There are many people in the world who are living each day with excitement, energy, and passion. People who are content and experience a constant inner excitement about life. People who know their place in the world and live true to that place filling each day with meaning and happiness.
These people are the ones who are experiencing the ultimate satisfaction in their lives. If this doesn't sound like you, don't worry. You too can experience the ultimate satisfaction and find your purpose.
What Is A Life Purpose?
Simply put, life purpose is what motivates you to get out of bed every morning. This purpose guides your life decisions, influences your behaviors, shapes your goals, and creates meaning in your life. Every person has a different life purpose.
Some find their purpose is connected to vocation. Others find their purpose in their responsibilities to family and friends. While others find their purpose through spirituality and religious beliefs. There is no right or wrong when it comes to finding your life purpose.
Life Purpose And Satisfaction
We consider ourselves to be happy when our needs and desires are satisfied. However, this happiness is fleeting because, in our consumer-driven society, we are always trying to attain more.
A study in the Journal of Positive Psychology found that while negative events decrease happiness, they tend to increase the meaning of life. The study also showed that people who had purpose rated their life satisfaction higher, even when they were personally unhappy.
Essentially, having true meaning in our lives means that we can work through past grief, abuse, and failures and find resilience, resolve and growth and use those learning experiences to give back in some way. People who have life purpose are the most satisfied with their lives, even if they don’t have everything they want and are unhappy.
Finding Your Life Purpose
To find your life purpose, you first must let go of the idea that you only have one purpose in life. Finding your purpose is going to require that you let go of a lot of things that you believe to be true. You need to let go of what society tells you is your purpose. Let go of what your parents and teachers and friends have told you is your purpose.
Think about what brings you joy. Consider what things make you feel fulfilled. Think about what you value the most…the things that you want to share with the world…the things you are proud to be a part of.
Finding your purpose is going to be your own unique journey, and there is no step-by-step guide to lead you there. However, there are clues within your life that will help you identify and clarify the unfolding purpose(s) you have. When you discover your purpose you will know it based on the satisfaction you feel being aligned with your highest self.
The Importance Of Finding Your Life Purpose
There are many reasons you should find your life purpose. A study done in 2009 looked at over seventy-three thousand Japanese men and women. The study found that of those men and women, the ones who had a strong sense of purpose tended to live longer than those who didn't.
A second study, done in 2008, showed that Japanese men who had a lower level of purpose experienced an earlier death and higher rates of cardiovascular disease. A final study published in The Journal of Pain found that women who had a strong sense of purpose could withstand hot and cold stimuli applied to their skin better than those who didn't have a strong sense of purpose.
There is more to life than just being happy. In fact, the search for happiness is often futile. Instead, finding your life’s purpose can lead you to a life of ultimate satisfaction.
Until next time, many blessings and much peace! xo