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UNEMPLOYMENT, KARMA, AND WHAT IS

Job loss and prolonged unemployment are ongoing realities for millions in the United States. I have personally experienced multiple layoffs, and each time I return to work, it has not restored the stability I once had. The financial damage caused by unemployment is rarely fully recovered, especially when savings deplete and debt increases—an almost inevitable outcome, given the inadequacy of unemployment benefits. Even after securing a new job, the burden of debt can feel overwhelming, making recovery seem like a distant goal.

While some people argue that personal responsibility or karma explains job loss, these beliefs overlook the widespread nature and frequency of unemployment, which affects all demographics. This issue is much larger than any individual’s actions and challenges the myth that hard work alone guarantees success. The concept of self-reliance overlooks the systemic forces that affect us all.

What stands out, then, is that employment depends on more than individual effort. Securing a job always involves others, whose decisions ultimately determine our opportunities—no matter how much we try to lift ourselves by our “bootstraps.” This interdependence challenges the notion that personal merit alone is enough to secure a job.

At the end of 2010, I experienced a layoff that lasted for 14 months. During that challenging period, I applied for over 300 jobs that matched my qualifications, but I received only two interviews. The first interview did not yield any results, while the second one led to a position at a law firm. Unfortunately, the role did not align with the job listing, and the actual duties provided little to enhance my resume. Nevertheless, after 14 months of searching and with dwindling resources, I was grateful to have a job.

However, just over a year later, I was laid off again due to the firm’s economic restructuring. This was yet another instance in a long history of layoffs that had persisted since the early 1980s.

To gain a better understanding of my situation, I sought input from others. My well-meaning friends offered various perspectives: “This is your karma coming due,” “You’ve ignored your life’s calling,” and “It’s a wake-up call from the Universe—figure it out before it’s too late.” These comments placed the entire responsibility for my hardships on me, while also suggesting an upside: if I can create discomfort, then surely I can create joy and abundance. Supposedly, this journey is about recognizing what the “Universe” wants from me, and I can’t achieve that simply by holding a job.

What is Karma?
I want to take some time to explore the feedback on my question, “What do you think might be going on here?” First, let’s start with a shared understanding of karma. In Hinduism, karma refers to the principle that individuals reap the consequences of their actions from this life or past lives, and possibly even multiple previous lives. It is a cosmic principle that emphasizes that one cannot escape the repercussions of stealing what rightfully belongs to someone else—especially essential items like food, clothing, shelter, and funds that are necessary for a person’s survival.

Moreover, taking away resources that enable someone’s well-being—such as education, reputation, and health—disrupts their ability to live the life they are entitled to, a life they may have agreed to before birth. Stealing someone’s foundation of support is akin to stealing their life force, and in this sense, it can be compared to murder, as it removes all choice from the affected person.

This act creates a significant imbalance in both personal and universal order, which must be corrected. Ultimately, no one can avoid the necessity of returning what does not belong to them. While some may believe they can postpone facing the consequences for multiple lifetimes, an unavoidable force will eventually compel them to restore balance and do the right thing, whether they like it or not.

Karma is magnetic. When you are in the vicinity of someone to whom you owe restoration (or who owes you), you will feel drawn to them. Often, you will feel an overwhelming attraction. The intensity is not easily dismissed. This is necessary to establish a relationship that will allow you to resolve past painful interactions. Note that there is also attraction with dharmic agreements (but perhaps without the burning intensity of karma), such as teaming up to perform a mutual task. Follow the yellow brick road as it were, and the purpose of the connection will eventually be revealed. In both cases, there is a mysterious pull that you will want to explain as “that person is fascinating,” or “that person is attractive,” or “they have something to offer that I’ve been looking for.” In any case, your karma has hooked you—or your dharma is calling.

