How Do You Find Purpose in Life?

Have you ever felt as though your life has no meaning? As though nothing matters at all?

I often felt this way when I was young.

In 100 years, no one will know what I’ve done or anything I am about to do. No matter what I accomplish, that’s inevitable. For that matter, no one would know that I existed. Even if I leave my name in history, humanity will eventually end. So what is the point? We are all just as useless as grains of sand or some dust particles in the air.

Yes. I am aware. Being able to have such worries, in itself, is a privilege given to those who were lucky enough to be born in developed countries. If you were born in a world where you don’t have enough to eat, you would not have the luxury to think of something as useless as “the meaning to life.”

Even so, for those of us who happen to live in an affluent society, discovering your life’s purpose is often the most pressing concern. Many of us cannot help but wonder if there is any meaning to it at all.

Radius of Influence

Anyway, how likely are we to make a dent in the universe?

We are pretty lucky if we could influence people within a radius of 10 feet or so. Say, your immediate family members, a few close friends, and maybe a colleague or two. In that span of 80 years of a lifetime, we only have 30 or 50 years to make any meaningful impact.

During these years, we just go back and forth between work and home, do mundane tasks, get old, and eventually die. Some of us prepare meals and run around doing house chores, and before you know it, your time is up.

Most of us would never be anything even remotely close to Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or Mother Teresa. We are pretty lucky if you get a managerial position in a small company. That’s just how it is.

Even if we could become Elon Musk, What we call “life” may still be completely meaningless. Once the human race dies out, it’s over, and that may be only a few hundred years away. How meaningless is that?

Even if we could leave a significant impact on the Earth itself, our solar system, or the galaxy, it is utterly meaningless on a cosmic scale.

I once spent years worrying about this nonsense. As I look back now, I must say that it was perhaps the most “meaningless” time of my life. But at the time, I felt as though I would not be able to live another day without resolving this.

Meaninglessness is unbearable

People can and willfully go through suffering if they find meaning in it. Say, you are staying up all night taking care of your sick child or be at work day in and day out trying to get your project done. You know it matters.

I have heard that the cruelest way to punishment is to make a prisoner dig a hole and cover it immediately and repeat the process over and over. Then the meaningless of the task destroys the prisoner’s soul.

Even if it is not that extreme, so many people get their souls destroyed by the meaninglessness of their lives and end up taking their own lives. So people fail to find any purpose or given up finding it completely and just go on living, looking like dead fish.

So what can we do about it?

What if you narrow your focus?

Life is indeed meaningless if you think about what footsteps you can that would impact people’s lives in 10,000 years or how you can influence someone’s life on the side of this planet.

But what if you limit the scope to just 100 years in your own country? What if it’s 10 years for your immediate family and friends? What if it’s one year from now for your siblings, parents, or children?

If you narrow the scope to a shorter time frame and a smaller circle of influence, and all of a sudden, it is not that hard to find meaning in our lives.

Hitting books at school, completing your tasks at work, or making lunch for your children or spouse is most undoubtedly meaningful. There is meaning in sweeping the street in front of your house or greeting your neighbors. It is possible to find meaning in the here and now.

Focusing on a small circle can start a fire

When you focus on a very narrow circle of influence and a long period of time, You can start a fire there. It is just like focus sunlight with a magnifying glass can start a fire. All you got to do is is keep it focused, and there you have it.

Then, the fire will gradually spread, and the radius of your influence and the length of the time will be extended. Eventually, it may even reach the other side of the planet or even 10 or 100 years from now.

So let’s focus on the here and now. That is the only way to find create meaning in life.