WHAT SHOULD OUR PURPOSE IN LIFE BE?
Do you sometimes wonder what the purpose of your life is? We see so many people out there sharing their highlight reels on social media and we get caught in the "compare and despair" trap. It can feel like we're not exciting enough, or doing enough, or happy enough. But, is being constantly happy what life is all about?IS HAPPINESS THE ULTIMATE GOAL?
I'm a big fan of being happy. I really believe that there is an awful lot to be happy about if you look around you. We live in a beautiful country and have more than we need. We have financial stability, plenty to eat, a roof over our head, and our children are doing well - life is pretty good.That being said, there are still times when happiness is a little hard to come by. Society as a whole tells us that happiness is the ultimate goal and when you are happy you have everything. But there have to be times when we are less than happy and times when things get tough. There are always checks and balances in life and none of us get a free ride.
LEAVING A LEGACY
Ralph Waldo Emerson sees things from a different perspective - his quote (below) sums up the idea that there is much more to life than just seeking to be happy. We should also be thinking about making a worthwhile contribution to the world around us - maybe it's not always "about me" - maybe it's about leaving a legacy of worthwhile actions.
CONSIDERING OTHERS
It can be a fairly tough call to act honourably in a situation where it is easy to seek your own happiness first rather than the welfare of someone else. I've been around long enough to see friends do fairly despicable things and the betrayal that comes from a "friend" is the worst kind. Our society is very "me" focused now days and nobody looks twice at someone who climbed to the top at the expense of others. I think that seeking the best for others - even if you have to do it at your own expense - makes for a much better world to live in.There's always a balance - kindness first and always, but also self-preservation and not allowing others to treat you poorly - or to always be pleasing others if it's causing you hurt. Maturity and wisdom come into play - we set healthy boundaries and that allows us to help others without losing ourselves in the process.
LIVING OUR BEST LIFE
To have lived, and lived well is going to be my ongoing mantra - to be able to look back on our life and know that we lived the best life we could, that we did no harm to others for our own benefit and to know that our life and decisions contributed to making the world even a little better would be a great legacy to leave. This is something that we need to remind ourselves of regularly because it's so easy to get caught up in the hoopla of the day to day search for bigger and better. Good old Ralph Waldo had something to say about legacies too and I'll leave it to him to wrap this up....
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Do Ralph's words ring a bell with you? Do you want to live life with purpose and not just to pursue the shallow and easy? I hope you'll read some more of my posts and join me as we live life with joy and purpose.
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Love the Emerson quote. Finding useful, productive work has been vital to overcoming depression for me.
ReplyDeleteso glad you're finding a way through Cindy - I think feeling that you have a purpose is a key to that :)
DeleteSo much has been written about the passing of Wayne Dyer. The Emerson quote comes to mind when I think of him. I hope he knew how many lives breathed easier because of the path he chose.
ReplyDeleteYes Brenda - he certainly impacted a lot of lives - (including a lot of bloggers' lives) and living with purpose and positivity was key.
DeleteHi Leanne! That Emerson quote has been one of my favorites my entire life. And I so agree about your more "defined" definition of happiness. It is somewhat easy to forget that happiness is more than mere pleasure. That's why so often the word "well-being" more fully describes the experience. But I always appreciated the work of a guy named Barry Neil Kaufman who very clearly said that we don't need to feel guilty about being happy either. There are lots and lots of extremely selfish people who are bitter and depressed too. When you think about it from that perspective, happiness and selfishness are comparing apples and oranges. I believe it is possible to be kind, compassionate and purposeful to all and at the same time be happy. Actually, that's pretty much what I call SMART :-) ~Kathy
ReplyDeleteI agree Kathy - it's about focus and having an innate sense of who you are and your place in the world and then moving outwards from there. Happiness is a vital component to that because without it we drain ourselves trying to be all things to all people.
DeleteGreat reminder about happiness Leanne. Many people are always striving 'to be happy' and not realizing that it is really up to them and the choices they make.
ReplyDeleteI think we want to have the perfect sunshiny life Sue and forget that what we experience is often due to how we choose to contribute and interact with our world.
