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No matter what the month, year, century or era – humans have always searched for the greater meaning of life.
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What is the purpose for all of this?
These are common questions that have been asked through the ages and continue to be asked to this day by all of us at one time or another.
So what is the answer? Well, it doesn’t seem to be clear… or is it?
So many of us search so hard that we actually make our journeys painful because we think there is this one, right, magical answer – but often there isn’t.
Thus today, let’s expand on our discussion on the purpose and meaning of life and what those ideas mean to us.
Purpose
For a scientist, the purpose is the beginning to every experiment. This invokes the asking of a question and a reason to follow through for trying to answer it.
Without a purpose there is no experiment.
The same can be said about our lives I feel. I truly feel that it is better to ask, and not have an answer, than to never ask at all.
Look around you. There are countless examples of people who fall into one of three areas:
- Those who do not question their life, purpose or existence – they simply live day to day governed by routines and easily become distraught when one of those routines changes – life generally seems empty or like a struggle
- Those who ask about life and their purpose, yet don’t seem to find any concrete answers – they struggle some days, see the light on other days, but ultimately seek
- Those who ask about life and their purpose and get answers that are satisfactory to their existence – they live lives that to others may seem “easy” or “lucky” or enlightened
Think now of yourself and which group you fall into. I think what many people will find is that they fall into the second group. Whichever group you find yourself in, think now of others you know who fall into the other two groups. Can you see the connections? Can you see how their levels of happiness or unhappiness directly correlate to how they are living life – seeking purpose or not?
What I have found for me, is that the purpose of life is very simple – it is to expand our consciousness as beings. Now how you live out your personal purpose based on this general idea, is a whole other discussion.
I used to think like many others that life was some “test” or playground for proving oneself “worthy”. Well, I don’t think that anymore. As many scientists and teachers in the metaphysical and spiritual areas say “collect answers and data for yourself – find what makes sense to you“. Well, after going within – looking both internally and externally and collecting my own data – that is what makes sense to me.
Therefore, if this resonates with you, think of it this way. Each day is a success for us, if each day in some way we live “better” than the day before. Now I use the term “better” here loosely. Better as compared only and always to yourself, to the day before.
If yesterday you were unable to forgive being cut off on the road, today try forgiving that action.
If yesterday you threw litter on the ground in the park, today try to put it in an appropriate receptacle.
If yesterday you were drawn to drama and gossip in the workplace, today try to see that this does not add to your being or lead to your growth.
The examples are many. The bottom line is that this is your journey, hence there is no need to look at others or compare yourself with them. See how you can build and expand your own consciousness each day. Imagine what that can do over the years. Imagine what that can lead to in a lifetime.
I truly feel and believe deep within me that we are meant to be here to re-discover the amazing beings of light that we are. We need the contrast that comes with the physical. We need to be able to express our free will. This is why this world is set up as it is. Some people even say that “we are God discovering itself” – I do not doubt that as a possibility today.
Even though I also believe that nothing is inherently “bad” or “good” – there are of course actions that serve the expansion of our consciousness and those that don’t. Growing in consciousness happens the most when we raise our levels of vibrations. Actions, thoughts or words that vibrate at high frequencies raise our consciousness, an example could be meditation. Actions, thoughts or words that vibrate at low frequencies lower our consciousness, an example could be gossiping. Ultimately we decide with our thoughts, words and actions in which direction we grow.
Thus, every day and every moment you have a choice to declare yourself, and live with the purpose of being, or not. Again – you do not need to agree with me here, you need to find your own truth. This is simply my truth as I know it today.
Meaning
You may have heard that one of the conditions that plagues our human race today, mostly in the developed world is depression. I truly believe that the biggest reason why there exists so much depression today is because people have lost the meaning to their life, or life in general.
Giving your life meaning can be very similar to living with purpose, but it is not the same as knowing the purpose of life.
