in life that matters all that much \u2013 the world must have baggage handlers just as it must have CEO\u2019s. We can\u2019t have all of both. If you know your purpose, however, the position is secondary. The position is never as important as the purpose.<\/p>\n That\u2019s my point in the second of these questions.<\/p>\n If you know what your goals are, then, and only then, will you get clarity on how to reach those goals \u2013 the steps you must take.<\/p>\n That\u2019s my point in this third question. And, it\u2019s what the baggage handler \u2013 whose name I unfortunately never got \u2013 was trying to say to me. \u201cYou cannot get there from here; only here from there.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever your position in life, set life goals, attitudinal goals, work goals, etc. When you set goals for yourself, you make life happen. You\u2019ll achieve infinitely more than you ever would by simply letting life happen to you.<\/p>\n Who am I?<\/p>\n What is My Purpose?<\/p>\n What are My Life Plans?<\/p>\n Answer these three questions and I think I can promise that life for you will be lived at a much happier, healthier level.<\/p>\n Dr. Steve McSwain is an author, speaker, thought leader and spiritual teacher.<\/a> His books and blogs inspire spiritual seekers around the world. He is a devoted follower of Christ but an interfaith activist as well. He is frequently heard to say, in the words of Mother Teresa, \u201cI love all religions; but I\u2019m IN LOVE with my own.\u201d Read more from Dr. McSwain on his blog Your Best Life Now<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What are the \u201c3\u2033 biggest questions of your life? 1. Who am I? 2. What Is My Life Purpose? 3. What is My Life Plan? I\u2019ve been thinking about these three questions a great deal lately. I\u2019m giving the keynote week after next at the Indiana Aviation Association\u2019s annual conference at the Belterra Casino and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[425],"tags":[278,1792,1793,1795,1796,1794,976],"class_list":["post-1132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-questions-2","tag-questions","tag-three-biggest-questions","tag-three-biggest-questions-of-your-life","tag-what-is-my-life-plan","tag-what-is-my-life-purpose","tag-what-is-my-purpose","tag-who-am-i"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nYou are not your occupation.
\nYou are not your accomplishments.
\nThe way I put it often is, you are not your trials, tragedies, triumphs or titles.
\nYou are not your body or your thoughts either.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n