Sometimes karma takes on the form of direct payback. What you did to another will be done to you by that same person. In this instance, the other person is forcibly taking back what belongs to them rather than waiting for you to return it graciously. This is far less pleasant than engaging a relationship that may have other mutually rewarding aspects, but lacking gracefulness as it does, it gets the job done, and you are released from that karma. This is the form of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but more advanced souls prefer to avoid such literal payback. It is far more pleasant to heal the broken connection between you by offering gifts that serve the same purpose as returning stolen goods. This also opens the opportunity to take the relationship to a higher level, one in which you mutually find ways to assist each other’s journey. The willingness to do this will depend on the severity of the original theft. It will be much harder to accept someone who previously murdered you as a friend you can trust. It can, however, be done.

Often karma works like this: instead of being drawn to a person or a situation (place of employment, organization, course of study, educational institution, and so on), you find yourself the surprised and unwilling recipient of a series of unpleasant and life-altering events. Bewildered at how and why these events have occurred to mess up your life, you may begin to search, not only for the cause behind those events, but for the meaning that might be behind them. In this scenario, you are experiencing what it is like to have crucial support taken away from you, allowing you to intimately understand what you did to another when you stole what they needed to live a flourishing life. This type of karma is sometimes referred to as self-karma because it is not brought about by the direct manipulation of another person but by an agreement you made with your higher self to understand the ramifications of undermining or destroying another’s life options.

Unemployment as Prima Facie Evidence of Karma
Given the above, I could conclude that I might be in the midst of self-karma. Alternatively, I’m receiving direct payback from former employers, reflecting past actions of mine towards them. If stressful circumstances are always a sign of karma, unemployment becomes a forced restoration by my employers, repossessing what I once denied them: livelihood. That’s one possible answer to why I lost my job. But other facets exist. Perhaps karma is not involved at all. The immediate reason given, downsizing, often points to a complexity that encompasses more than a simple explanation.

How to Know If It’s Karma
How do we determine when karma is at work? I don’t believe there is any way we can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that we have entered karmic territory. Still, when you feel as though you have stepped into the twilight zone – meaning that the status quo of your life peels away unbidden to reveal strange images, dimensions or new insights, or time seems to slow down and even freeze, or there’s nothing you can do to convince the other party of your good intentions, then you might be in the zone of karmic payback. Other things may also be happening that have nothing to do with karma and are not the subject of this discussion; however, it is sufficient to say that karma can manifest similarly to what I’ve just described.

However, the proof of release from the karmic pudding ultimately comes down to this: you will know when a karmic tie has been released when the charge of the situation is gone. You no longer feel compelled to remain in a relationship with someone, or at a job that was replete with unsolvable issues, because after the restoration has occurred, you begin to feel calm, balanced, and neutral about the whole thing – that is, after you are done processing your human reaction. It is as if you have awakened from a long nightmare, and you know you are now in your right mind because the fever that once held you in its thrall has finally broken. At this point, it is a matter of choice whether you walk away (assuming you haven’t been irrevocably dismissed) or stay to create a new, healthier configuration that all parties agree to take to a higher level.

Signs of the Times
Sometimes it isn’t the karma of the immediate parties that is in play. It could be the signs of the times, that is, the historical context that everyone shares, and which is the common denominator to which everyone, regardless of station, status, creed, race, or gender, is subject. According to a July 28, 2013, article, Survey: 4 in 5 face near-poverty, no work (published online at TPMLIVEWIRE by Hope Yen), “Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream. Survey data…points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor, and the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend.” From another article: “The vast majority of people in the United States will experience poverty and economic insecurity for a significant portion of their lives.” For the statistics behind that statement, see Gary Lapon’s article, Poor Prospects in a ‘Middle-Class’ Society, August 18, 2013, published in the online magazine Truthout.

Without too much argument, I think we can agree that national and world affairs are an inextricable superimposition on the course of our lives, mixing their enormous bandwidth into the much smaller frequencies of our own. We barely need to raise our heads to see that fracking, the broken nuclear reactors of Fukushima, the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, ethnic genocide, human sex trafficking, and many, many more life-ravaging actions have a reach and impact far broader and deeper than any personal karma could hope to claim. These acts are karma against the entire planet, generated intentionally on an incomprehensibly large scale by the abusive politics of power.

The Global Karmic Pandemic of 2020
In 2020, the entire planet found itself at the mercy of a pandemic caused by a new virus, SARS-CoV-2. Some believe this virus was cultivated through the imbalances resulting from the cruel and unconscionable ways human beings treat animals and the environment. The extreme physical cruelty that caged animals in wet markets and factory farms endure affects their immune system. Forced to live in filth and lacking health and freedom, they become easy hosts to bacteria, parasites, and viruses, which quickly overwhelm their bodies. These malefic entities easily pass to humans (and then the animals get blamed and subjected to inhumane wholesale slaughter). When you consider that these beings have emotions, live in constant terror, and endure horrific pain, it is clear that the damage done is multi-dimensional with far-reaching effects and is nothing short of sacrilegious.

There is also a belief that this virus originated in a laboratory. Regardless of its origins, one must consider that the actions taken to create it or cause it to be manifested reveal a disrespect for life, including a disregard for the impact on the planet as a whole.

The effect of this virus, whether one wants to call it karmic or not, is nevertheless karmic in its impact. When I first wrote this article in 2013, the number of people suffering from unemployment was far, far fewer. Yet each one of those people suffered no differently from those whose multiple sufferings are directly related to unemployment. At the time, the numbers were not enough to influence change in federal and state policies. Now the numbers are striking — off the charts — and yet Congress must argue and delay taking obvious action to do what needs to be done. They must do their job and take care of their people, or add yet another straw to the unraveling of the structures that support the lives and well-being of human beings. Not doing what you have been tasked to do with the explicit power to do so, especially at the level that can make or break civilization, creates karma.

The Destruction that DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) Wrought
In 2025, the new administration’s actions resulted in a blindside ‘cleansing’ of multiple departments in the federal government, leading to thousands of people losing their jobs. Most of these departments were already understaffed, making their ‘cleansing’ severely crippling. Some departments were shuttered entirely. The eradication crusade against ‘waste,’ ‘fraud,’ and ‘abuse’ included demanding that law firms, universities, and individuals exercising their right to free speech restrict their businesses and activities to comply with new rules. Legal scholars universally regard these new rules as unconstitutional, but the consequences for violating them have been severe. Although the majority of lower courts have ruled that these actions are unlawful and unfounded, the administration continues to pursue its objectives in defiance of these rulings. The Supreme Court has vetted the racial profiling of brown people and people with accents. The Department of Homeland Security’s ICE forces are responsible for the violent assaults and detention in squalid hellholes of thousands, including pregnant women and children.

What is this about? Human beings have a dark nature that desires to conquer, subdue, and exclude. Conquering has also often meant breaking and destroying systems and structures that, despite not being perfect, nevertheless cobbled together processes that supported humanitarian goals. There is nothing sacred when this nature is unleashed. Think of the Dust Bowl effect, the swarming of ravening locusts, tornadoes, or hurricanes. Has the karma of the United States, whose founding fathers were wealthy white slaveowners, come home to roost? Are we being shown that democracy, voting rights, and equal opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of justice were always tenuous? And are they tenuous because these were never solidly based on the genuine belief that all people are created equal and all have the same right to a life where they can actualize themselves? The truth behind all the lies is being brutally revealed on a giant screen that everyone can see, and will hopefully inspire the necessary corrections and restorations to be addressed.

It is very likely that when so much breaks and falls apart, our karma has caught up with us.

Karmic Impact, Delays, and Detours
It is not sustainable to be repeatedly knocked down in the name of paying back karma. It doesn’t make sense to continually remove a person’s livelihood, leaving them unable to fulfill their life tasks and agreements. In other words, it may not be karma that is at work. When we painstakingly created the agenda for the current incarnation, we agreed to address our karma – working through past unbalanced painful situations with others, the working out of our own self-karmas — as well as our dharma-through the continuing expansion of our souls. We do this by surrendering to experience, including specific life tasks, agreements, facilitating and mentoring others, relationships, upgrading old skills and learning new ones, and stepping up into a larger (or smaller) game, to name a few. To fulfill both karma and dharma, we bring through the themes of a dozen or so past lives that are consonant with the themes of our current life. The goal is to realize ourselves more fully.

