The meaning and purpose of life

Have you ever asked yourself questions like these: Why am I in this world? What is my purpose in life? Is there really a purpose? Is purpose just a rationalization to find some meaning in life?

Recent research indicates that life purpose is related to joy, effectiveness in decision-making and adaptive behaviors (Irurzun & Yaccarini, 2018). Furthermore, having a purpose in life allows us to combat feelings of hopelessness and depression as it increases the will to live. Simkin (2016) defines life purpose as the ability of a person to find meaning in their experiences, as well as to establish meaningful goals in their life. I add that this interpretation does not occur in isolation, but is based on previous experiences, knowledge, feelings, among other variables that lead us to use glasses to give meaning to events. It is clear that different debates can arise on this topic, however, I think there is a consensus in thinking that none of us look at information in isolation, without giving some attribution and meaning, even more so when it comes to life itself.

There are different disciplines with their different approaches that address this topic. For example, philosophy in its different variants such as ontology and existentialism seek to understand the reason for existence and life. On the other hand, psychology with its models, for example, Rollo May and Viktor Frankl, seek to work with the psychological conflicts of human beings based on a meaning and purpose for life. For example, some mental illnesses such as depression are correlated with a lack of purpose.

When we turn to the Bible to explore God's relationship with the people of Israel clearly God wants to teach through words and actions a sense of purpose. Then the people would build their interpretation based on that foundation of spiritual identity. God with all the love and authority that emanate from his very essence tells them “and I will take you as my people and I will be your God; and you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the heavy tasks of Egypt.” (Ex. 6;7-8 Reina Valera 1960) This text shows us that the purpose of life includes a community purpose and not only an individual one.

God, through the logos, gave us an identity in Christ describing us as accepted, loved, redeemed, forgiven and commended. The book of James explains to us from the perspective of the relationship of faith and works. That is, our actions are directly related to our beliefs and thoughts.

I think all people at some point wonder about their purpose in life. It is not an easy question to answer, rather, I think it is a question that is for life. Our academic, work, family performance, among other facets of life, is extremely related to our purpose.

In my case, it is the word of God that gives me the lenses to interpret my life, full of meaning and purpose which is my motivation for the practices in my daily life. I invite you to keep this question in your life journey, I am sure that in the process you will see that happiness is not the goal but a process of fulfilling that purpose.

I have created this document to provide an instrument to help you explore your life purpose.

 

References:

Frankl, V. (1959). Man's Search for Meaning. Beacon Press Irurzun, J. &

Yaccarini, C. (2018). Resilience, spirituality and life purpose, A review of the state of the art. Journal of Research in Social Psychology, 4(2), 58-66.

Reina Valera, 1960, Exodus 6:7-8.

Simkin, H. (2016). Spirituality, Religiosity and Subjective and Psychological Well-being within the framework of the Model and Theory of the Five Factors of Personality (Doctoral thesis). National University of La Plata, Buenos Aires.