There are two ways that I encourage people to find or give their lives meaning:
Give of yourself to others. Nothing will give your life meaning faster or perhaps even deeper, than when you give of yourself to others. You can give through your talents, your words, your actions or in any other way that you can or feel called to. There is just one rule – the giving has to come from your heart with no expectations in return. This also encompasses the fact that it is not about having a “martyr” attitude. Love your life, and let that love pour out onto others in whatever way your spirit calls you to.
And/Or
Follow your passion. This is another way that people can give meaning to their lives. It requires a longer discussion, but generally speaking when we live from the depths of our passions, we feel like there is a meaning to what we do each day. Think about it this way, when we do things that we do not enjoy, we may say these things are “meaningless” to us. Therefore find your passion, live from it, and what you will normally find, is that directly or indirectly it spills over to giving to others.
Ultimately find something about you or within you that makes you happy to be alive. Be grateful. Help others. And remember also, as in the words of author Neale Donald Walsch in Conversations With God – what you choose for yourself, choose for another. There is no better way to feel what you want, then to cause another to feel it. Therefore if you want to have meaning in your life, cause another to have meaning in their life and see what transformations take place within you.
Live Your Life With Both
What I have found in life thus far is that the ultimate happiness, joy and peace comes to us when we live life with both purpose and meaning.
To give you a moment of reflection and meditation on all of this, I invite you to watch the following short video below. It features music from Marcomé - an artist whose music I have recently discovered. Marcomé’s music is angelic with so many different world beats, at times infused with sounds of nature, her beautiful voice and meaningful lyrics. I find that I resonate very much with both her as a being and her music. For more information, please see the review I wrote about Marcomé and her music.
What do you think the purpose of life and all of us being here is?
How do you give your life meaning?
Feel free to share your thoughts about this in our discussion below.
*Photograph provided by jorgemejia
About the author:Evita Ochel, B.Sc., B.Ed., CHN - is the main author of EvolvingBeings.com where she writes about spiritual and personal development. She hopes to inspire people, to truly live out the life of their dreams and awaken the highest version of themselves. She is also a nutritional science and holistic health expert for optimal health and longevity. Learn more about Evita Ochel or Follow Evita Ochel on Twitter.
18 Comments to “Our Search For Purpose and Meaning”
We can only fall into a state of depression if we have given our power away to something else other than our soul purpose. This is why the world is depressed.
We have been trained and manipulated to serve dreams other than our own. This notion has reached epidemic proportions. When one does not actively follow one’s own inner dream and inner voice, then sickness either slowly or quickly settles in.
Therefore, if we are to follow our dreams, we would find meaning in life and would believe in the point of view we were endowed with without being told how to view life from the social norm or standardized point of view. In such a dream state, we are given seemingly unlimited energy.
All point of views overlap and clash, as they are designed to. No one can see the same thing and no one is meant to. Therefore, we are here to experience what it is like to be us. What is it like to be authentic or unauthentic to our soul inclinations. What does it feel like to open up to life or contract away from life. Life is a stage to experience the feelings we reflect upon ourselves. We are here to provide Quality.
What we learn, we share and give to the world openly. Nothing is meant to be private or owned, although we can believe this if we choose to. We share, not to convert or change people’s opinions, but to compare and contrast so that we can see ourselves more clearly. If someone has not fully opened up to their souls ambitions, then other points of view can help in one’s quest to open one’s self into a state of pure Being.
I believe that our purpose doesn’t seem clear because we have made everything complicated. The signs are everywhere. We can not see the obvious because it is in plain site. Our vision is only clouded by the static from the noise and the chaos that has been injected into the mind by governing societies. Society does everything it can to keep you from expressing your true self. Don’t believe in anything anyone tells you, including me. When you learn to listen and believe in your inner self, then you will have found your meaning and purpose in life.
Today is a new day. Seize it.
Evita,
First – the music, images, and words shared in the Marcome video are so moving. In fact, tied in with what you’re discussing today – I found this all so powerfully connecting. As I watched, I was drawn in to how we strip away what’s on the outside, and that takes us to a spot deep within.
