Living Life with Purpose and Meaning

“If you want your life to be meaningful, go out and do something about it.” – Mary Louise Wiley.
At the very root of mental illness is the loss of the meaning of life and one’s role in experiencing a flourishing life. We are divinely created to fulfill a purpose and make good sense of our existence. God created us to live a life of significance through space and time.

To get started, you may ask yourself, why is my life worth living? You may want to ask yourself this question and expect answers to well up from the innermost part of your being. How do I deal with hopelessness and loss of faith in what I am dealing with in life? What is the meaning of life? These existential questions help you probe why life is essential and your place in it.

In defining the meaning of life, the easiest way for me to crack the nut is by understanding what in life is essential to me. “The meaning of life is to give life meaning” – Anonymous. That sounds much like your responsibility, not your parent, community, or nation. Although they certainly have a role to play in providing the enabling environment for you to thrive.

Elbert Hubbard counseled, “Don’t take life too seriously; you’ll never get out of it alive.” Hubbard’s advice suddenly reminds us that man’s place in the universe is insignificant – a tiny droplet in the vast ocean beyond reach. You cannot afford to be too serious about life without consciously living through it with your sober definition and creation of meaning. You must find what gives you joy, pleasure, and fulfillment and be sold out for it. Take a moment and reflect on what an ideal world would look like for you, and get busy to make it happen. A wise man said, “When you finally discover that nothing matters, you’ll realize that you must create your own meaning.” – Unknown.

To interrogate the subject of the meaning of life further, I could explain it in terms of hoping for things that gratify your soul in the present and the immediate future. Hope can reside in a sense people make of the circumstances of their lives and their expectations for the future. I will say that meaningful life is taking a calculated step toward the future. It is making your life count! It means to be purposeful with life. It means to live life with intentionality. It means not assuming things will happen positively for you without any productive effort from your side. To drive home the point, if your current job is not giving you the required meaning, you will do well by planning your transition away from it. It is futile doing a job you are not happy doing, working in an organization you are not proud to represent.

Meaningful living means living our lives with insight and definiteness of purpose. Alan Watts implies that meaning in life is not getting ahead or being the best but by being yourself and relishing the present moment. He says, “The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.” I plead with you not to fall into that trap. Life is too short to be distracted!
Prepare to be part of what we are doing at the school of transformational leadership, where we offer the Executive Wellness Leadership Program and On-site Wellness Leadership Day Program, which is a coaching program designed to help those struggling with depression, hopelessness, and meaninglessness of life in a unique transformative environment through faith-based approach intended to address the whole person – emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Our goal is to help you find your inner joy and peace, motivate you to rekindle your dying hope, help you take on new challenges, unleash your creative best self, and find meaning and significance in life.

Author: Olusegun Osineye

Olusegun Osineye earned his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Transformational Leadership from Boston University. He's passionate about creatively adding value to the black race by utilizing life's simple philosophy for their flourishing.