A context for purpose and meaning

Before attempting to figure out whether or not there is a pre-determined reason for my existence here on earth I will first need to define the words purpose and meaning. Primarily I’m seeking to establish a context in which these words can exist and how they relate to my view of the world. Perhaps purpose is not something we’re born with but rather choose ourselves? I believe that to be true; that we choose our own purposes in life. There might be some genetic predisposition towards a particular “thing”, but nothing prevents us from pursuing something completely different.

I for one would have no clue what my genetic code might be about. It would seem as if I don’t have one particular area in which I excel, but instead many in which … I’m fairly good, but not exceptional. However, back to the topic at hand.

Purpose…

For a long time I’ve assumed that purpose means doing a particular thing for the rest of my life. “Follow your passion” I’m often told but I don’t think passion should be equated with purpose, it’s just not the same thing. Passions come and go, and change as time progresses. Purpose might too, but not to the same extent. It’s very unlikely that I will ever want to switch from living a happy life to a miserable life. A passion however may change every few years as I discover something new that I enjoy, or am more passionate about.

Context (by flickr/noahg)

The idea of a purpose being a particular job, or activity is something I’ve lately come to question. It’s not timeless. With timeless I mean that a purpose shouldn’t be bound to time and it should always hold true. Assume for a second that my purpose is to always remain open-minded. This would accurately describe a trait I would like to have and a way to live my life. Open-minded to me means to not judge something for face-value, or to openly embrace challenges of life. It’s not very probable that time will change such a purpose.

(As a side note I’m far being completely open-minded, but in certain areas I’ve managed to really embrace the unknown and question the established.)

Right now I don’t have a guiding purpose in life and it’s very energy draining. It is possible that not having a purpose is the reason of why I subscribe to a fairly regular life-style of having a normal job and never truly attempting to create personal freedom. It’s safe, known and generally free from obstacles. Perhaps I should quickly explain the normal job choice of wording. With a normal job I refer to the standard employer employee relationship type of job. You have a defined role and carry out actions related to that role, you get paid and that’s that. I must also say that I don’t necessarily think all jobs are bad, even if it’s of the “vanilla”-flavour. I so happen to have a pretty decent job myself where I really enjoy working with my colleagues and the freedom the company provide me. Still I have this nagging feeling of not making a difference, something of real humanitarian value.

So, I think that for now I’m going to settle for defining purpose to be something that will give my actions meaning and worth. Everything I do, every decision I make should feel as if it aligns with my core and if not I better find an alternate route to take.

… and meaning…

Meaning has an inverse relationship to purpose. Let me explain. Meaning is what I should derive from my purpose and enable me to relate to reality and the environment around me. Only I can truly give life meaning. Something perceived as having meaning is something I care about, or can relate to. Let’s say I that my guiding purpose is to always strive for happiness. Perhaps I discover that I really enjoy painting, it makes me very happy. The painting becomes a passion which in turn allows me to derive meaning from my purpose. (I realize that this might not be the most fantastic analogy, but I hope you get the point!)

Without a guiding purpose life can’t have meaning. Meaning is something that makes my purpose real and tangible, it’s a sort of realisation of my purpose. Meaning should help guiding me in what actions are purposeful and aligned with my beliefs.

… putting it into context…

Purpose and meaning will only be realized when actioned upon and put in a context. The context will grow through my actions and the decisions I make. Imagine a tree, where the stem is my purpose. The history of my experiences, actions and decisions, will form the branches. Each branch will lead on to yet smaller branches and leaves which may represent associated feelings, emotions and acquired knowledge and wisdom. This is the context of which I speak about. Without taking action upon my purpose nothing will change or grow.

Having tried to define what purpose and meaning really means to me I can attempt to find a purpose that will guide me through my exploration of my inner self and hopefully lead to a greater understanding of who I am.

Thanks for reading and with love,
Christoffer