Which is something I’ve been really delving into more deeply.
So, being here today is so good. Evita, your words touch upon I believe the spirit within each of us. And getting connected to the spirit, our soul – is where purpose and meaning can join in a beautiful coexistence.
So – that search, I believe, is very much an internal search. Connecting with that which makes our heart sing, is not the superficial. It’s that which holds deep meaning for us. And maybe that is exactly as you say – in expanding our consciousness. When we do, I believe that we are also connecting to that soul within. And when we can, when we can make that connection, that is very real – that is an awakening into who we are. And it’s such a good place to be.
And that’s all part of the journey for each of us. And if we’re at different spots along that journey, that’s okay. Ultimately it’s not something I can force on you, or you can force on me. The journey into self is very much a personal journey…and one that is so good to be on…when we’re ready to take that journey.
Evita, your words shine here today! And know that you continue to enlighten the world in beautiful ways… It’s an honor to be here in this space of yours, today…and feel that connection that is more than I can fully understand, yet know that it is “right” and “good”…
Hi Evita,
This was such a beautiful post. I totally agree with all that you wrote. So many in our world think life is about money and material items. That is why so many are so miserable. They want meaning but they just do not know how or where to find it.
This morning I was out with a friend and we were talking about how it is so important to have some type of spiritual awareness about life. Otherwise, the whole experience looks meaningless. And by spiritual awareness, I mean an awareness that there is more to life than what you see, hear and feel. It is an awareness of the consciousness that exists within us all.
This post could easily put placed on my blog. Because we need to work with meaning and purpose. If not we are bored by the work that we do.
I feel my purpose on this earth is to help people enjoy the gift that is work. It’s our chance to be creative, collaborate with others, and change the world. I can’t think of anything better than that.
I believe passion needs to come from within. When we know ourselves the rest of our live’s decisions are easier to make.
Hi Evita,
This is a great post. I agree with you–the purpose of life is re-discover inner being, to expand consciousness as you say. When this inner purpose is clear, there is longer any angst about outer purpose. The reason most of us so desperately seek purpose and meaning is because of the unease that results when we take ourselves to be an image in thought–the ego. And from this delusion, a lot of pain builds up in us. To run from unease, we come up with desperate desires and we want to make sense of it all and find purpose and meaning. Ironically, when we are still and know that the only purpose is to experience the joy of being, outer purpose is sometimes invited. When it’s not, it perfectly okay.
k
Evita
Wonderful post and I loved the music…now I want to listen to more – it touched me deeply.
I think my purpose is to question and seek…which will help others to find our connectedness…and how lovely all the diversities are as they manifest.
I have a hard time when others want to live by the TV concepts and ideas…
I believe being a seeker is a hard journey…but it is my calling and passion…I often envied my mother who simply just figured out what she was here to do and at 94 knew it was time to let go…”learn all you are able to learn and live in accordance with your values” and she did with elegance and grace…
I seem to have to wrestle with each day…each question….but at the end of the day I find such gratitude and joy…
Thank you – lovely to be here
Evita,
My friend has a sign in his office that says “We are all God serving God.” I never forgot that and believe that answers all three questions. Deep, eh?
I believe that our purpose in life is to experience the physical world; to have good and bad experiences that we can take with us back to God when we die, and let Him/Her/It know what life feels like.
In my beliefs, I believe that there is one thing that God can’t do: experience life on an meaningful level. God doesn’t know what it means to be hurt, or to enjoy pleasure. God doesn’t know what it means to be heartbroken, sad, or lonely; and nether does he know what it feels like to be happy, “in love”, or excited. God doesn’t know what it feels like to stub his toe in the dark or kiss a lover. God doesn’t know what it means to be disabled, or to be an olympic athlete.
Or, well, in the beginning, God didn’t know any of those things. It is only by allowing us to experience those things that God can truly know what they are like.
