05 Dec Life purpose isn’t a competition (at least, it shouldn’t be)
When it comes to happiness and living a good life, there are many important contributing factors.
And living a life of purpose and meaning is DEFINITELY one of them.
But too often, when we think about purpose we think about the BIG things; saving the world, changing the world, taking action on climate or equality or democracy!
All of which is great. And all of which makes the front pages of the papers. But all of which, also, by definition, is harder to achieve and less likely to be achieved with any degree of significance by most of us.
Which is not to say we shouldn’t strive for BIG purpose actions; but it is to say that we shouldn’t undervalue the little things, the smaller steps we can realistically take each and every day.
There’s value in making someone’s day with a smile, in expressing gratitude for what’s going well, in being kind and caring and thoughtful and considerate. There’s value in setting your purpose to just meeting each moment, as well as you can, and to getting through the day when times are tough.
The point is, there is no point; at least no pre-determined point to life. So it’s up to us to define that “point”, the purpose and meaning, and it’s up to us to value whatever we think we can do in a way that’s realistic and involves self-care.