DeleteFollowing on from our previous comments, I agree Leanne. Life is what you make it and we aren't here for just ourselves. We can find happiness in giving and helping others. Sometimes this gets lost in the hectic world we live. Thanks for sharing at #AnythingGoes link up
ReplyDeletemy pleasure Sue - I love the #AnythingGoes linky!
DeleteWhat a wonderful way to remind people of how life should be viewed. I have often felt that true happiness comes from self-respect, which is hard won
ReplyDeleteI agree Lata - showing self respect and being respectful of others is certainly a worthy way to live life!
DeleteWhat great ennobling thoughts. Something I once read left a great impression on me. It was a grave inscription from a great king long ago. Said something like: 'I have not detoured a river from its course'. Your message says the same thing on a smaller scale. Do no harm is one step toward doing good.
ReplyDeleteso true Francene - if we all smoothed each other's way and stopped climbing over the top of each other, the world would be a better place!
Deletedropping in from WT! Loves the quotes you shared.. they are new to me! They indeed strike a chord...
ReplyDeletethanks Mina - I found them to be quite relevant for living life today - even though they were written quite some years ago.
DeleteGrowing up, I had Emerson's definition of success up on my pin board for the longest time, Leanne. Reading it again today, made me happy to see that some of it has been true of my life.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good thought to have achieved even a small part of this Corinne - so many people today are disregarding others, to live well you need to look beyond just your own needs.
DeleteI have been working really hard on being more positive and happy. Happiness, however, has a different definition for each person. Happiness to me may be helping someone else before me while someone else feels happiness is just focused totally on themselves. I agree that society is so self-centered. I just saw a quote the other day that is so true: I rather have an honest enemy than a fake friend. True and true...I'm so tired of the fake people out there. I'm all about quality not quantity...I rather have 4 quarters than 100 pennies:)
ReplyDeleteI am so with you on that Kim - I have started distancing myself from a few "friends" who I just don't completely trust. I'd rather invest my time in the ones who are authentic and honest. Happiness definitely has to come from within ourselves and our definition of happiness should be based on our values (which is why there's some dodgy definitions out there!) thanks for adding to the conversation :)
DeleteAbsolutely love this, Leanne!
ReplyDeleteHere's to our mutual success as seen by RWE!
Wow he has his own initials now (I bet he'd feel chuffed if he was around to read this!) thanks Diane :)
DeleteNice quotes Leanne. It's hard to be honourable and compassionate in addition to concentrating on keeping ourselves happy. Being happy and positive is good, but never thought that it will be selfish if we cannot help anyone.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we can't help everyone Mahathi - I suppose it's just about making a difference where you can and looking outside your own life to think about others too
DeleteBeautiful quotes, Leanne.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for being useful. We are who we are, so different from each other, to complete one another. We are enough and we make a difference.
Thanks for sharing it.
thanks Debbie - I love that we complement each other and we can invest in other people and make a difference that in turn increases our own happiness.
DeleteWell said Leanne, and an admirable philosophy. Life is always full of challenge, but I hope to also leave the same legacy that you describe.
ReplyDeletethanks Susan - I'm sure you already make a difference in people's lives and I think we just build on that as we have more time available to invest
DeleteA terrific point Leanne. We need to quit concentrating on ourselves and focus on making the outside world a little better off.
ReplyDeletethanks Rena - you would be my shining example for this - and btw your new blog is lovely
DeleteWe just watched Inside Out and then I read this post. We all go through our ups and downs, but in the end we all have to realise what matters to us most, and to stop thinking that others have it better!
ReplyDeleteI watched that recently too Agy and it is a good example of how we complement each other and how loving each other sees us through the difficult times
DeleteJust today, I saw that Kathy Chester has shared the shorter quote on Women of Midlife group. Here are my thoughts on this: happiness is not the same as joy. Happiness is fleeting. Rarely can someone be happy all the time. But can they be joyful? Yes. Life can and does knock us, but we can learn to ride the knocks with a joy that we are living. And I do love a life well lived.
ReplyDeleteI have had many challenges including my daughter's autism and divorce. But this does not mean I cannot live life well and to savor the joy of living.
Good thoughts!