But things don’t always work out as planned. Sometimes we have to fill in the gaps, creating and re-creating from scratch. We can experience delays, detours, or reroutes. Sometimes there’s a deliberate abdication by those who agreed to help us. And, life isn’t set in stone. The best-laid plans of the wisest souls are still subject to the slings and arrows of unpredictable fortune – accidents and other people’s choices.

When your efforts to make yourself at home are repeatedly obstructed, it could be because you are presenting yourself for membership in a tribe whose tasks and agreements are not in alignment with yours. They will not recognize who you are or what you have to offer. This is true even if you function competently in their environment. The phenomenon that occurs in these instances is a lack of familiarity at the soul level and a lack of agreements of various kinds, including work agreements, facilitation agreements, mentor agreements, and opportunity agreements, among others. The phenomenon of lacking agreements makes one a foreigner. And although foreigners can be seen as attractive because they are different, those same differences can also be perceived as threatening and even repulsive. If you find yourself in a workplace where you experience constant abrasion, and the tribe is busy creating “evidence” to support their low opinion of you, it is time to leave. It is not likely you will be able to convince anyone of your value. You may consider that what is at work here is a form of self-karma in which who you are is ironically mirrored back to you by reflecting who you are not.

However, finding yourself in situations like this doesn’t always mean that you are working against your own agreements. It might mean that, or it might mean that the community that holds your agreements is not available. Your creativity and willingness to participate wherever you find yourself are essential to keeping the threads of your life from unraveling. Sometimes it is necessary to make things up as we go. The upside is that we develop mastery in flying by the seat of our pants, using our own initiative and wits to keep body and soul together.

The Larger Context
We all live within a context that has been shaped and is being shaped by capitalism gone wrong. Those of us who know better make no bones about this – human beings have created a political and economic civilization built on the belief in power-over, competition, and the “survival of the fittest.” This paradigm is pervasive, and even if one sees right through it, we as individuals are still left to deal with its consequences. Without a cultural belief that embraces the right of everyone to the tree of life, which includes making available the financial resources and opportunities to allow individuals to bring forth their best contributions, each one of us is on their own. Some of us have family and friends who can, from time to time, help bridge the gaps, but many do not. Even so, without a larger societal support structure that recognizes the grave reality of unemployment and resulting poverty, the suffering of millions will continue. These comments are also meant to include the handicapped, the aging, the lesser skilled, and those who suffer from debilitating physical or mental issues. Their entry into the “game” is even more severely circumscribed.

The reality is that for most of us, our voices are limited, and our contributions are often undervalued. Nevertheless, we cannot give up or surrender. We must believe in our right to be here and in the necessity of fulfilling our unique purposes. It is essential to recognize a universal truth: without our full participation, the evolution of life and the Tao itself will be hindered.

These times demand collective courage and a willingness to dig deeper to make a difference. We need to be aware of how our personal contributions contribute to injustice and inequality, recognizing where our words and actions may be thoughtless or unkind. Individually, we must strive to live righteous lives with conscious awareness. By doing so, we can help mitigate the consequences of both individual and collective karma.

These times also call for the creation of a community that takes its directives from an ideology that fearlessly declares: We are all one; it is unthinkable to leave anyone behind.

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GETTING BACK YOUR GRACE: CONNECTING TO YOUR ORIGINAL WHOLENESS DESPITE ACTS OF TERRORISM

Carry on my wayward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
The center lights around your vanity
But surely heaven waits for you
~ Kansas

You are already whole. The physical you, manifesting now, is a smaller but still beautiful version of your entire self. Whether you are thriving or struggling, remember: what you see is just one piece of the whole you.
No matter your situation, only a part of your spirit is present here. Your essence, or higher self, never incarnates but watches over your experiencing self and remains whole, no matter what happens.

You might wonder how wholeness is possible in a world filled with suffering and atrocity. How can we consider ourselves whole in the face of personal and collective pain? How can anyone believe that wholeness or grace can persist even amid evil and suffering?

Let’s take a moment to reflect on the human spirit, which remains resilient and indomitable even in the face of unbearable circumstances. History provides numerous examples of such courage and resilience, including figures such as Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa. These individuals did not succumb to despair; instead, they held firmly to their beliefs and pursued the truth, despite facing overwhelming opposition and suffering.

