The Joy of Purpose

There are two words that have the potential of revolutionizing your life. They can immeasurably deepen your joy and sense of fulfillment … even during great hardships. It is one of the most powerful two-word statements for creating an abundant life of happiness that exists in any language.

Got pen and paper? You won’t want to forget these power-house words. Introducing the dynamic duo of happiness:

Discover Meaning!

A life of meaning and purpose is a life that matters. It is a happier life than one that lacks purpose and direction. A life lived without purpose is a life lived incidentally; it’s a life lived on accident. A life without meaning is a life that is vacant, superficial and empty – all poor ingredients to a happy life.

Meaning vs. Meaninglessness

Too many people live lives of despair, groping in the dark for something to hold onto and finding only shadows, reflections without substance. Do you reach for something more and find less, nothing but a handful of dust and ashes?  Do you yearn for something that will lift the boredom of a life lived inwardly? Do you feel life is vacant, as though it has dissolved into bland mush of emptiness?

Life does not need to be like that. It was never supposed to be like that. You were meant to live out a richly meaningful life of deep significance. Life was meant to be full of depth and growth, meaning and purpose and joy and happiness.

But purpose and meaning and happiness don’t come to those who sit and wait for it to descend on them like the morning dew. It has to be sought after. It has to be discovered. It has to be created. In a very real sense, it has to be earned – by doing the work of happiness, by getting down in the trenches of life and battling it out, carving out a meaningful life of joy.

There are three basic ways to increase purpose and meaning in life: 1: Do what matters. 2: Find meaning in what you do. 3: Discover the inherent meaning of life.

Do any one of these three over time and your happiness will measurably grow. Do all three and life will be imbued with a new, fresh, and exhilarating sense of joy beyond the ability of the sorrows of life to detract with any degree of permanency.

Life matters. Your life matters. Happy people know this, perhaps instinctively. Unhappy people are, at best, unsure. Return tomorrow to learn how you can remove that doubt and begin to live a life rich in meaning, rich in purpose, rich in significance, and rich in the joy of a happy life well lived.

And please comment. What do you do to add meaning to your life? How has finding meaning in life improved your happiness?

Follow the links below to other posts in this series on Purpose and Meaning: