How does life work

In a survey of empirical studies , Raymond A. Mar and colleagues found a link between reading poetry and fiction and a sense of purpose among adolescents.

By seeing purpose in the lives of other people, teens are more likely to see it in their own lives. In this sense, purpose is an act of the imagination. The writing of historian W. Du Bois pushed social-justice activist Art McGee to embrace a specific vision of African-American identity and liberation. Find books that matter to you—and they might help you to see what matters in your own life.

Want to help high schoolers find purpose? The GGSC's Purpose Challenge for students, educators, and parents incorporates cutting-edge science into videos and interactive exercises. Kezia Willingham was raised in poverty in Corvallis, Oregon, her family riven by domestic violence. She says:. I want the kids out there who grew up like me, to know they have futures ahead of them. I want them to know they are smart, even if they may not meet state academic standards.

I want them to know that they are just as good and valuable as any other human who happens to be born into more privileged circumstances.

Because they are. And there are so damn many messages telling them otherwise. He kept that promise by becoming a Peer Rape Educator in college—and then a sex educator in San Francisco public schools. Why do people like Kezia and Christopher seem to find purpose in suffering—while others are crushed by it? Explore the difference between a happy life and a meaningful one. Learn how helping others can help you finding meaning in life. Discover the health benefits of having a purpose.

Jeremy Adam Smith explores how the science of purpose could help explain white supremacy. Certain emotions and behaviors that promote health and well-being can also foster a sense of purpose—specifically, awe , gratitude , and altruism. Here we arrive at altruism. In one study , for example, Daryl Van Tongeren and colleagues found that people who engage in more altruistic behaviors, like volunteering or donating money, tend to have a greater sense of purpose in their lives.

Interestingly, gratitude and altruism seem to work together to generate meaning and purpose. You could theoretically derive meaning from other endeavors, like relationships, volunteer work, travel, or creative activities, to name just a few. He points to the example of existentialist psychologist Viktor Frankl, who survived imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps in World War II and went on to write a book, Man in Search of Meaning. Frankl noted, too, that others who survived the camps had a specific purpose—they were determined to see their families after the war or to help other prisoners live, maintaining a sense of humanity.

Landau argues that anyone who believes life can be meaningless also assumes the importance of value. In other words, if you think life can be meaningless, then you believe that there is such a thing as value. As such, we can also increase or decrease the value of our lives with practice, effort, action, and thought. He notes too that things change all the time: We move, meet new people, have fresh experiences, encounter new ideas, and age.

As we change, our values transform, and so does our sense of purpose, which we must continually work on. Surely there must be more to existence than simply assigning a value to what we already have and thinking differently if we fail to recognize purpose in our lives.

In fact, there are even less complex approaches to meaningfulness. While that may sound coy, many philosophers offer similar responses, although few as pithy. It can be disconcerting, perhaps, to have such an easy answer. And detractors might argue that nothing can matter, given the immensity of the universe and the brevity of our lives.

But this assumes our purpose is fixed, rigid and assigned externally, and not flexible or a product of the mind.

There are other approaches, too. Casey Woodling, a professor of philosophy and religious studies at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina, proposes in Philosophy Now that the question of meaningfulness itself offers an answer. Reflecting on why we pursue those goals is significant, however. By taking a reflective perspective, significance itself accrues.

The sixth-century Chinese sage Lao Tzu—who is said to have dictated the Tao Te Ching before escaping civilization for solitude in the mountains—believed the universe supplies our value. Like Woodling, he would argue that goals are insignificant, and that accomplishments are not what makes our lives matter.

Moments turn into memories. Enjoy the moment while you have it. It usually takes a lifetime of piled up worries for a person to realize: Worrying isn't productive. Living in the past is equally unproductive.

There are definitely benefits in being able to reflect on yourself and on your past. Paying attention to what you've been through and how that makes you feel matters.

It takes a lot of emotional energy to grieve, process, and overcome. The balance of being able to take time to reflect, and to prioritize your future while spending the majority of your day in the present, is beyond valuable, it's life changing. There was a huge mosaic near my university in London that said that those words.

I was grateful to walk past it almost every day and remind myself of the importance of loving your career and loving what you do. Your work is a considerably large aspect in your life that you dedicate yourself to. If you aren't happy in your career, that unhappiness will seep into other aspects of your life.

And while nothing is perfect, it's important to work on yourself and position yourself to reach the goals and satisfactions you desire. This goes for your non-work life, too. What habits and hobbies do you want to stop?

Which ones do you want to develop? It's important to be conscious of the type of people and activities you surround yourself with. Information is like nutrients to your brain, be aware of what you are feeding yourself. Success isn't one triumphant moment.

Success is a series of moments and choices leading up to bigger moments. You are the only person who can get in the way of living every day doing what you love. Bob Dylan said it best when he said "What's money?

A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. The happiest people tend to be the ones who've worked the most on themselves.

Being happy takes a lot of work. It's just as much work--if not more-- to be unhappy. So choose wisely. Being happy means at some point you decided to take control of your life.