How did they do this? What kept them going?

They believed in a cause greater than themselves, took action to change conditions, and remembered their original purpose, even if only as a deep compulsion for truth.

How do you keep going if it’s just you?

You cannot take on every cause. Follow your own guidance and stay on your path by living your unique soul purpose—your dharma. You aren’t expected to work alone. Seek organizations working for causes you care about, and find your mission mates there.

How do I discover my dharma?

What do you love? What do you care about? Look there for your dharma. Use your gifts for the benefit of everyone. You received these to help you fulfill your dharma. What calls you to bear witness or speak truth? There lies your dharma.

To strategize social justice work, regularly meet with a supportive community to uplift one another as channels for mutual support and grace. You can’t face evil alone; grace supports your spiritual immune system and acts through you when you respect your sacred mission.

It’s all an illusion anyway.

Since we are already whole, is it correct to conclude that the horrors of the world are an illusion? Some new age schools of thinking answer, “It’s all an illusion, anyway; everything is perfect as it is.” This prompts a difficult transition from personal and spiritual wholeness to confronting real suffering.

Tell that to the Syrians who are being turned out of their homes and massacred.
Tell that to the victims of Sandy Hook.
Tell that to the 27 million women and children who endure bestial treatment in the enforced slavery of sex trafficking.
Tell that to the victims of the Holocaust.
Tell that to the Vietnamese who were decimated by the murderous ideology of “Kill Anything that Moves.”
Tell that to the women of India, who have been raped and murdered, many generations over.
Tell that to the Native Americans.
Tell that to the Native Americans who walked the Trail of Tears.
Tell that to the slaves of African ancestry.
Tell that to the undocumented workers.
Tell that to women who have been subjected throughout history to violence against their gender.

It’s a worthless debate. This question becomes even more apparent when we consider what happens to our understanding of wholeness when we are the ones experiencing great suffering. Here, the philosophical notion of illusion clashes with lived human pain.

How can you be whole and maimed at the same time?

Your ultimate self is always whole. The part of you in this world may be wounded. Connect with your Spirit Body to heal your Physical, Emotional, and Mental Bodies. Remember your promise and why you came here. What contribution are you withholding by forgetting your courage?

You can use the tools that will bring heaven to your aid. You are already holding them. What are these tools?

Grace. Prayer. Community. Friendship. Self-reflection. Self-care. Connect with your heart. Remember. Bend, don’t break. Stay strong. With abundant energy, it’s easier to face adversity.

Grace encourages us to live boldly, even in the face of fear. Will Grace shield you? Not from every challenge, but enough to guide you toward your soul’s intentions. The field of Grace is always present and active in the world. You are still here, aren’t you?

What if you’re too depressed to take further action? What if you’ve given up in overwhelm? How do you transform your condition?

At this point, the fundamental question shifts from personal pain to a broader consideration: how do we transform the darkness in the world?

Refuse to surrender to the belief that darkness is more powerful than light.
Refuse to surrender because you do not accept that darkness, no matter how powerful, how painful, or how savage, is the ultimate reality.
Refuse to believe that you have nothing of value to contribute.
Bear witness to your own suffering.
Continue to act on what you believe is the greater truth.
Connect to the eternal flame of the peace within, the peace that passes all understanding.
Stick to your dharma.

Know that your spirit has what it takes to be in this world. You would not have been put here otherwise.

Choose actions that serve humanity, as this aligns with your higher self. Setting intentions and following through allow you to realize your full potential. Develop your gifts to the fullest extent and utilize them for a meaningful contribution. You have the capacity to fulfill your purpose.

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HOW MUCH IS YOUR SOUL WORTH?

This conversation is a continuation of a previous discussion titled Are You Living Life Too Small?. In that essay, I challenged the notion that living a “small” life means not living your purpose. In this reflection, I address the confusion many of us feel about the connection between the money we earn or have and how it is often held up as a mirror of our value.

We live in a time of constant pressure. Everywhere, voices urge us to question whether we are living too small, hiding our talents, or not claiming the greatness that is supposed to be ours. This message is especially common in the worlds of coaching, mentoring, and self-development, where the question, “Are you living your life too small?” feels like an accusation.

