What do "life purpose" and "destiny" really mean?

I hear the words Life Purpose and Destiny used a lot.  While I have an understanding of what they mean, I don’t really resonate with these words.  They are very linear and give the impression of an end point or goal.  To me a better word is just Flow.  When we are living in the Flow of our life (which could also mean “on purpose” or “fulfilling our destiny”) we are living effortlessly, joyfully, with ease and fulfilment.

Imagine you are on a boat floating with the current.  You may have to use your oars occasionally to avoid an obstacle in the river or go off course a bit to explore a back water for awhile if it takes your fancy.  But generally floating with the flow of the current is effortless, fun, easy and enjoyable.

Now imagine you are in the water without a boat trying to swim upstream against the current.  It is frustrating, exhausting and it gets you nowhere.  You use all your energy just to survive.  You are not living your life with your flow, you are trying to work against what is a natural flow for you.  You are not thriving, you are just surviving.  This is how most people live, always trying to go where their mind/ego tells them they should based on what everyone else is doing and what the world thinks is "normal".  Most people have no concept of the Flow of their lives which results in struggle and exhaustion.

I see Life Purpose and Destiny as simply living our lives in our flow.  Maybe our life purpose is to find this flow and our destiny is to stay on course, following the flow and feeling the joy the effortlessness brings.  But if we are in the flow without a boat, we will not enjoy the journey as much, we will still struggle to keep our head above the water and it will be difficult to enjoy the scenery along the way.

Now imagine that the boat is your soul.  Your soul is the true essence of who you are, it is not what your mind/ego thinks you should be based on what you have been programmed to believe.  When you know who you are at soul level and are expressing your uniqueness into the world, then you are in your boat ready to merge with your flow (your river).  If you have no connection to your soul (boat) then your flow/river isn't able to guide you as well through your life - you may flounder as you try and just survive in the water/flow of your life.  Your soul is your literal life boat, here to "rescue you" and give you buoyancy, safety and direction in life.  And the interesting thing is, you are literally rescued by yourself - you are not depending on anyone or anything outside of you to provide you with the only "life boat" that you need.
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Your life flow guides you much like a magnetic pull, towrds what the soul wants to experience in life.  If we fight against this pull then sometimes our lives can turn to chaos and get quite messy.    Allowing the flow of life  to take the lead and guide us to where we need to be, can be quite a scary step for most people who believe that they need to control and micro-manage every detail of their life.  Trying to control your life (instead of just living it in flow) can lead to worry and exhaustion (and in my case Chronic Fatigue Syndrome!).  But once we have overcome this fear of letting go, and we “trust” our soul/boat to carry us as our unique selves, and our flow to guide us, we can start to see how effortlessly our lives start to work out.  This is destiny, this is life purpose...

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