Not Everything You Do Needs to Have a Higher Purpose
What do you do for the sake of doing it?
They say your handwriting reveals a lot about you, so I analyzed mine. Looking through my journal, I noticed my letters begin to blur together in an increasingly rushed, ever sloppier manner. Apparently, that means I’m impatient and dislike wasting my time.
It’s true.
Especially when it comes to daily responsibilities, I often find myself adopting a “let’s get it over with” attitude. I’ve internalized the productivity ideal to such an extreme that I need every element of my life to have a clear purpose for it to feel worth it. In other words, I have to justify why I’m doing something before I dedicate any time to it.
Beyond that, I’ve given all of my daily activities arbitrary labels of good and bad, not based on how much joy they bring me, but based on how necessary these activities are for my perceived personal growth. For example, reading is good, Netflix is bad; yoga=good, YouTube=bad, meditation=good, sitting aimlessly on the couch=bad.
If any day I allow myself to engage too long in the “bad” activities, I feel guilty. Blame it on the California hustle culture I grew up in or on my hyper idealistic Enneagram 1 personality type. Either way, it’s unhealthy.
My Italian friend told me as much in one sentence, “Not everything you do needs to be for some greater purpose.”
Revolutionary. At least for me.
How many of us rush from chore to chore, goal to goal, without enjoying any activity to the fullest because our minds are always elsewhere? Wouldn’t life be better if some of our personal endeavors came without an end game or underlying pressure to perform?
Contrary to my labels, there is no such thing as desirable and undesirable activities, but merely different ways to use time. My mom once told me to remember my free time has monetary value too.
My initial reaction was, “Of course, it doesn’t,” but then I realized she was onto something. Free time may not have monetary value, but it has value. Some of the best reasons for any endeavor go beyond money, obligation, or the constant need to self-improve.
Consider this: why do children do anything? From what I observed as a preschool teacher, children are highly motivated by fun and curiosity. In fact, children find enjoyment through exploring their curiosity. Watch a toddler transfer uncooked pasta into varying-sized containers for over an hour and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Children innately know what grown-ups frequently forget: the real purpose of life is to explore. You can study chess even if you’ll never become a champion, climb a mountain simply to admire the view or record a song you never intend on releasing.
You should do these things, or versions of them that pique your personal interests, for no better reason than because you can. You have the opportunity to chase your curiosities, but your chance to do so won’t last forever.
Life gifts everyone opportunities, then allow us to make the final choice: take them or leave them.
Sometimes I wonder if in our search for purpose, we miss out on what we’re supposed to be doing all along, pursuing and appreciating beauty. When you look for it, you’ll see it’s everywhere: in nature, in people, in you.
What if the point of waking up every morning isn’t to grind for a better tomorrow, but to find the best in today? I’m convinced this is the point; to live for the joy of living, asking for nothing more and accepting nothing less.
What do you do for the sake of doing it?
If you can answer this question, you will unlock the ultimate purpose of your life: to simply, freely, gratefully live it.
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