What's up HIVE-Community!
Sometimes back I went through this nihilistic phase in my life. What that means is I was at this phase where life had no meaning, nothing had any meaning, which actually later translated onto me experiencing an existential crisis for quite some time.
On exploring ways of overcoming the phase I found a way through re-focusing on finding a purpose and restructuring my life around the pursuit of it. More on the details about the whole journey but on a future update.
That leads to my focus for today; leading a life with purpose, what it means, why is it beneficial to our well-being, and then tomorrow I will share insights on how to find a purpose for one's life.
The sentiment is echoed by numerous psychologists and philosophers. Finding a purpose and structuring one's life around its pursuit, can be life-altering.
One who lives with purpose is one who has found what the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche called a " why " to their existence. Writing in The Gay Science:
Gradually, man has become a fantastic animal that has to fulfill one more condition of existence than any other animal: man has to believe, to know, from time to time why he exists. . .
Friedrich Nietzsche
These are those who instead of drifting through life, reacting to whatever comes their way, they are more proactive. With a clear sense of what they want to accomplish, reflected in the lofty goals they set, and they structure their days around the pursuit of such goals.
Those who can sustain this way of life for an extended period of time, making progress toward an aim, can be said to be living with purpose.
The philosopher Richard Taylor in his book Restoring Pride puts across the following sentiment:
Are you doing today exactly what you have done for years? If so, then you are stagnating, and it means little that you may be doing very well whatever it is you have been doing for years. Your days are just going by, each like the others, none of them adding anything to you except the accumulation of the days themselves.
We can all agree on the view that many people hold to the illusory belief that a fulfilling life is to be found by reaching some idealized end state. If we can just earn a certain amount of money, reach a perceived level of status, live in a nice house, and find the right spouse, then most of our troubles will be behind us.
The problem with this idea though is that it is well established that our satisfaction with life is much more dependent on the direction we perceive we are going, i.e., is our life getting better or worse, than it is on the absolute conditions of our life - no matter how high these may be. If we are not hopeful of a better future we are likely to be miserable no matter where we live, be it in a mansion, or a one-bedroom apartment.
In psychology, this idea is known as the adaptation principle. The sentiment behind it being recognized by the Chinese philosopher Confucius over 2000 years ago:
The one who would be in constant happiness must frequently change.
Confucius
So the ultimate question being; what is the best antidote to the adaptation principle or to the fact that stagnation only breeds misery? Of course, the ultimate answer being A Life Lived With Purpose.
Having a purpose requires that we continually strive to actualize our potential, a necessary condition if we are to accomplish our goals, and in so doing we cannot but help feel optimistic about our future. Having a purpose, in other words, is the greatest tool for effectuating the consistent improvement in our life that is required to stave off the effects of the adaptation principle.
So there goes today's update. Tomorrow's update will be about How do we find our purpose?
So make sure to follow me @peeterx to avoid missing on the update.