The message is clear: if your life feels quiet, simple, or seemingly ordinary, you might be missing your true purpose. If you’re not highly visible, successful, influential, or profitable, then you probably haven’t yet become the person you are meant to be.

But is that really true?

What if a life doesn’t have to be large to be meaningful? What if a life can be simple, private, even seemingly unremarkable, and still be a full and authentic expression of the soul? What if the real question isn’t whether your life is big enough, but whether it is aligned enough?

Before we can discuss greatness meaningfully, we first need to ask what greatness truly is.

Is greatness about fame? Influence? Money? Public reach? Is it the ability to impress others? Is it a visible, celebrated life that earns admiration and status? Or could greatness be something quieter and more fundamental, something that emerges when a person lives in true alignment with their own truth?

A life of greatness can, for some, be lived openly in the public eye. It might include recognition, leadership, or broad influence. But for others, greatness could be demonstrated through quieter acts: tending a garden, caring for an aging parent, feeding animals, listening deeply to someone in pain, making soup, writing in obscurity, or offering kindness precisely when it’s needed.

Humans often interpret significance literally. We assume that bigger size means better, greater visibility equals more value, and wider influence signifies a larger impact. However, this isn’t how the soul measures things.

A glass of water given to the thirsty matters. A meal offered to the hungry matters. Being truly seen matters. Being cared for as a child matters. Being accompanied in grief matters. The person who brings steadiness, tenderness, shelter, or understanding into another’s life is not living a lesser purpose just because the act is small in scale.

The soul does not confuse visibility with worth.

Each person has a unique purpose: an inner pattern, an encoded intention, a specific way of expressing life. That purpose isn’t just about what someone does for work, nor is it necessarily connected to career, status, or income. Purpose also relates to presence. It involves the quality of being we bring into the world. It’s about the light we embody, the gifts we have, and how those gifts naturally serve life.

Not every lifetime is meant to be dramatic. Not every life is built for public achievement. Some lives are quieter, some are restorative. Some focus on healing, integration, caregiving, study, or rest. Some are designed to refine the inner self. Others are meant to anchor love in simple ways.

The problem begins when we let the ego define our purpose. The ego craves applause, proof, status, and worldly validation. It believes that more attention equals greater worth. However, the soul does not operate based on those values. The soul is not here to prove itself to others; it is here to express its true nature.

Your task isn’t to meet someone else’s standards. Your goal is to stay true to yourself.

This is why it is dangerous to listen too closely to those who claim that your soul’s worth depends on your success or how much you earn. Such thinking confuses market value with spiritual value. It mistakes external rewards for internal harmony. It encourages people to betray their true nature to conform to an image of what a meaningful life should be.

But the soul has its own rhythm. It possesses its own timing, texture, and signature.

Everything in existence functions according to its nature. A bird doesn’t need to become an ocean to be valid. A rose doesn’t need to become a mountain to justify its existence. Each thing fulfills itself by being what it is. Human beings are no different.

You are a unique expression of the Tao, a singular current within the larger whole. And from that uniqueness comes a real question: what is yours to be and do? What feels natural to you? What calls to you from the heart? What brings a deep sense of rightness, fulfillment, aliveness, and peace?

Perhaps your soul yearns to create something. Perhaps it wants to teach. Perhaps it longs to write. Perhaps it desires to care for children, animals, land, or community. Perhaps it seeks contemplation. Perhaps it longs for beauty. Perhaps it craves discovery. Maybe it prefers a quieter life than what the surrounding culture would approve.

None of this is too insignificant.

The issue with the command to “live your greatness” is that it’s often surrounded by illusions. It entices people to believe they must become more impressive first before they can be more authentic. But authenticity doesn’t come from becoming bigger. It comes from connecting with your true self. A person becomes whole not by enlarging their life, but by living it fully.

When you express your unique spiritual signature, your life truly reflects who you are. The size of that life—whether large or small, public or private, prosperous or simple—will align with your soul’s intentions. That size may evolve over time, through seasons of growth and retreat. Seasons of service and renewal. Seasons of visibility and hiddenness. However, these changes should come naturally from within, not through force, comparison, or spiritual marketing.

