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You are sitting in your car in the supermarket parking lot. The engine is off. The keys are in your hand. You have a list of five things to buy, but you cannot bring yourself to open the door. You are looking at the steering wheel, and a sudden, quiet thought crosses your mind. You could just start driving. You could head toward the highway, turn off your phone, and keep going until the landscape changes.
Many people know this exact feeling. It is not just about being tired of your job or your chores. It is a deep, heavy pull to disappear.
We often call this pull a search for our purpose. We tell ourselves that we need to find our calling, and that our calling is waiting for us somewhere else. We think we need a new city, a new relationship, or a completely new life to finally start living.
But there is a big difference between a calling and an escape.
When the weight of your daily life gets too heavy, your mind looks for an exit. The mind is not always your friend. It takes you to the past and the future, creating stories about how much better things would be if you were just somewhere else. Your brain tells you that your discomfort is because of your location or your current setup. It tells you that if you just run far enough, you will find your true path.
This is not a search for purpose. This is an escape.
An escape is driven by running away from something. It is born out of exhaustion and avoidance. A calling is different. A calling is a pull toward something, and it does not require you to burn your life to the ground first.
Most people try to solve this feeling by making massive, chaotic changes. They quit jobs abruptly. They end relationships that just needed some honest conversation. They move across the country. They buy plane tickets to search for themselves.
But when they land, they realize something frustrating. They brought themselves along. The same heavy feeling in the chest is still there. The same noise in the head is still loud. The spirit that waits for your weak moment is still waiting.
You don't have to start all over again to find peace. You don't have to run.
What actually helps is looking at the pain in the exact moment it shows up. Do it at the moment the pain comes up. If you feel that suffocating urge to escape while sitting in your car, do not ignore it. Do not scroll on your phone to numb it. Sit with it.
Ask yourself a simple question. When was the first time you felt this? As a child? What was the situation?
Often, you will find that this urge to run is an old pattern. Maybe you grew up in a house where tension was high, and the only way to feel safe was to go to your room and lock the door. Now, as an adult, when life gets tense, your nervous system wants to lock the door on your entire life.
I worked with a man named Marcus. He was highly successful, but every six months, he wanted to quit his firm and move to a cabin in the woods. He was convinced his calling was to be a solitary craftsman.
When we sat down, I did not ask him about his career goals. I asked him about his childhood. He remembered being eight years old, trying desperately to keep the peace between his parents. He was carrying a weight that was never his to carry. As an adult, he was still doing the same thing at his job, taking on everyone else's stress until he exploded.
The cabin in the woods was not his calling. It was just his escape from the pressure he did not know how to put down.
We worked together to change his boundaries, not his job. We looked at the story he was telling himself, that he had to save everyone to be safe. Change the story, change the feeling. Change the feeling, change the behavior.
Within a few weeks, the urge to run away disappeared. He stayed at his firm, but he worked differently. He had more consciousness, more respect, more love, more patience, more connection with his own body. He did not need to run anymore because he was no longer running from himself.
Healing does not have to take long. And it does not require suffering. A lot of doctors and healers say months and years of bullshit. It is just not true. With the right tools, healing can happen in an hour. Sometimes half an hour. It starts when you stop running and face the room you are currently standing in.
Your brain takes you to the past and the future. Your present brings you home. The answers you want are not on a beach or in a cabin. They are right here, under the noise.
Which one hits closest for you? Tell me in the comments.
DM me the word READY on my Instagram (@chenzo.holistic.coaching) and I will send you the link to book a free 30-minute discovery call.
<h3>Listen to The Purpose Path Podcast</h3><div style="position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UQMreB557H4" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:12px;" allowfullscreen loading="lazy"></iframe></div>
More episodes and free resources: <a href="https://www.chenzoholisticcoaching.com/en/the-purpose-path-podcast">The Purpose Path Podcast</a> and <a href="https://www.chenzoholisticcoaching.com">chenzoholisticcoaching.com</a>.
With love, Chenzo Holistic Coaching Founder of The Purpose Path Podcast

You are sitting in your car in the supermarket parking lot. The engine is off. The keys are in your hand. You have a list of five things to buy, but you cannot 

The urge to pack a bag and leave everything behind

Read essays on somatic healing, emotional trauma, sensitivity, and finding purpose. Written by Chenzo, holistic coach, empathic healer, tarot reader, and founder of The Purpose Path Podcast. New posts weekly.


Chenzo Holistic Coaching Blog: Somatic Healing, Sensitivity & Purpose

Read essays on somatic healing, emotional trauma, sensitivity, and finding purpose. Written by Chenzo, holistic coach, empathic healer, tarot reader, and founder of The Purpose Path Podcast. New posts weekly.

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The urge to pack a bag and leave everything behind

The urge to pack a bag and leave everything behind

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