Anatomy of the Blueflash....Dissecting the Moment of Truth

This blog if you read it from time to time deals with concepts such as destiny, life purpose, clear life vision, calling, lifework...

I assert that these are all basically the same thing and worth everything to try to achieve....but it is soooo hard.  So difficult.

I want in this essay to talk about why it seems so tough and difficult for most of us.  This task will not itself be easy...

We are all unique on the planet, like a snowflake, a single specimen for which there is no genetic counterpart, ever in the universe!  As our lives unfold, it gets even more unique.  We have common experiences as our brothers and sisters on the planet, but we become even more and more unique and idiosyncratic as time goes on...our lives become a labyrinth of complexity...and it is up to you, pretty much alone, to sort it out.
When it comes to something so profound as a "life purpose", many people just fall off the wagon....they laugh out loud and say, "that is just too much for me to deal with....as I am just trying to survive each day!"

I struggled with this all between my early thirties as a young professor, teaching, writing, travelling, and my early fourties when I seem to have found a place and time in my life where and when things just gelled and came together...it even happened in one night!  I saw the complete picture of the second half of my life, which I am now living through and enjoying, right on the ceiling of the bedroom, as I lay there thinking about things...

The "anatomy" of it for me was the following....there was a long (10 or more years) leadup to that moment ....pain and searching, wandering in my career, experimenting, feeling that everything important was not in harmony, was not gelling....

Then, in those weeks in the leadup...I had met a catalytic force in the person of my German friend and colleague who had built boutique business schools in Europe....he was a friend, a mentor, he came in on a 90 degree angle, rather unplanned, but all of a sudden, he and his life map looked very interesting to me....we had stuff in common....he became a friend....much more than a friend....a messenger

Why it happened that night, I do not know...but the circumstances are part of this anatomy....I was at my home, away from work,  more importantly, away from the workplace....

I was with my loved one, my wife, we were engaged in intimate time and freewheeling discussion...

I had been primed just in the weeks before that night, because I had been invited to become a visiting professor in Germany by my friend....the invitation may have been the spark....that is an important part...some kind of invitation that you need to respond to...that causes you to have to sort things out rather fast...

Bam! Wham!  It hit!!!  3am...it all came together...in a picture like a movie...on the ceiling...I could see players...I was in that film...there were others, my friend, especially....students....the vision of CIBU was born.  I do not have an exact date, but I am going to just say, March 31, 1988.  3 am

The elements in the algorithm are:  long suffering,emptiness, wandering.....someone unexpected enters the scene from a 90 degree angle....they make an invitation or ask something of you, the spark.....you are with a loved one....you are not alone at this moment of truth in your life....you are in a very peaceful place....your mind joins with the other and you spin out a scenario for your life dream or purpose that starts to make real sense....the parts come together....your education precisely fits....your experience fits...your network fits...your spirit is captured in excitement....there is likely a significant other in the picture that starts to form into a visual-mental rendering of the dream....

That, at least, was my experience...its anatomy as best as I can describe it...

....and here is the amazing fact....over the last fifteen or so years I have been researching this exact process as others have described it....I have researched the career literature (especially the hallmark book by Po Bronson, "What Should I Do With My Life?").....and the results are in......

Most others who say they have found their life purpose, describe a very, very similar process with the same elements.....so, we seem to have something, after all!

Oh, one more important thing....when this magic moment happens, the next days are so beautiful...like Bono would sing..."Its a Beautiful Day"....the sky is blue and seems to have a blue horizon that lasts forever....

It happens in a flash....which is why I call this moment the "blueflash"....you know by now, what I have been describing.  I think there is chemistry that actually happens:  adrenalin surges when we think of this vision.   The heart beats faster... Endorphins are released and give us a physical high.  This feeling is sustaining.  Every time we think of the vision, adrenalin surges, endorphins are released in the brain, and we feel like it a beautiful spring morning....athletes feel this...artists feel this....it is true and natural....it can last for years and the rest of your career or life....it even could keep getting larger and larger....

I believe that deep within every heart and soul is the yearning for this to happen in one's life....
I believe it is worth everything...
I believe if we can find it....it brings out our human best....
....it makes the planet a better place...
....it gives our soul peace
....it enables us to live a long life where we never get "old"....

I have become so committed to this idea and process
It has become my passion to share and help others with it...
I share my story...I share my passion...I am a sounding board for others to help them find it....

The power of this is immense....it directs my life...it helps me sort out how I want to spend my time....with whom and with what priorities....

It led me, with the great boost from Jeffrey Bennett (http://www.jeffreybennet.com/) to write and publish my personal mission statement....

It becomes a "credo" for living....
Credo....means "I believe...."

I believe......everyone has this precious chance.....
Take it....it is yours....they say you shall inherit the earth....
This is your sacred inheritance.....