How To Live A Life Filled With Purpose
DDo you ever question why you are on this Earth and what your purpose is?
o you feel you have a purposed filled life?
If not, think about how the world would be different without you.
The lives of everyone you have ever known or encountered in some way would be altered in some small or significant way.
The world population is nearly 6,700,000,000. If everyone in the U.S. alone lined up single file, the line would stretch around the Earth almost seven times. That’s a lot of people. Why are all of these people here milling about on the planet for our 85 or so years?
In the scheme of things, you and I are infinitesimal drops in an enormous sea of humanity.
It makes you wonder if your life makes any measurable impact in this big world. What makes one life (yours) exceptional and memorable? How do you live a life filled with purpose?
For some of us, spiritual faith and a belief in the afterlife provide the foundation for a purposeful life.
But for now, let’s focus on the life you are living right now and how you want the world to remember you.
What are you doing every moment and every day that serves the larger context of your religious or philosophical beliefs about a life worth living? It is how you spend those moments and hours that add up to a life filled with purpose and meaning.
The vast majority of your life is in your control. You can decide what you value and love and then create your life accordingly. You always have choice, even over the areas of your life that seem out of your control. You can choose to resist and struggle and bemoan your circumstances, or you can choose to find meaning in the situation in spite of the pain or discomfort.
The renowned Austrian psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl, survived the Holocaust, even though he was in four Nazi death camps, including Auschwitz from 1942-45. During, and partly because of, his suffering in concentration camps, Frankl developed a revolutionary approach to psychotherapy known as logotherapy.
At the core of his theory is the belief that humanity’s primary motivational force is the search for meaning, and the work of the logotherapist centers on helping the patient find personal meaning in life, however dismal one’s life circumstances.
Whatever your life circumstances may be, you can make a difference in the world and find meaning in your life.
Most likely, you will directly impact only a small group of people during your lifetime, unless you are a world leader or celebrity. But through your small network, your decisions, behaviors, ideas and attitudes will spread ripples of action that touch unknown thousands, maybe millions of people.
With the knowledge that you have the ability to generate positive change and action, you can take advantage of a powerfully creative choice for your life. One decision can launch a life filled with purpose.
Here it is:
Decide what you value and love most, and then mindfully craft your life accordingly. Become a living example of the legacy you want to offer the world. As you create this legacy for others, you will discover a deep sense of meaning and purpose for yourself.
A purposeful life doesn’t just happen. It is a willful act of creation every single day.
When you uncover what you value most in life, you will discover sustained happiness in daily living. These areas of value are where should spend most of your time and energy.
Here are seven areas that support sustained happiness and provide a foundation for making an impact on the world and living a life of purpose.
1. Security and Comfort
How much energy and time should you put into achieving and acquiring? How many creature comforts and material things do you really need? Find the balance between living a comfortable and secure life while allowing yourself the time to pursue what you value and love most. Experiential pleasures usually provide more sustained fulfillment that material acquisition does. Don’t pursue money and things beyond your ability to find meaning from them.
2. Balance and Moderation
Americans work longer hours and take fewer vacations than other advanced economies. Why do we fill up so many hours with work when there are so many other valuable and interesting ways to spend our time? We have become brainwashed into believing that work should take precedence over every other area of life — at the risk of our mental, emotional and physical health. Not only with work, but in all areas of our lives, we need to find balance so that we have the room to find purpose.
3. Contribution
Everyone wants to feel they leave this Earth having made some positive contribution. You can make contributions of excellence, encouragement, purpose, and love. A contribution to the world doesn’t have to be a dramatic gesture or sacrifice. It can be as mundane as helping a neighbor with groceries or reading a story to your child. When you give something of yourself, no matter how small, you have created that ripple of positive action. Use your time, energy, talents and money for good.
4. Relationships
If you listed what you value and love most in life, your close relationships probably rise to the top of the list. These relationships are not only vital to our sense of well-being and happiness, they also profoundly affect our health. People in supportive relationships are happier and healthier. They are so very important, and yet we often neglect them. Nurturing our connections with these people is the most valuable endeavor you can make. And reaching out to those outside of your immediate circle with expand your sense of connection and meaning.
5. Beauty
Beauty is the quality that thrills the soul and makes life vibrant and juicy. It elevates us beyond the mundane and connects us with something divine. Beauty provides fulfillment, awe and connectedness to the world around us. And it forces us to slow down long enough to savor it. By inviting beauty into your life, you open the door to a more profound and exquisite journey. Explore beauty in nature, art, literature, and music. Find ways to share and support beauty in your community.
6. Creativity
Creativity is not the exclusive domain for those born with natural gifts and artistic leanings. Anyone in any discipline can be creative by applying the same learned skill set: dedication, hard work, seeking new challenges, boldness, and follow-through. The pursuit of creative endeavors is critical to the development of our personalities and our relationships. It also allows us to live in the moment. When our moments are filled with creativity, we feel purposeful and happy.
7. Personal Growth
Introspection, seeking enlightenment, deepening spiritual awareness, understanding relationships, striving for emotional maturity, and defining our values and integrity — these are the very tools that assist us in the creation of a purposeful life. As we have a better understanding of our own needs and motivations, we can heal and grow in ways that make life an exciting adventure. We can be a better person for those around us, impacting them in deeper, more positive ways.
A life of purpose is what you make of it. Unfortunately, many of us live reactionary lives. We respond to the circumstances life hurls at us rather than creating the life we desire.
The first bold step toward living a purpose filled life.
A purposeful life evolves with the daily awareness and work you do to reveal and refine your authentic self — through relationships, balance, beauty, creativity and personal growth. Today, go create your own life filled with purpose.