One of the most dangerous modern misconceptions is the idea that how much money you make reflects how connected you are to your purpose. This belief has become so widespread that many people no longer question it. However, it is based on a serious misunderstanding.

Saying that a person’s income reflects the worth of their soul’s expression is like assigning a monetary value to the soul itself.

Let’s follow that logic to its absurd conclusion.

What, then, is a soul worth? Is it worth fifty dollars an hour? Five hundred? Five million a year? What number would truly reflect the value of your deepest truth? What invoice should we send for love, presence, healing, wisdom, devotion, integrity, beauty, or grace?

And if we are expressions of the Divine, what is God worth? What compensation should be given for sustaining the universe? What reward is owed for creating stars, oceans, forests, creatures, and consciousness itself?

The questions collapse due to their own absurdity.

The soul cannot be bought or sold because it isn’t part of the marketplace. Its value is inherent, not determined by transactions. Its purpose is sacred, not for profit.

This doesn’t mean money is bad, irrelevant, or unspiritual. Money can definitely be part of a person’s journey. Some individuals are meant to generate wealth. Some are meant to build businesses, lead publicly, and create material abundance through their talents. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. However, money is a result in the physical world, not the ultimate measure of spiritual truth.

The main question is simple: Does your life satisfy your soul?

Does it allow you to stay true to who you are? Does it bring a deep sense of rightness that comes from living in harmony with your own nature? Does it permit the natural flow of your gifts? Does it create real benefit, however quietly, for others? Does it bring genuine fulfillment—not the excitement of ego, but a steady feeling of inner congruence?

When you are aligned with your soul’s intentions, you stop comparing your life to others’. You cease pursuing forms that aren’t truly yours. You no longer try to create significance through quantity. Instead, you start to realize that your very presence has value. Your way of being becomes an essential part of your offering.

That’s why being present is so important.

When you are fully present, you become more open to life. You’re better able to hear what needs attention, sense what is true, and respond according to your dharma. Presence shifts your energy away from fantasy, comparison, anxiety, and performance. It brings you back to the core of your own being.

From that point, actions feel more natural. Giving becomes automatic. Purpose shifts from just an idea to something actively felt.

You don’t have to push for greatness. You need to cultivate congruence.

Congruence is the alignment of thought, word, and action. It describes a state where who you are, what you say, and how you live are in harmony. As this alignment deepens, your energy becomes accessible in a new way. You are no longer splitting yourself trying to become someone you’re not. You are no longer operating under borrowed ideas of success. Instead, you stand fully inside your own life.

And that is true power.

So perhaps the better question isn’t, Am I living too small? Maybe the real questions are these:

Am I living authentically? Am I honoring my true nature?
Am I giving what I am meant to give?
Am I allowing my soul to express itself through the form, rhythm, and scale that are truly its own?

A soul is not more valuable just because many recognize it. It’s not more sacred because it earns more money. It doesn’t become more legitimate just because the world applauds it.

Its value is innate.

Your task isn’t to prove your greatness. Your task is to embody your true nature so completely that your life becomes a genuine reflection of the sacred pattern you were meant to live.

That may look grand, ordinary, quiet, or powerful.
It may change many times over a lifetime.

But when it is true, that is enough.

And when it is true, it is great.

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ARE YOU LIVING LIFE TOO SMALL?

I’ve been hearing a lot about living life “too small,” a phrase that struck me deeply when my mentor first mentioned it during a pivotal conversation. It’s often presented as a challenge, but it can also feel like an accusation. Beneath the question “Are you living your life too small?” lies an implied judgment: that if your life is quiet, modest, or not visibly impressive, then maybe you aren’t fully living your purpose.

The suggestion is hard to miss. A life that is big, visible, influential, and financially successful is seen as a life of courage, alignment, and significance. A life that is smaller, simpler, less public, or less ambitious is quietly regarded as lesser, as if it reflects timidity, lack of drive, or failure to become all that one could be.

This assumption should be challenged.

