A lot has been made about people discovering their life’s purpose, why they were put on this earth and how it is so fulfilling that work doesn’t feel like work anymore. The theory goes that if we can find the one perfect reason why we were put on this planet, then we can focus on that and use it as some sort of intrinsic motivation to give our lives meaning. In one corporate I worked for we were so obsessed with finding our true life’s purpose that the company held corporate sponsored “Purpose Workshops”. In hindsight, this was most ridiculous as the intention was that we would leave that 90 minute workshop with a blue card on which was neatly transcribed our life’s purpose. If I remember correctly we were also given a pot plant for our desks on which to rest our purpose statement cards. A virtuous signal to the world that after 90 minutes we were better people because we had indeed found our purpose.
One of the greatest books I have ever read is Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl. My summary of this book is that is shows how we can acknowledge the difficulty we are going through in life, but use the pain and discomfort from the situation in a positive way that can make whatever situation that is purposeful. Frankl based his book on his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. He would know first hand what suffering is. Does this mean that we need to suffer in order to find our true purpose? Probably not. Maybe the problem is actually the concept that we have one singular purpose on this earth and that can be easily defined and identified.
I had the extreme pleasure during the December and January holiday period to spend some time in conversation with some older retired folks. A common thread I noticed from all of them was how busy their lives were in retirement. All of them did some agriculture or had aspirations of being farmers. All of them were heavily involved in some community activities with particular focus on Church responsibilities. I asked them all why they work so hard in retirement? Why as farmers do they wake up so early, choose to do manual labour and deal with the trials and tribulations of managing unskilled labour? Why they bother continuing with the Church activities given the amount of conflict they have to endure in the process. There was a common thread running in all their answers.
In retirement keeping busy gave them purpose. Growing cabbages for market or volunteering for the Church choir was certainly not their life’s purpose. But it gave them a reason to get out of bed everyday and feel that they were giving to the world more than they were taking away. This made me really think, maybe we have got it wrong in our quest to find a singular, grand purpose for our lives. Maybe the answer is to make sure that every day has some purpose. Every day feels like we are contributing. Every day feels like we are a part of something. Every day feels like we attempted something. Every day feels like we had a plan. Every day we feel like we are useful. Not because it is our life’s purpose. But rather because in every activity we do, we feel there is some purpose. That someone, somewhere can benefit by something we chose to do today.
So maybe this year is the year we stop trying to find our purpose. Maybe it’s the year we focus on living every day, in a deliberate and purposeful way. I discovered one truth from chatting to some retirees over the last few weeks. Once you have lived days where you feel that you are contributing, you will always crave that feeling. And when you lose that ability to contribute, that is when you start accepting that your life has surely come to an end.
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