Does Purpose Create Happiness?

...or, is it ok to go with the flow? Chloe Dent, S10, contemplates whether the pursuit of purpose truly leads to happiness, or whether the pressure to define meaning in life too early can become a source of stress rather than fulfilment.

What is our purpose?

This is a question that we have been deliberating over, theorising about and pondering for thousands of years; a question that scientists, philosophers, psychologists and ordinary people alike have toiled and troubled over. We believe that it is the answer to life, to the world, to happiness. However, I want to explore whether purpose does lead to the happiness we are promised and conversely, might our quest to search for it only set us backwards?

So, do we really need purpose to find happiness? Even from the ripe age of just two years old, I remember wanting to become a paediatrician, and it was in fact my first multi-syllable word. I can only imagine the shock on people’s faces when they asked me the standard question: “What do you want to be when you’re older?”, expecting me to reply with something simple along the lines of “princess”. Instead, I presented them with eloquent answer, “paediatrician”. What shocks me even more is that over a decade later, this ambition still remains. So, is this ‘purpose’, an inexplicable desire to do a certain thing? Many believe that we are born with a purpose, a reason for life, our ‘raison d’être’.

Self-determination

Some believe that purpose is self-determined. Psychologists and philosophers have agonised over this idea for centuries. The celebrated psychologist, Abraham Maslow, established a ‘hierarchy of needs’ for humans, which went beyond basic survival. He believed that we were striving for ‘Self-Actualisation’, the term describing the need to reach our full potential (our ultimate purpose).

Whichever way that you view this, as humans, our drive for purpose seems to be our paramount goal in life. This is a belief that humanity has upheld for so many years, with Winston Churchill professing, ‘It’s not enough to have lived. We have to be determined to live for something’. Even beyond the human condition, this idea is explored in modern-day films, such as the heartwarming movie, ‘Dog’s Purpose’, in which a dog searches to reunite with its owner, while finding its own destiny en route.

However, it is this same drive that pushes mankind to put pressure on ourselves: we test children at 16, forcing them to make decisions that could potentially determine their future before they are perhaps ready. Having a sense of purpose can give us meaning and a push to succeed in life, but along with this, it adds burden to our existence.

Self-worth

Consequently, is our quest for purpose really actually detrimental?

In our society, from an extremely young age, we are expected to know who we are and what we want to be, when perhaps all we want to do is pretend to be a princess, rather than facing a world of doctors and death and reality. We need worth, so without fully knowing who we are, we stitch together a rough idea of who we might want to be and then face the consequences. I believe that perhaps this pressure doesn’t lead to the happiness we’re promised but instead results in us starting things before we are ready.

When we strive too hard to reach unrealistic goals, we only end up with regret, mid-life crises and new motorbikes when we realise that this pressure has only amounted to feelings of self-doubt and low esteem.

Does purpose lead to happiness?

Well, yes, purpose is proven to help our mental and physical health, prevent Alzheimer’s and even make us live longer. However, despite the salient facts we may reel out, we all know that sometimes we just want to sit down with some Wotsits, put our feet up, watch ‘La La Land’, have a cry and not have to consider our life choices. This may be thought of as ‘lazy’, but does it not also make us happy?

This idea that purpose will be the answer to all questions is just a bulky burden belittling us, when perhaps it’s okay to sometimes ignore the quest for meaning and just enjoy the carefree, simple aspects of life, while living in the moment.

Yes, perhaps purpose gives us a sense of meaning in life, giving us drive, but I don’t believe that our modern-day perception of purpose and the pressure and over-ambition that accompanies it leads us to this elusive happiness we seek. Perhaps purpose is not about the big goals and the answer to life, eternity and everything, but the small things: the things that get us up in the morning, the little things that make us smile.

Maybe we should stop searching for a purpose and instead live life and let purpose come to us as we find ourselves. Perhaps that’s the true key to happiness.