By Robert Wheeler
The concepts that people have about meaning and purpose in their lives has traditionally been a topic in philosophy and religion; however, it has now become a major topic in psychology. Research has indicated this view is related to that person’s health and sense of satisfaction with their life. Those people that feel that their daily activities fit in with a major goal in their life have the greatest well-being. The term “life esteem” has been applied to this concept of the sense of purpose in daily activities and the relation of that purpose to a major goal in life.
Research at St Louis University studied the impact of life esteem using a convenient to use self-report questionnaire based on the many research reports started by the famous psychiatrist and James Crumbaugh that emphasized the quantity or degree to which a person feels a life purpose, those started by Milton Rokeach about personal values, and those started by Abraham Maslow about the quality or nature of a person’s life goal. Research about these ultimate questions has rescued meaning and purpose from the dogmatic clutches of religion and philosophy and justified them as important to human functioning.
The important point of all this is that it is helpful to back off from the pressures of everyday activities and consider questions about what you are doing and why, are the goals worthwhile, and do they fit in with a major life goal that gives a sense of meaning and purpose for existence. Why wait until retirement years to question the value of your activities and wonder about “what if”? It is widely accepted that the primary purpose of life is to survive and reproduce. Even the single cell amoeba with no brain or nervous system pursues those goals, but the complex multi-cell humans want more. With their sophisticated thinking ability, humans also want security, improvement, and meaning. And they want an explanation of why they exist and what is its source
The degree to which these ultimate type questions affect an individual is quite variable. For some it is a major concern but for others it is usually dormant. These latter people are subject to an unsettled feeling that could boil up at an inconvenient time. These are the ones that would most benefit by pausing to consider ultimate questions but everyone would benefit from recognizing this as a need. If this could be objectively integrated into the education of children without encroaching on religious beliefs, our culture would change. Since a universal meaning and purpose in life has not been agreed upon and is allusive in nature, the search becomes open for personal interpretation and an on-going process.
If enough people were concerned about life esteem and reflected on it occasionally, the current emphasis on “getting and spending,” consumerism, and comfort for individuals would shift to knowledge, understanding, and development. Contribution and helpfulness would replace crime and violence in society, and cooperation and organization would reduce global terrorism and warfare. Since the answers are so allusive, merely the consideration of this issue would produce positive change even without resolution.