What Is Life All About?
At the age of 39, I’ve struggled with this concept for many years; I just can’t seem to grasp onto anything which I can confidently label my ‘purpose’.
As I sit here, in the centre of Edinburgh (waiting for the train back home), I am writing this post with a sense of purpose, because it’s going to be published on my blog to hopefully one day help someone else who’s in the same position as I am.
Only a few days ago, I had a bit of a head ‘wobble’, now, looking back in hindsight, I think I was subconsciously questioning my very own purpose – I remember in my head saying “Sam, what the hell are you doing in life?!” – and it may sound funny to read, but it hits deep, because having a purpose is so very important to me – and I’m adamant if you’re reading this you might be in a similar, if not the same predicament.
The Psychology & Evolution
If we take ourselves back to the days of a cavemen (and the reason I am not saying ‘cavepeople’ and being ‘PC’, is because we are casting our minds way before this bizarre time in our lives where people got offended so easily), everything they did would have been to either survive, eat or reproduce – this was their purpose, they had nothing else to do and this is all they knew.
This is where the foundations of our purpose have come from – over time, evolution has inadvertently forced us to include more purpose-driven things in our lives, such as daily tasks, like household chores, recreational activities like hobbies and socialising like seeing friends and family.
This is why it’s so important for a lot of people, especially those who sometimes struggle and/or battle daily with their own dark clouds, to have something which keeps us driven and continually working towards an achievement; albeit it might be small. Nevertheless, regardless of the size, it can make a huge impact on our mental health.
Today, I’ve been travelling for nearly 12 hours (and counting!). During that time, I’ve been out in the open, first meandering through the Scottish Highlands before taking a walk through the busy commuter and tourist-filled streets of Edinburgh. It’s been a good day—one that has left me feeling content, albeit very tired.
A lot of the time I wonder why I’m not happy and/or content 100% of the time, then during periods of reflection, like this train journey, I realise it’s just not realistic. Life is a rollercoaster and we’ve just got to ride it.
Please, don’t sing the rest… it was a genuine inadvertent Ronan Keating reference.