From an early age, we’re taught that life is a narrow track, and our job is to find ‘the right path’ and then stay on it. This might mean:
- Pick the right career
- Find the right partner
- Follow the right path
- Don’t mess it up
- Don’t stray
- Don’t turn back
We carry this burden into adulthood and often, into our spiritual journeys too. Many people live in quiet fear of “getting it wrong.” But what if there is no wrong?
What if the whole concept of a single correct path is an illusion?
And what if your soul came here not to follow a line, but to explore a landscape?
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The illusion of “the right path” and a single life purpose
In many spiritual teachings – both modern and ancient – we’re told to find and follow our “life purpose.” It sounds noble, even reassuring. But for many, it can become a source of unnecessary pressure.
It suggests that purpose is a fixed destination, and unless you’re actively doing That One Thing, you’re somehow off-track.
But what if that’s a misunderstanding?
What if your purpose isn’t about a job title, a location, or a singular mission, but about your soul’s growth, expansion, and alignment?
What if purpose is not a task to complete, but a state of being to live from?
Your Higher Self is always guiding you back
Many spiritual traditions teach that before we come to Earth, we choose certain experiences, relationships, and themes that will support our evolution. We select a ‘curriculum’ – not to be tested, but to grow.
We might call this our “major” – the big life theme we came to explore. Around that, we take on many “minors” – side adventures, relationships, and projects that add richness to the learning.
But even as we wander, shift, get distracted, or detour, our Higher Self – that eternal, loving part of us that exists beyond the physical – is always guiding us.
Not punishing. Not judging. Just gently nudging us back toward alignment.
And when we are aligned with Source energy – when we feel peaceful, energised, connected – we are already on the “right path,” no matter what it looks like from the outside.
“The path isn’t something to find – it’s something to follow within.”
Purpose is about soul expansion, not achievement
You didn’t come here to tick a box or earn a badge. You came to experience. Let me say that again – you came here to EXPERIENCE ALL THAT LIFE HAS TO OFFER!
To explore. To remember who you really are.
This means there is no singular way to “fulfil your purpose.” You can express it through many different roles, places, and actions.
Your soul doesn’t care if you find your calling at 20 or 70 – it only cares that you’re becoming.
That you’re learning. That you’re aligning more and more with your truest self.
This is why the journey matters more than the outcome.
I believe that we have a blueprint for life that we have aligned before birth with our soul family. It can be many different things, and achieved in many different ways. For example, perhaps in one life, you were an abused person, and you now want to understand the factors that allowed that to happen – so perhaps your life this time, you and your soul family member agree to swap roles, so that you both gain more understanding. So, maybe you begin this incarnation as abusive person yourself. And in the course of your choices and behaviours, you learn to overcome this pattern and realise your true identity as an unconditionally loving, sentient being. You find your way back to the Source that you are through the path you have chosen.
And in doing so, you experience, grow and learn what it really means to love unconditionally.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The example offered above is one perspective seen through a spiritual lens and is not intended to excuse abusive conduct in any form. Abuse is never acceptable or condoned and must be addressed with compassion, accountability, and care.
However, this framework may help us better understand soul-level dynamics and how individuals can evolve beyond harmful patterns. From the vantage point of unconditional love – the pure, expansive frequency of the Higher Self—abusive conduct simply cannot exist. It is misaligned with that energy. The journey back to Source involves unlearning those distortions and remembering one’s true nature as a loving, sentient being.
The outcome in this life is temporary because you are, and always will be an eternal, unlimited creative being. So if the outcome is temporary, then it is the journey and the choices you make whilst on it, that shape your frequency and your being.
You may also want to consider a post on this site discussing whether there is any inherent ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ or whether the universe is a neutral player, which opens up some new areas to consider.
Soul planning before birth – did we choose this?
Now I’ve just thrown in a massive curve-ball for many in that last section with the idea that we plan our lives before we come – or at least a blueprint of them. But is this me just ‘having a moment’ or is there some spiritual truth behind the idea?
Many spiritual and indigenous traditions suggest that before we incarnate, we meet with guides or soul councils and map out a general life plan – a blueprint to follow if we choose when we get here. Usually we do, and the universe will gently guide us and remind us as we go.
Many cultures have ideas about soul plans and soul families in the spiritual realm.
This is echoed in:
- Hinduism and Jainism (karma and samskara as soul-level imprints)
- Tibetan teachings on the bardos (the spaces between death and rebirth)
- African wisdom traditions, where individuals are born with a unique spiritual “medicine” to offer the world
- Modern mystics like Dolores Cannon and Michael Newton, who describe pre-birth soul agreements
We may choose:
- Our families
- Major challenges
- Certain soul contracts
- Our “theme” for this life (e.g. power, surrender, compassion, truth)
But this plan isn’t fixed. It’s flexible. We can learn faster than expected. We can change direction. We can even renegotiate our soul contracts mid-life if we evolve beyond their need.
