For most of us, it’s probably not too terribly difficult to consider and describe the ways in which our lives have meaning.
If we are a parent, a spouse, a partner, a child, a friend – then we can recognize that we offer love and comfort to someone. We mean something to the people we love and they in-turn mean something to us. That creates meaning.
If you care for plants or pets or you’re responsible for the upkeep of an organization or the day-to-day workings of a business – your life has meaning. If you weren’t there, the work wouldn’t get done. If you didn’t have the work or the responsibility you’d feel a lack of a sense of meaning.
Most of us can find that sense of meaning without too much searching.
Purpose, on the other hand, can be more difficult to nail down.
Purpose implies a larger reason for why we take time to do the things that create meaning in our lives. For some people, that reason is ascribed to a higher power. For others, it’s simply the awareness that we have a limited time on this sphere called Earth and there’s probably something we’re supposed to do with that time.
I had a client once describe it this way:
She loves her daughter and that is one of the many ways in which her life has meaning. Her daughter needs her and she feels a deep sense of love and connection in being her mother. However, while loving her creates meaning, it does not, in and of itself establish purpose.
My client feels that her life’s purpose is rooted in helping people, in making the world a better place, in teaching and supporting others. She feels as though, in her relationship with her daughter, she fulfills purpose by modeling opportunities for growth, for happiness, for compassion and for empathy. Loving her daughter would probably always be enough for her to feel meaning, but deepening that love through the conscious decision to model the above qualities enables this client to fulfill her life purpose each and every day.
I think this is a great illustration of the difference between the two and the way in which meaning and purpose support and reinforce each other.
It’s really quite a fascinating idea if you stop to think about it.
I find that separating the two enables us to see they ways in which meaning and purpose are and are not connected. The above description also helps us to see that meaning and purpose are related to each other. They don’t run parallel, they are interwoven – one supports the other and vice versa. They are different, but they matter so much to each other.
What I think is even more powerful about this is the way in which recognizing the difference between the two can teach us more ways in which we can consciously choose to live our life’s purpose through the things that bring us meaning. This alignment means that each day really does matter just as much as the next.
Think about it this way – how many times have you gotten to the end the day and thought, “What did I really do today?”
If you could begin to see how meaning and purpose are different but related, would it create a greater sense of integrity in your life? Would you have fewer of those moments that seem to just slip away? If you were able to recognize your purpose, would it give meaning to things that have started to seem mundane? If you look at what brings you meaning, is it possible you would see a greater purpose?
I can’t claim to have the answers here, but I can’t help but think this is something we often overlook. It certainly gets me thinking!
What about you?
Are you inspired to delve deeper into this? Check out the questions below. They might shed some light on meaning and purpose in your own life.
Leave me a comment too! I’d love to hear how you see the intersection of meaning and purpose.
Some questions to help you consider meaning:
- Who do I love?
- Who loves me?
- When do I feel joy?
- When do I feel sadness?
- What moments do I most look forward to?
- In what moments do I feel a sense of flow – as though I am completely in the zone or totally in my element?
Questions that might help you look at purpose:
- What do I want people to most remember about me when I’m gone?
- If I were to find out today that I only had one year left to live, what would I want to do with that time?
- What do people seek me out for? When the question arises, “Who can…?” when am I the answer to that question?
- Complete this sentence, “I am here to…”