Sure, He/She/It could have taken a physical body and explored the world…but think about it. If something “hurts” God, He/She/It could just make the hurt go away. If something brought pleasure, He/She/It could choose to have that pleasure extend indefinitely. Eventually, all experience would become meaningless, because God could be whatever, do whatever, or experience whatever…whenever. If you can do or be anything, then nothing has meaning.
And so God created humans, and gave us limited bodies, and limited minds, and gave us this world to explore. Then God placed a tiny bit of Itself in each of us, and set us free on this world. We’re here to grow, to learn, and to experience all the things (both good and bad) that life has to offer, so that when we die, our little piece of God can go back, and join the rest of Him/Her/It, so that God might know what life is all about.
What gives my life meaning is providing experiences that help people feel good about themselves – whether helping them relax, teaching yoga, or making people laugh. When people walk away from a workshop or talk and tell me it made a difference in some way, then I know I’m serving my purpose.
For me the meaning of life is using my strengths and gifts to help people. I have chosen the field of wellness to do that.
I loved the music! Thank you!
I am learning… and through my learning, I give.
Hi Evita,
Excellent post! I completely agree with you that ultimate happiness equates with finding meaning in our lives. Only meaning can make us feel more complete.
I subscribe to Eckhart Tolle’s point of view that we have an inner and outer purpose. Our inner purpose is to expand our consciousness or ‘collect the data’ as you rightly said, perhaps so as that the universe can also expand its consciousness through us. The outer purpose is that thing that by doing it gets us in tune with our inner purpose – could be anything from fixing bikes to lecturing metaphysics around the globe.
I’m new to your blog and I really enjoyed this post. I am on my own journey from being in the second group to moving into the third group as you described. The way you outlined purpose and meaning really struck home with me. Thank you for sharing this.
Evita, I am always enjoying your thought-provoking posts over here. I likes this simple yet intelligent way of talking about ‘Purpose, Meaning’. It’s all about the awareness which help in forming a sharp vision of what you are and what you want to acheive and once happen, ‘Passion’ is involved to go through this despite the normal problems we face in this life!
@ BERN – Hello Bernie and thank you for your wise insights. I think to me your first lines say it all about why the world is in depression.
We have given away our powers to so many external media. We think our thoughts and actions are ours – they are not. Most of our subconscious and conscious today is dictated upon by advertisements.
This is why I am so passionate about helping people wake up – just snap out of it and take back their sense of free will. Live for something more than “just another day” or “just another pay check”.
There is so much more to life and I welcome your additions and thoughts here greatly!
@ LANCE – Your words as always deeply touch my heart and my being, and I am also very humbled by your feedback. Many thanks my dear friend.
I am glad you enjoyed Marcome’s music. I really feel it is a nice addition for our topics and the overall feel of EvolvingBeings.com – and when I saw that video, it just griped me within so deep, and spoke to me like no words every could.
And yes Lance, we are all on a journey and it is never about the destination I feel – but about the journey. We have many paths, many choices and many ways we can take this journey. As you and I both know, it is personal and not one is better than any other.
The only thing I do urge people to do is try to be more conscious today than yesterday. I really feel strongly about the expansion of our consciousness as I saw the huge impacts it had in and on my life. When we start seeing when we look, the world really looks different and we see it more deeply not only on a surface level. And it is that depth that I believe our spirits are based on, and which they seek.
This discussion is one that can go on and on, as we consider truly what it means to us. Just as us, it has the potential to be infinite!
@ NADIA – Hi Nadia and thank you for your thoughts and feedback :)
I resonate with what you and your friend where talking about. At no time does what you mention speak louder to me than when I think of people who are not only not on any spiritual journey, but ones who do not believe altogether in any spiritual aspect or greater entity or bigger meaning to life. It is of course their life, and their choice, but I feel almost a sadness that they do not allow themselves to experience a grander and richer version of life that the depth of spirituality provides.
For me at least it gives immediate meaning and purpose just to know that there is so much more to life than the physical, material world.
@ KARL – Yes, I so agree. When one considers their work environment as one with no meaning or purpose, I can totally see how quickly it can turn into a mundane pattern, which one day leaves us wondering “what the heck are we doing there? OR even with our lives?