For example, I’ve heard stories of people who made choices that took them away from their soul’s blueprint in their 20s, only to find that they reconnected with it again in their 40s. It may not have been with the exact same people, but the universe is infinite in the possibilities that it can present and every moment of your life is full of infinite potentialities – some come into fruition, others are left to explore in different lifetimes, parallel lives or alternative dimensions… possibly!
One thing you can be sure of is that whichever way we choose, the universe adapts and goes with us.
Real-life examples – detours with deep purpose
Think of someone who set out to be a musician, but life led them into teaching. Years later, they return to music – but with a deeper emotional range, shaped by their time guiding others.
Or someone who spent years in a “wrong” marriage, only to discover through its end, the resilience, independence, and spiritual hunger that became their next chapter.
We often only realise in hindsight that the detours were not mistakes – they were soul lessons. And they mattered.
Nothing is wasted when it’s seen through the lens of growth.
We don’t chastise children when they are learning, we encourage, lead and model things to them. Don’t you think the universe is doing the same with you?
Global wisdom: many paths, one truth
Across cultures, we find echoes of this truth – that there is no single “correct” route.
- In Daoism, the Tao is not a place to reach, but a way to live in harmony with what is
- In First Nations teachings, the medicine wheel is cyclical. You return to teachings again and again, each time at a deeper level
- In Gnostic mysticism, the soul forgets its origins so it can rediscover its light through lived experience
These teachings remind us: your path is not a line. It’s a spiral. A dance. A dream that unfolds with every step you take.
But if the path isn’t fixed – how do we know we’re on it?
The answer to this is simple – You’ll know by how it feels. Esther Hicks, through all her Abraham teachings, emphasises this constantly. You know how aligned you are to Source by your emotional scale.
When you are aligned with Source energy, there’s a unique kind of peace and joy – even in uncertainty. A sense of movement without force. A quiet inner “YES”.
When you are moving away from the true expression of your Source Divinity, things feel off; you feel disgruntled, angry, and start to move down the emotional scale to despair.
David Strickel also talks about the emotional spiral in his ground-breaking book, “The TYA Practice”, which I highly recommend.
Even when you are in despair, you may not have clarity about your next ten steps.
But you’ll be guided with the next one to bring you closer to Source, even if that moves you from despair to anger.
And that’s enough.
In closing: trust the path beneath your feet
The idea of “the right path” can be comforting – but it can also be a cage.
The deeper truth is far more liberating:
✨ You have a purpose, and YOU chose it!
✨ You can live that purpose in many different ways
✨ Your Higher Self is always guiding you – even when you feel lost
✨ The detours are part of the dance
✨ The outcome matters far less than the energy you bring to the journey and the being you become on the way
It’s the old idea of the ‘Hero’s Journey’. In their darkest hour, when they think all is lost, THAT’S where they find the courage, strength and reality of who they are, which allows them to get up, continue and overcome.
You don’t need to “get it right”.
You just need to keep listening. Keep aligning. Keep becoming.
Because when you’re connected to Source – you’re already on the path.
“You are not late. You are not lost. You are unfolding.”
In life, it doesn’t matter if you go left or right. What matters is that you go with purpose, with authenticity and with the intention of learning about love.
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Wow, this piece really landed deeply for me — especially the idea that we came here not to walk a straight line, but to explore a vast, living landscape. That’s such a freeing shift from the “right path” narrative so many of us grow up with.
There’s so much to unpack here, but I’d love to hear from others on a few of these ideas:
Have you ever taken a life “detour” that turned out to be more meaningful than your original plan? How did it shape you?
How do you personally tune in to whether you’re aligned with your soul’s purpose — is it through intuition, emotions, synchronicities?
The concept of soul planning before birth is fascinating — does this idea bring you comfort or raise more questions?
For me, what stood out most was the message that alignment isn’t about perfection — it’s about presence. That even our struggles have value when seen through the lens of growth.
Would love to hear how this resonated with you. Which part of this message spoke to your current season of life?
Hi Raymond. Lovely to connect with you here and I’m so pleased that the article made you think a little about some of the spiritual questions in life. The article is written from my heart, as they all are on my site and I love it when I feel that I can help connect someone to the amazing unlimited, eternal being that they truly are. To answer your questions, I have had many ‘detours’ in life which have turned out to be a blessing in disguise – the ‘failure’ of my first company was one but I learned so much through the process that I can see it as a great life lesson now. To find out whether I am aligned with my Higher Self or not, I really just need to trust my feelings and my emotions will give it away. If I get angry (as we all do sometimes) I first let myself feel the anger – that’s important because it allows us to be truly present. Then I ask myself a question which is “what am I thinking about this situation” that is not the same as Source would think? Then I get to the real nitty gritty of the answers. It’s usually because I’m fearful of being rejected or unloved, a misunderstanding of the other person’s situation, but asking the questions honestly to yourself, clears the way for the answers to appear. All of our so-called ‘challenges’ are ways in which we can grow and learn, and when we come to recognise them as such, life gets so much easier. All the best, my friend. Gail