The Law of Dharma implies more than seeking work that we love; it implies our unique destiny, our place in the cosmic plan. It implies a shift in consciousness that begins when we align ourselves with our highest vision, and then become the manifestation of that vision.
Deepak Chopra, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
On June 22, 2010 I sat crying at my desk. Not a quiet, gentle cry. A cry that bordered on a Ben Stiller-Something About Mary sob. “Why was I crying?” At the moment, I had reached a point where my answer would have been: “Why NOT cry!”
At the age of 38, I was divorced and had been “newly” single for six years. I hated my job as a civil servant and had no idea what purpose I served. I left work that day and didn’t come back for six weeks. After 12 years of faking it– I had finally lost it, or rather “found” it as I later discovered.
I was who everyone else wanted me to be. I played roles, I played them well, and I was an accomplished actor in my own life. I needed to take time to figure out who I was–who I wanted to be. And while I was playing roles for others, I was the one who let them sit in the director’s chair. I had no one to blame but myself. I had always been scared to ask myself the tough questions and go through the hard work to figure things out. Now here I am– almost 40 and, so far, I’ve coped out of living life intentionally.
After the six weeks off, I knew one thing for sure– I needed to act, and I needed to act now. I decided to take a one year sabbatical. The work I needed to do to realign my life was going to need my full attention. I mobilized by getting rid of my apartment, packing my things into a 10 by 10 storage unit and finding my replacement at work.
Now while I had arranged to take a year off work to sort myself out, I really had no idea as to how to approach it. To borrow Alan’s term, I needed to know my paradigm for the year ahead. Now when Alan is telling me this, it’s usually when we’re training. Alan is my boxing coach who, from the first day we trained together, helped me build and establish my paradigm as a boxer. He started off our first session by asking me to get into my fighting stance. Then Alan helped rebuild my stance by correcting the positioning of feet, hips, arms, hands and head. With the right stance, I would be able to move and act like a boxer. Over time, with lots of practice and listening to Alan shout at me,” know your paradigm!” or, “where’s your paradigm?!” –it clicked.
Now I’m not acting like a boxer– I am a boxer.
The “clicking” had a profound impact on me. Not only had my boxing improved, but I now realized the power of the paradigm. I knew I had to apply this power to my year off. When a friend introduced me to Deepak Chopra’s “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success”, the solution I was looking for presented itself.
After several reads I knew that the seventh law– the law of dharma– would be my paradigm not only for the year ahead, but one that I hope will guide me through all of the years that stretch out before me. According to Chopra, “The Law of Dharma or Purpose in Life, says that we are spiritual beings who have taken physical form to fulfill a purpose.”
The law of dharma is comprised of three components:
1. discovering your true self;
2. expressing your unique talents; and,
3. serving others through the expression of your unique talents.
It is now two weeks before my year will begin, and I feel ready. I have my paradigm. I’m in my fighter’s stance and I’m ready to fight to the end. With thelawofdharma.com I hope to share the story of my journey with you. Actually, I hope that not only will I share with you, that you will share with me, by being a fellow traveller.
thelawofdharma 