@ KAUSHIK – Thank you so much Kaushik for sharing your thoughts, I so enjoyed reading your comment.
You brought up a great point about living out of ego, and also about inviting that greater stillness into our lives, which allows us to see so much more clearly – and know!
That is one of the things I try to explain to people when I talk about material items and the material world – it is not that they are “bad” – it is just that they have obstructed our eyes from truly seeing, our ears from truly hearing, and our minds from just being.
@ PATRICIA – Hi Patricia and thank you so much for sharing your experiences and thoughts. I am glad to hear the music resonated with you too.
Yes, I do believe that your purpose is to question and seek, for when you do that your consciousness grows. As we learn, as we acquire new information we then exercise our free will as to what we are going to do with it. Those of us interested in evolving will use it for the greater good. And those who aren’t won’t. Either way the choice is ours.
Whether we take on being like you described your mother, or you or me or any of us here – it is ultimately our own personal journey, as Lance pointed out as well.
And that is part of the great fun of being here – of expressing our spiritual selves in the physical. It is an amazing place to be!
And whether you wrestle through each day or glide through it, I believe that each one of us picks and caters each of our journeys to reflect exactly what we need for the next stage of our growth and evolution as spiritual beings.
@ TESS – That is fantastic indeed!
You know when I first started writing, I was a little afraid and hesitant to say words like “I am God” or “We are God” , etc…
But today I say them because I feel them and thus believe them.
We are aspects of God – made in the image and likeness indeed – individuations of God expressing itself and getting to know its infinite self and how awesome is that!
@ JAY – My God Jay, what a fantastic bounty of thoughts you have brought into this conversation.
My heart is exclaiming wildly within me “Yes, Yes, Yes!”
You know Jay, your comment goes along the lines of what I just described to Tess above. I truly feel and agree with all that you have said – because within me, I TRULY FEEL IT!!!!
But you said it in so much detail and so beautifully, that no one can misunderstand or take the wrong way.
Yes, God is that almighty presence that is the all, and yet cannot experience all those things you mentioned… and that is where we come in. We can be all those millions and billions of diverse individuations.
We are God experiencing itself and isn’t that purpose enough! This is also why today I really feel that everything is perfect. Many people still call this or that a tragedy. But is it really? Our souls are eternal, and we come through for many diverse experiences so who is to call this or that “bad” when we have so much to experience!
@ STACEY – Hi Stacey and thank you for adding your thoughts to this conversation.
Through the work you do, you give of yourself, your talents to others – and that as far as I know in my experience, gives a person all the meaning they need to make this life an amazing experience for the self and others.
@ HANLIE – Thank you Hanlie for stopping by and adding in your thoughts.
Yes indeed! We give through learning – we give to ourselves and to others. I personally cannot imagine a life without learning. So enjoy it,I know I am :)
@ GILBERT – Hi Gilbert and thank you for stopping by to add in your thoughts.
You know, so often I read a person’s comments and I think “wow – did they ever say it well” – and you have.
I feel like you took this entire article and however many hundreds of words it is and summarized it so beautifully in one paragraph.
Yes, being familiar with Eckhart’s work I totally agree. There are a few teachers whose work has resonated with me very deeply and caused me to put together my own “data” and my own “truth” and he is one of them.
So again, what you said, I feel like I was trying to explain – thank you for the short version ;)
@ DAPHNE – Hello Daphne and a warmest welcome to you.
I am glad you enjoyed this post and found it meaningful, and it is really my pleasure to share things like this. I am in a really happy place in my life, and whatever I can share with others to help, inspire or awaken in any way is perhaps my purpose in all of this as I expand my being and consciousness.
@ HICHAM – Thank you so much Hicham – your comments and feedback are always very much appreciated.
Our purpose is indeed tied to meaning and together to passion. We can get through anything I believe, once we start looking at each of those areas from the data we gather about the world and expand our vision of life.
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