We All Need a Sense of Purpose
It just takes some courage to find it
Without a purpose we are drifters, floating in the wind of change amidst the ebb and flow of chaos. A sense of chronic emptiness roils up inside as we try to fill it with Netflix, video games, alcohol, sex and drugs; and other forms of escapism. Thomas Carlyle once said that “a person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder.” Without a sense of purpose we not only lose sight of our core values, we often don’t even know what those values are.
Having a purpose doesn’t mean we’re required to accomplish great feats, just feats that we deem important — whether that’s creating a garden, writing a poem, or surfing a swell. A sense of purpose is about what you connect with. It’s more than something you are good at, or a talent, it’s something that resonates deep within.
Yet, finding one’s purpose can often be a lifelong pursuit. Some people go their entire lives without discovering their true purpose; bouncing from job to job, hobby to hobby. I’ve met people in their sixties who are still looking for the meaning of their lives. I’ve also met those rare creatures who figured it out while they were young and have been going hard at it ever since, often with successful results. They are the consistent types; the ones who appear to have figured it all out.
