Life is a spiritual journey. Every breath, every relationship, every joy and sorrow are calling you to remember who you really are, and to be and experience all that you came here for. Our discomforts, challenges, and even crises are invitations to free ourselves, expand our wings and rise into our highest expression—for ourselves, for those we love, and for all of humanity.
For each of us, there will come a time when our Soul longs to birth something for us and through us. Often this is the thing that we most strongly resist, are afraid of, or think we aren’t ready for. When we ignore the call, it doesn’t go away; it gets louder. Eventually, it becomes a 911.
Tune in and see if any of these are resonant for you.
- You feel lost and unsure about the trajectory of your life, and the traditional resources that served you in the past are no longer working.
- Things that used to bring you joy are falling flat.
- You feel a persistent yearning—like something is missing or off.
- You run from opportunity to opportunity, looking for some trace of your old spark.
- You’re being asked to radically change some aspect of your life (or life seems to be forcing such a change on you), and some part of your familiar identity has been shaken or stripped away.
- You are hiding out or playing smaller than you know is possible for you.
- You are grappling with the bigger questions in life, such as, “What is the purpose of life? Who am I, and what am I here to do?
We all undergo challenges in life and not all become a 911. The distinction with a 911 is that there is a magnetic pull deep within ourselves, a luring forward, that accompanies the challenge. There is a bubbling-up of new questions that, try as you might, you can no longer brush over, sweep aside, or avoid. It might speak loudly; it might scream. Or it might whisper subtly, yet with such persistence that you simply cannot ignore it.
Ultimately, it prompts a holy reassembly of who you are, and who you know yourself to be. Life is speaking, and it’s asking you to grow beyond where you’ve been.
During a 911, you may wake up to everything you’ve been keeping yourself too busy to acknowledge, and all the ways you’ve been squeezing yourself into a box you didn’t create or desire. All the parts of you seeking growth and evolution are calling for your attention. You may be directed to take action you don’t understand or have feared. You may be invited to embody greater courage, truth, and alignment—to step into the space of the “and,” where all of you can be present and find room to thrive.
You’ve always been in search of this, whether you are aware of it or not. At the core of you is a deep, primal longing—a longing to meet yourself and live in union with the sacred, which is within, beyond, and all around you.
And yet, we miss or deny that call for months, even years. Why? Because it works for us not to address the struggle. We often prefer the pain of the familiar to the fear of the unknown. As long as life is still working (sort of), we see no reason to blow it all up. Why rock the boat that’s still afloat?
I think we’ve lost sight. We’ve forgotten we are more than human beings that do and acquire and produce. We deeply crave love, beauty, awe, and wonder. We crave freedom and belonging. We crave to potentiate to our fullest nature. Still, we don’t allow ourselves to actually go there.
When was the last time you let a sunset take your breath away, or really listened to the sound of the ocean waves as the salty air caressed your face? When was the last time you felt totally at peace, or connected to something bigger than yourself? When was the last time you felt true freedom? When was the last time you had a sacred experience, or knew that you mattered?
This is what your Soul is calling you home to. You are longing for a path back to your sacred self. Will you listen? Will you hear those 3:00 a.m. whispers, that quiet voice? Will you make the choice to go where you’re being called?
Along my wild, not-at-all linear journey from psychotherapist to Fortune 50 Executive to Transformational Coach, I nevertheless accessed seven clear spiritual principles which I collectively call The Soul Solution for a 911 from your Soul. These 7 principles (Soul – Mind – Body – Heart – Gratitude – Service – Love) provide a blueprint for daily living as you invite the truth of who you are to come forward and take the helm in your life. They are statements to live by and also deep wells of wisdom that empower you to live in greater harmony with your truest nature and your human experience.
I’ve been a hospice volunteer since graduate school, both formally and informally. Often, as I sit with people whose physical lives are ending, they speak about the years flying by in the blink of an eye. Nearly all of them thought they had more time. More time to enjoy life and do all of things they had put off until a better time. More time to make a different choice. More time to have that difficult conversation. More time to be the person they knew they could become. And then— bam! Life shifted, and suddenly they were living their last days or months in this round of Earth School. They spoke with such clarity and conviction about what really mattered—connection, relationships, love—and what, in retrospect, did not matter at all.
The lesson from these beautiful souls is clear: if you want a life with no regrets, seize the precious, gifted moments now. Peace and joy are enlivened by the deep knowing that you gave it your all and left nothing on the table.
So, if you are feeling the pull … If you are hearing the whisper … If you are at a critical point of choice in your life, and you’re being called forward into the unknown … your Soul is speaking and inviting you to embark on a quest. Not the kind that will take you to a far-away landscape where your current life seems only a dream, but one that will take you deeper into yourself.
You are more than you know yourself to be. You are limitless, infinite, and whole.
Now is your time to answer the call. For you, for others and for all of humanity.
Jeanine Thompson is a Transformational Coach, speaker, and author whose breadth of knowledge and experience spans multiple disciplines and professional expressions from clinical psychotherapy to global business to advancing spiritual growth. She shares her journey and how others can reach their full potential in her first book, 911 From Your Soul
