What is the Meaning and Purpose of Life
What is the meaning and purpose of life? Did you ever ask yourself, “Why was I born?” “Is there something I ‘should’ be doing instead of what I am?” “What is the meaning of my life?”
These questions have been tackled by philosophers, theologians, and poets for thousands of years. Some declare they have the answers, but most just continue to ponder and debate the questions.
Such practice seems to be the meaning of their lives. I believe my life has more meaning than chewing on existential questions, yet here I am, asking them anyway.
Where do these questions come from?
I think these questions arrive with us the moment we leave the womb, even before they become shaped by the expectations of parents and society.
Those early messages could have been ‘you are here to make me happy, to learn your ABC’s, to be good’.
Some people have a lot of expectations that they will grow up to be a teacher like daddy, or a secretary like Grandma—and they resist, especially in adolescence.
We want to find out the meaning of life for ourselves.
We may not have been aware of this search when we were young. I know I wasn’t. And yet I struggled to choose the right major in college and to find just the right career.
Don’t ask me who I was trying to please.
I’ve spent a lifetime searching for the ‘right thing to be doing’…that which is my purpose in living. I read, I study, I take courses online, I share with others and I dream.
I had no clue that I was thirsting for meaning and purpose when I thought I just wanted to earn a living. Wasn’t that my purpose? To be self-sufficient, a good citizen and a parent?
Well, of course, these are important, but all my life I have searched for the deeper meaning behind the question ‘Why am I alive?’
When we lose sight of our very purpose for existing, life becomes unbearable. Statistics for suicide increase every year, bearing this out.
Meaning and purpose when I was younger were all about me and what I wanted to ‘DO’. What would make me happy? Where do I want to live? What do I want to spend my life doing? What do I want to be when I grow up?
The trouble is, I could win the lottery, live in a mountain chalet and spend my life picking daisies. On one level this pastoral lifestyle appeals to the introvert in me, but I would still be hungry…for something I know not what—until I am willing to explore the question of meaning and purpose with a bit more depth.
Now I am at the other end of life’s journey, still waiting to ‘grow up’, but my question is not so much about what I will ‘do’ in terms of title, relationships or status, but who ‘AM’ I??
Do we follow paths of purpose or convenience?
Meaning has to be more than a satisfying and lucrative job. How does my life intertwine with diversity, with strangers, with the Divine?
Am I following a path of purpose or a path of convenience? Am I supposed to know my purpose in life or live it in faith that everything that I do, and everything that I AM has a purpose in a universe of mystery?
These are questions I live with and try with varying levels of success to write about. On a practical, everyday level my questions are more like ‘What shall I have for breakfast?”
If I thought about this breakfast on a deeper level I might ponder the purpose of eating which brings me to my health and why I want to be healthy.
How do my purposes in life change when my health changes? And I am suddenly off and chasing rabbits of introspection and meaning.
No…I’ll just have eggs and toast, thank you.
I confess that I often follow a path of mental convenience. I stop at the edge of a question, answer that, and move on.
Take a simple question: What’s my purpose in doing laundry? To have clean clothes. Period.
But living into my purpose has always come with going deeper…asking more questions. And why do I want clean clothes?
Is that for my comfort or the comfort of others? Why would I care if someone thinks I should be wearing lace when I prefer denim? Do I really want to get into a dialogue (real or imagined) with someone else’s opinion?
Maybe it’s not about fabric but about communication and sensitivity. I follow this line of questioning until I touch on something that chimes with truth, something with which my inner self resonates. Something that speaks to a higher purpose than looking nice.
When I thought meaning and purpose were about looking nice I could easily skip over any deeper reason for choosing clean denim. Comfort is reason enough in my book.
But I recall conversations with my irate mother who insisted emphatically ‘young ladies do NOT wear bluejeans.’
When I was thirteen my purpose in wearing jeans was to establish my personal identity. I missed any purpose there may have been to listen to my mother’s concerns, to her fears and where they began, to listen to her heart and understand her purpose in scolding me.
Ah…and even today I stop conversations with loved ones, forgetting that the purpose is not to answer a question but to listen.
Really listen.
So what does all this have to do about finding meaning and purpose in life? I could have written a series of steps to follow after which you would know exactly how to find your ultimate meaning and purpose for living.
I wish it were that simple!
There is no destination called ‘purpose’ with a welcome mat that says “you have arrived.” Wouldn’t that be a whole lot easier?
Meaning and Purpose are not a destination.
They are a journey!
Once I could wrap my head around the idea that there is not one and only one purpose that I was born for and I will recognize it when I find it, I began to understand that every breath I take has purpose.
Witness the plants that exchange our exhales to become their inhales. My failures are part of my purpose. From them, I take another step forward to my goals, but our goals are not our purpose.
So for today, I shall breathe. One mindful breath at a time.
And when I forget that intention I shall forgive myself and return to my next breath. It is enough to know my purpose is to live one mindful breath at a time and then grow from there.
Have you ever wanted to begin, or resume, a daily practice in which you could explore your meaning and purpose but need a bit of direction? Simple Spiritual Practices may be exactly what you are looking for. Check it out!
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