What is the definition of a life well lived?
Step back from what you are presently doing and think for a minute. This world has existed for quite some time and has been populated by quite a few people. Ponder all the great turning points throughout history. In that vast swath of time and in the company of a vast number of people, we exist in a very specific place and at a very specific time.
Some people leave a huge mark on society and their names will echo in our recollection. Alexander the Great conquered and ruled a large empire. Johannes Gutenberg revolutionized mass communication when he gave us the printing press. Thomas Edison illuminated the dark portions of our lives with the electric lightbulb. John Locke and the American Founders gave us the idea of a representative republic. And yet, in the midst of all of these famous characters lived millions of other unnamed individuals all with a memorial that contains two dates and epitaph that begins with, "Here lies..."
This idea has captured my thoughts from time to time. Here I am, a solitary individual, on this planet for a short time. Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life here? What is the purpose of my career? What is the purpose of my marriage, parenting, and interactions with others? All these purpose questions get that a fundamental understanding of who I am in the world, why I am here and how I can leave our mark. They all get to the fundamental question of, what is the definition of a life well lived.
Why Purpose?
As we discussed in the last post, I believe that a portion of the answer is found in pursuing excellence in the classical sense. We defined that to be a life that is characterized by purpose, intention, and virtue. Today let's explore purpose. We will start with the question Why Purpose? Then we will look at how do we develop our purpose?
Purpose Drives Mission
Purpose Drives Mission. Mission drives action. Life is effort. Anything worth pursuing requires some degree of work. We need to put in the time and effort. Things don't just happen. Since life is short and energy is finite, we need to prioritize so that we can execute.
Several years ago, I was tasked with leading the ultrasound division at work. While I had been working in this division for my entire career and had a good understanding of the work that we were doing, the first thing that I did was develop a purpose statement. For me, without a short and clear statement of why we were doing what we were doing, I didn't know how to focus my time and attention and to lead our group. But with this statement, I can evaluate all of the things that we do, and I can provide my team with a roadmap to help guide their activities toward purposeful ends and a common goal.
The same idea applies to our personal lives. To be most effective in each sphere of our lives, we need engage with a missional mindset - that is ruthlessly engaging with a clear-eyed focus on an end goal. To do that, we need to understand the purpose for why we are in healthcare, why we are married, why we are parents, etc.
Purpose drives Meaning
Lack of purpose leads to aimlessness. It was told to me once, "If you don't know what you are aiming at, you will hit it every time." Life will happen. Time will go on. This rule is as fundamental to life as gravity. And if we don't strive towards a goal, towards and objective, or a purpose, we won't accomplish anything. Solomon in writing Ecclesiastes wrestles with the idea of the meaning of life. He opens his writing with
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? Ecclesiastes 1:1-3 (ESV)
Throughout the book he wrestles with the various things that we as humans strive for: pleasure, wisdom, work, etc. Viewed in the light of our mortality and the very short period of time that we live here on earth, he concludes, that a life spent pursuing each of those things is nothing more than vanity - or meaningless.
The idea of meaning has kept philosophers and psychologists busy for generations. But essentially meaning comes when we have a clear sense of:
Where am I? Knowing and understanding the world and context in which we live.
Who am I? Knowing my place in relation to God and the surrounding world.
What I am to do? Based on the answers to the previous 2 questions, knowing what I am to do for the short time that I am here.
As we begin to think about these questions, we can see a framework for a worldview and purpose statements come into focus. Understanding out purpose helps us gain a sense of meaning. That sense of meaning in turn further fuels our purpose.
Developing a Purpose
Having discussed why understanding our purpose is important, we are left with now defining or developing our purpose. In one sense this can be a rather daunting task. That is, answering the question, "What is the one thing that summarizes and defines my life work?" The magnitude of that prospect is somewhat paralyzing, at least for me. And while searching for the answer to that question is significantly important, it is not always easy. There are several factors that we should consider in this endeavor.
Defined vs Discovered
Often our purpose is not immediately apparent. History is full of people who traveled the path in front of them and through the natural bends and turns that life's path contains, found a singular purpose - that thing that they do. I would venture to say that for as many people who have a clear, long-term vision for what they want to do, many more do not. For many of us, a purpose statement is not simply putting together a set of inspiring words that encapsulates the totality of our existence and work. I personally, do not have enough wisdom and foreknowledge to be able to project out into the future like that. Rather, like a good vacation, while we may generally where we want to go, the individual adventures are not revealed until they are experienced. Time has a way of providing context and meaning in a way that clarifies our interests, talents, and goals. Often our purpose is discovered along the journey.
Singular vs Several
Is there one overarching purpose to your life? Or is your life a combination of a bunch of smaller purposes? Why can't it be both? For a while now, I have been trying to identify my purpose in life. The one, singular focus that gives my life a trajectory. Other than defaulting back to the first question in the Westminster Catechism, I don't feel like I have such a singular focus in my life to be able to develop a "Life purpose statement." My interests and pursuits have been too varied and have varied too much over time to be able to encapsulate into a single, pithy statement that is both broad and specific. If you have, that's great! But I feel that a more practical way to find purpose is to develop purpose statements for the various spheres in our lives. (I'll write more on this in a future post - how's that for a teaser). So, rather than having a singular purpose statement that you have to fit all of your pursuits neatly under, you clearly identify a purpose for your work, for your marriage, your parenting, even your hobbies. What this provides, is a clearer understanding of why each of these things is important and how you can begin to pursue excellence in each. And as you do that, you will begin to wrestle with these bigger questions which will lead you back to a broader understanding of purpose.
Fixed or Flexible
Finally, we often get hung up on the notion that a purpose is a fixed reference point. And for the most part, it should be. Without a fixed reference, it is too easy to wander aimlessly pursuing things that don't help us accomplish our goals. But just because a purpose should be rather fixed, doesn't mean you shouldn't be flexible. Goals change. Situations change. Life changes. Sometimes we accomplish our goals. Sometimes as we learn we realize that we had it wrong or that we need to head in a different direction. During the training portion of my career, I entered college with a singular purpose. Thanks to my stubbornness and the terrifyingly motivational words of the career guidance counselor, I was going to graduate a biology major, whether it killed me or a not. That fixed purpose got me through some early mornings, late nights, and tough classes. But as I progressed through my college classes, service work at the fire department, medical school, and clinical rotations, I changed my career plans from ophthalmology to orthopedics and finally to emergency medicine. I pursued my goal of becoming an ER doc and when I graduated, I could rejoice in the completion of that goal. However, as I entered the post-residency period, I soon realized that all of my focus was on graduating residency and completing my training. My life situation changed. I needed a new purpose. Just as in these examples, there are times when our purpose is fixed and is the north star in our pursuits. Be we must also be constantly assessing whether our purpose is in line with our theology and is the optimally serving us, our family, and those around us.
So, there it is... Purpose: the first pillar of excellence. I am inspired by the words of Viktor Frankl, "Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how.'" Life will be filled with a great number of highs and lows. My goal is to live a life that I am proud of and to live now in a way that I will be satisfied in the end. As with any goal worth pursuing, accomplishment comes with setting the goal followed but by daily, disciplined, and deliberative actions with a clear and intense focus on the goal. This starts with the why... our purpose!
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