We live in a culture that tends to value more over less, bigger over smaller, and louder over quieter. Visibility is often mistaken for value. Power over many is admired. Financial success is regarded as proof of legitimacy. In this environment, it’s easy to internalize the message that if your talents are not generating a large income, attracting a broad audience, or creating a visibly expansive life, then you must be falling short of your true purpose.

But is that really true?

A so-called “big life” is usually defined by external markers: status, influence, productivity, recognition, money, and the ability to attract attention. It often involves constant striving, self-promotion, and ongoing visibility. It can indeed be exciting. It may be the right choice for some people. But that doesn’t make it the right choice for everyone.

What about the person who has no desire to build that kind of life? What about someone whose nature is quieter, deeper, more private, more contemplative, or more intimate in scale? Is such a life necessarily too small? Or is it possible that a life can seem small from the outside and still be a full, faithful expression of dharma?

I believe the real question isn’t whether your life is big enough. The real question is whether your life is authentic.

Reflecting on my own journey, I realized that my life’s meaning came not from grand achievements, but from moments when my actions aligned with my deepest values.

To understand what that means, it helps to pay attention to your yearnings. Our yearnings carry important information. They reveal something essential about who we are and what our souls desire. A yearning for love, beauty, strength, creativity, adventure, structure, service, freedom, belonging, excellence, rest, or understanding is not trivial. These are not random preferences. They are clues.

My own yearnings have often pointed me towards what brings genuine vitality and emotional fulfillment, like the quiet satisfaction of a well-spent day. Your yearnings reveal what kind of life sustains you, what experiences are essential to your growth, and what qualities your soul seeks to express through you.

If you ignore your true aspirations, you might end up building a life that seems impressive from the outside but feels empty inside. If you pursue them honestly, however, you begin to move toward the life that is truly meant for you.

This is why following your desires matters so much. When you give them space to speak and take them seriously, they gradually shape your life from within. They draw you toward the people, experiences, types of work, ways of being, and forms of expression that align with your soul’s intentions. They bring you into harmony with your own true measure.

That measure is unique.

For one person, a right-sized life might be large, public, and influential. For another, it could be small, quiet, rooted, and largely unseen. For one individual, soul expression may require leadership, expansion, and visible impact. For another, it might involve depth, devotion, craftsmanship, service, contemplation, or care offered in a smaller sphere.

Neither one is superior. Neither is more spiritual. Neither is naturally more aligned.

The problem begins when we assume that the outer scale is the same as the inner truth. It isn’t. A large life can be very false. A small life can be very true. And a life that is true will have its own natural size.

This is why I believe we shouldn’t give in to the cultural pressure to “make life bigger,” as if size alone determines purpose. A life shouldn’t be forced into growth just because society values visibility, ambition, and monetization. Doing so might steer us away from what we most need to honor: the true essence of our soul.

When you follow what truly calls to you, what feels genuinely right, what brings real satisfaction, what asks for your presence and energy, you start living more in harmony with your soul’s intentions. Over time, the shape of your life aligns more closely with who you truly are. Its scale becomes more appropriate. Its form feels more natural. Its “size” becomes less about performance and more about revelation.

In that sense, the right life isn’t too small or too large in any absolute sense. It is appropriately sized.

A right-sized life is one where your inner truth and outer expression align. It’s a life where what you do, what you love, and how you live become interconnected. It’s a life not driven by comparison, pressure, or borrowed ideas of success, but by an honest response to what your own soul is asking of you.

That response may change over time. The soul might seek growth during one season and simplicity in another. It could make you more visible for a while, then lead you into privacy. It may ask you to create and, later, to rest. But if you listen closely to your deeper nature, you will be guided toward the right form.

So perhaps a better question is not, “Are you living life too small?”

Perhaps the better questions are:

Are you listening to your true yearnings?

Are you allowing them to express themselves?

Are you shaping a life that genuinely fits your nature?

Are you living in a way that feels emotionally authentic and spiritually aligned?

If you follow your true desires and trust what calls to your heart and give it space to blossom, you’ll gradually discover the life that belongs to you. Its boundaries will be your own. Its rhythm will be your own. Its greatness won’t depend on how it looks to others. It will be great because it’s authentic.