Featured image for “Why I Walked Away – Part Two: MY Dark Night of the Soul”

Jack Canfield helped me realize that the reason I felt so unhappy in my life was because there was a different purpose for my life.

I chose to become a chiropractor because it fit the narrative I was sold as discussed previously.

In fact, I remember the day as a sophomore in high school that I chose chiropractic as my future profession.<b
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I was sitting in Mr. Beattie’s English class in Bergen Catholic High School.
We were reading Shakespeare and I despised Shakespeare because it made absolutely no sense to this Bronx Born Italian kid.</b

No one in my family (or life) spoke like that.
Listening to Shakespeare was listening to Cantonese.
I didn’t understand any of it and it all went way over my head.

So instead of wasting my time and getting more frustrated by the soliloquies and sonnets, I decided to read the newspaper.

As I was reading the paper there was a headline which caught my eye on the first page.
It said “Top 10 Incomes and Professions.”
So I turned to the page it was on and started reading.

What made this article interesting was that it listed the top 10 incomes, not just by their financial rankings, but by their levels of stress as well.

As I looked over the list of these occupations I saw one that jumped out at me…Chiropractor.

I had been to the chiropractor a few times and it really helped when I had a neck problem which was causing numbness in my hand.

The article listed Chiropractor as the best in terms of income.
But more importantly, it was the 3rd least stressful of all the listed occupations.

Now I had always wanted to be a doctorand help people.
I wanted to make good money
AND…
I hated having stress in my life.
So, chiropractic seemed like the perfect fit for me.

That is how I chose my career!
But after practicing this career for almost 20 years, I felt very unfulfilled.

Jack Canfield made me understand why.

He made me understand that there was a bigger purpose for my life, a divine calling if you will.

And that realization led me on what Joseph Campbell describes as “The Hero’s Journey.”

The Hero’s Journey is what most people go thru in their human existence.
It is the basic premise that George Lukas used when he created STAR WARS.

It’s when we go out in our lives, realize that something is missing, go searching for answers, go thru a lot trials and tribulations, feel like giving up, and then finally break through and find what it is we’re looking for.

The Hero’s journey isn’t easy and it’s often why most people give up and settle for a life of mediocrity.

Most people think The Hero’s Journey is about the reward and what they will get once they succeed.

But it’s not true.

The Hero’s Journey is about who you become along the way.
It’s about tapping into your God given gifts and using those gifts so you can be who you were divinely created to be.

It’s not about being who your parents or society think you should be.

And it’s not about basing a career solely on income or some other external reward.

Now, I wish I could say I discovered this insight overnight, and it simply came as a result or reading Joseph Campbell’s books.
But that would be another lie.

The TRUTH is I didn’t realize this until I was going through my own journey.

My Hero’s Journey sucked!

There were many a day where I felt like giving up.
In fact there was a time when I was in such a dark place that I didn’t want to be here anymore.

I was going through what Campbell calls “The Dark Knight of the Soul”
This is when you are caught in Life’s Purgatory.

You’re now living the life you desire, and you know you can’t go back to the life you were living in the past.
You literally feel like you are in lost and living in darkness and you don’t see the light.

I had grown tired of this journey which had been going on for years, and I wanted to quit.

There was even a day when I told God, “I’m done. Go F*ck Yourself!”

I was tired of the “journey” and wanted to give up.

I would have been so much easier to quit, go back to being a chiropractor and have a “nice life.”

But there was always something inside of me telling me to keep going.

So I did, until one day I received that answer in my journaling.

The answer that would change my life and give me the clarity I was looking for.

It was when God revealed my true Life’s Purpose…”You need to help others find love!”

TO BE CONTINUED….

WE'RE JOE & NAT

Love Mentors helping women over 50 find, magnetize & attract the love they desire and deserve.

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