“Why am I here?” “ Why are we here?” “What’s the point of it all?” One perspective seeks to address these questions through this statement:
The meaning of life is to give life meaning.*
Holding all sarcasm at bay, what does that statement mean?
At a fundamental level the statement is about choice and responsibility. Specifically, our individual choice to claim responsibility for our individual existence and to do something with it.
“But doesn’t biology or theology, or even our parents, already hold claim to the responsibility for our existence?”
- Biology can explain our existence.
- Theology can attribute blame for our existence.
- And parents are people with their own existence to deal with.
Ultimately, the entities that can claim incontrovertible responsibility for our individual existences, are our individual selves.
(And if some other type of entity spontaneously appeared and overruled our claim of responsibility over our own existence, that might be equal parts hilarious, bewildering and disappointing.)
Taking responsibility and ownership for our own individual existence can be an emancipating and empowering position to be in.
You are you, because of you.
Your strengths and your weaknesses. Your achievements and your failures. Your great decisions and your poor decisions. The information you actively seek to verify and the assumptions you blindly believe.
Your good behaviours and your shit behaviours. How you care for people and how you abuse people. The country you were born in and the era it is. The environment you grew up in and the opportunities denied you.
No one entity is in a better position to claim responsibility for all of that than ourselves.
Yes, biology can explain it and theology can shift blame to a higher power. But, we still have the choice to claim it in full. And why wouldn’t we?
“Because there will be a whole lot of smiting from above”… Unlikely.
“Because we are just by-products of natural processes with no free-will”… Possibly, but that is irrelevant as, with or without free-will, the choice still exists.
“Because, what if it’s all just a simulation; nothing we do really means anything”… Sure, for the reality of the entities running the simulation; but for the reality we are in, simulation or not, it can mean everything.
“Because our parents are obviously responsible.”… Ok, but what about their parents? And their great-beyond-great grandparents? And our hairy bipedal ancestors? And their four legged and tailed ancestors? And their fishy ancestors? And their multi celled ancestors? And their bacterial ancestors? And the barren rocky planet 13 billion years ago?… Where do we draw the line?
“Because I had no choice in being born, nor the environment I grew up in, nor the opportunities available to me”… True.
However, the improbable IT extraordinaire running the simulation doesn’t care. Nor is there a smiting creator offering support. And nor can we reasonably blame our parents/governments/secret organisations etc. for the environment we came into without blaming everything (literally) that came before them as well.
Yes, all things are not equal nor fair. However, the choice to do something with our existence lies only with ourselves. And in choosing to own the existence we have, we gift ourselves the opportunity to choose why.
Why would we choose to exist?
What would the reasons be? What would be our purpose?
Purpose has been getting a lot of air time recently and with that, an extreme polarisation on the topic has also emerged: ‘You need purpose to succeed’ vs ‘Don’t waste time searching for purpose.’
While understanding diverse perspectives supports growth, adopting an extreme polarisation can set like concrete and restrict growth.
Purpose, in its simplest form, is the reason for which something exists.
While that may sound vague or even intangible, the definition holds true for everything from life, to an organisation, to a project, to a meeting, to an object, to a single experience.
This becomes more apparent when we describe different purposes based on the contributions and impacts that form them.
For example:
The company exists to provide boundary-pushing, user-friendly development tools that enable people to build their dream platforms.
The project exists to create a psychologically safe and inclusive environment where all affected people can access the time and support they need to replenish.
The meeting aims to capture the latest updates and obstacles from each team so that every member understands what has been achieved, what needs attention, and what actions are to be taken.
The glass exists to hold liquid conveniently and transparently so that users can see its contents and drink without the contents going up their noses.
Skydiving provides the necessary height and safety that allows people to experience the thrill of jumping out of a perfectly good plane and flying… straight down.
Purpose isn’t really something that’s up for debate. It’s something that simply needs to be understood.
Returning then, to the aforementioned proposition; for what purpose/s would you choose to exist?
Or more specifically: what would you contribute and what impacts would those contributions have?
Maybe it’s to perform great at football and make it into the top team and be recognised and rich.
Maybe it’s to travel the world and discover the foods and cultures and satisfy a desire for adventure and exploration.
Maybe it’s to navigate out of the environment you are in so that you can realise an existence of peace, safety and certainty.
Maybe it’s to continuously learn and build your capabilities to have a successful career.
Maybe it’s to soak up the ability to touch, feel, smell, see, hear, think and experience existence for the simple joy of it.
Maybe it’s to survive and support people around you so that they might experience something better.
Maybe it’s to speak up so that others are inspired and change can happen.
Maybe it’s to share your knowledge and experiences so that others can benefit.
Maybe it’s to create entertainment that excites or moves people.
Maybe it’s to work hard to put food on the table or to pay for a child’s education.
Maybe you don’t know why.
There’s no one right answer. There could be multiple and they could change as we broaden our experience and develop our understanding.
One thing that is important to note though, is the role eudaimonic derived and outward focusing purposes can have for us, beyond self-focused developmental or experiential purposes.
Self-Transcendence
“Use your signature strengths and virtues in the service of something much larger than you are.” Martin E. P. Seligman: Authentic Happiness
“Self-transcendence is, at its core, about transcending (or rising above) the self and relating to that which is greater than the self.” Courtney E. Ackerman**
The space of self-transcendence has been described as awe-inspiring. This is the space where ‘making a difference’ happens and it is accessible to everyone.
Not only do outward focusing purposes achieve outcomes for more than just ourselves, research has shown higher levels of happiness, engagement, motivation and life satisfaction in people who develop and extend their understanding of their own: strengths, values, limitations, contributions and impacts they have in and on the world around them.
A reason to exist
Alas, not everyone can be a famous footballer. Not everyone can be financially free. Not everyone will have a great career. Not everyone will be social and charismatic. Not everyone can live a safe and healthy existence.
Moreso, not everyone will know, or even have a clue about, what they want to do or achieve.
But, we can choose a reason to exist that transcends inward focusing purposes. And it might even feel really good.
A choice to make a difference
In the previous editions we explored what we might do with the unique opportunity we have to exist as a civilisation today. We identified a choice to contribute towards something more from our existence.
A choice to lead by example for ourselves and any civilisations that may also emerge from an evolutionary gauntlet.
We asked: How should we behave to lead a way forward? And, how willing are we to do it?
We identified that there’s certainly enough inspiration and data already available to spark our thinking on how we might behave but, the willingness to commit to those intentional behaviours would need purpose.
Such purpose can be found within our own choices to claim responsibility for our individual existence and to choose our own reasons to exist.
And maybe, one of those reasons is to contribute to our civilisation moving towards a more advanced or stronger form that,
…brings value between each other, value for our environments, and value for the future and who, or whatever may emerge behind us.
I exist to make a difference.
* This is often attributed to Viktor E. Frankl and his book: Man’s Search for Meaning.
** Link to article: https://positivepsychology.com/self-transcendence/#achieve-self-transcendence