What Does God (Life) Want From Me?

A good question to start your day.

Daily morning prayer used to be a thing—not so much anymore, it seems.

It’s easy to be a bit cynical about it because no doubt, for many, prayer is merely a mechanical ritual, fueled by wishful thinking, which has little effect (or even a negative one). But for others, it was and continues to be one of the most helpful tools to keep sane in these trying times and hold together their lives—their identity—in a world that does its best to fragment, fracture, and smash the Self in all directions.

Now, some people might take issue with words such as God or prayer. That is understandable: Lord knows that religion had its fair run of corruption, delusion-spreading, and abusing our minds.

But it doesn’t matter. If you don’t like these words, use “daily reflection” instead of prayer, “Life” or “cosmos” instead of God, whatever feels right.

And if you are not comfortable reciting any standard prayer or text, that’s fine, too.

I found it very useful, for example, to simply ask myself: “What does God (Life) want from me?” If you sincerely ask yourself this question, and don’t restrict the flow by already having some favorite answer in mind, chances are you will get feedback. Just be prepared that it can be very subtle, and that it involves listening to your whole body, your subtle emotions, and your mind simultaneously. It helps to get into the spirit of “I’m prepared for any answer.”

It is also crucial to ruthlessly keep your ego in check: it’s not about what you want, at least not directly; it is about what Life wants from you. The idea here is that more often than not, you yourself don’t know what you really want, which will become clear only in hindsight. Also, try to tune your intention towards service, towards helping others, towards learning, towards becoming a better person. This helps with getting the flow going. For example, don’t let your mind wander into the direction of “what should I do to get rich?”, but rather ask, “how can I serve my destiny” or “how can I become more useful.” The exact phrasing is less important than mustering a clear intention to live in line with God, or, if you prefer, in alignment with a positive future—positive in an ethical sense: a good future.

Don’t expect a super-straight answer either (although it can happen). Often the information is so subtle that you can hardly perceive and discern it. But it may still impact your day on a subconscious level. And chances are that if you practice it and keep doing it, after some time you will look back and say hey, all things considered, I seem to be on a better path here.

A final warning: don’t obsess over it. Even self-improvement and reflection of one’s journey can turn into an unhealthy, egotistic endeavor. I mean, who likes someone who thinks about himself all the time? My advice would be: do that sort of prayer/reflection in the morning, and then forget about it and go about your business. Or rather, do remember it by using it as a little “thought burst” that straightens out your mind and soul in whatever situation you find yourself in, and in fact helps you move your attention outward instead of inward.

Today, what came up for when I asked myself: what does God/Life/the Universe want from me?, was a simple message: hold tight to the steering wheel. That is, don’t get distracted by your own BS, don’t allow life to throw you off your path by freaking out because this or that, just hold on when it gets bumpy and when your mind starts drifting and second-guessing. After all, that’s what you do in a car as well when you lose grip and control: frantically trying to compensate makes things worse. You just need to hold tight. And pray…

With that, dear people: Merry Christmas and all the joy in the world!