The Energy Burden of Purpose

I cringe when I hear the phrase ‘find your purpose’ or when someone asks me to tell them what their life purpose is. I cringe because I know why they are asking that question and that it is causing them a lot of grief. To seek purpose is a burden on us because it implies that we are not doing things right, following the right path, and we’re wasting our time and energy. We are working as hard as we can and not getting any results or joy. There is no purpose other than whatever we are doing right now and it’s much more fulfilling and potential focused to think about our mission, rather than our purpose. What is your life purpose? Have you ever asked yourself that question, especially when you’re feeling a little depressed, unfulfilled, and unhappy? We generally worry about our life purpose when we feel less than purposeful, we are not happy with our lives or satisfied with our progress. We may even feel we aren’t making any progress at all, so we want to explore our purpose because if we were doing the right and best thing we would not feel this way.When we look at purpose in this way we are really referring to a life definition, a meaning, validation, and a justification. We want a better definition of how our gifts, talents, and abilities fit together to create joy and since we are not finding it in the present moment. We want validation of who we are and what we are doing and that it is being recognized, appreciated, and getting some kind of result. We want to feel worthy, valuable, and meaningful. A quest for purpose is a quest for meaning in the context of how we matter in the world.But when we ask the purpose question we are not just questioning our purpose, we are questioning our very being.Read the rest of the article on the blog at enlighteninglife.com  Created, narrated, and produced by Jennifer Hoffman.Artwork by Jennifer Hoffman.Copyright (C) 2004-2026 by Jennifer Hoffman, all US and international rights reserved.Visit enlighteninglife.com for more information.Please note our policies regarding copyright infringement, content misuse, and theft of intellectual property. We prosecute all infringers and have a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY for abuse, infringement, misappropriation, and illegal use of our content. You can read our full Terms of Use at enlighteninglife.comemail [email protected] with questions