Purpose
Discovering your purpose
Finding or creating purpose can be extremely uplifting to your well-being and can be valuable on a small scale. For example, your purpose could be choosing to be kind each and every-day, taking care of the environment, advocating for people experiencing homelessness, giving support where and when you can… anything that you find meaning in can serve as your purpose. Examine your interests, find what you enjoy doing, and consider injustices or inequities in the world that concern you as a starting point. Finding purpose is generally something to build on over time; it will not come to fulfillment within a short period of time. The mental health benefits of finding or creating purpose are far-reaching.
Rethink stressful situations
Finding purpose in life has been shown to lead to better emotional recovery as a response to unfavorable or stressful situations. In this sense, having purpose in life can offer you some protection from negative events.
Future health and endurance
Higher purpose is a strong predictor of greater quality of health. Studies have found that purpose is associated with a heightened ability to carry out day-to-day tasks, less mobile disability or restriction in the future, and better cognition overall.
Promoting resilience
Purpose can act as a cushion from negative events. It also supports a faster recovery, less worrying or dreadful thinking styles, and overall increases resilience. Having a positive outlook on your future can uplift your focus and drive toward everyday activities.
Developing a connection
Purpose can help bring you closer to other community members who share like interests. You may find yourself encompassed in a bigger, more united community when pursuing your purpose .
Health-boosting attitude and practices
Those who find their greater sense of meaning tend to formulate their well-being and take care of themselves better because they are able to see their life is important. Everyone’s life matters and is deserving; the challenge is finding your eventual direction and ambition that keeps you going. Knowing that you matter, you are important, and you are here for a reason, try to answer this question when discovering your purpose: What can I offer to the world or to my community to make it better? Everyone is able to find their own purpose! Start out by figuring out your interests, what skills you may have, and ideas to discover where your purpose could be. Think about what gives your life meaning––even if it may seem “small,” it is still valuable. Those with a powerful sense of purpose tend to fare better on a lot of distinct measures of mental health; your purpose will power your well-being.
Tips for finding your purpose in recovery
1. Stop trying to please people
If you try to live your life based on what others expect, you will not be following your own path. Being a people-pleaser can open some doors for you in life, but you can end up losing more opportunities than you gain. In order to find your purpose in life, be willing to listen to yourself and do what is best for you.
2. Start a daily list of things you are grateful for
It does not matter how many wonderful things come into your life if you just take it all for granted. The purpose of completing a gratitude list is to recognize what is good in your life in just a few minutes each day. Being able to see how good your life is fills you with a sense of purpose, pushing you to obtain even more.
3. Trust your instinct
Intuition is made up of a lot of information, full of everything you have ever seen, experienced, or read. This voice inside can help guide you in the right direction once you learn how to harness it. Listening to your gut means your life is sure to feel full of purpose, allowing you to realize your hidden potential.
4. Choose to know that you have a purpose in life
The idea that you have a purpose in life might sound a bit new age, but this claim is also be found in much psychology research. In Abraham Maslow's famous ‘hierarchy of needs’; one of them is self-actualization. If you are living below your abilities and have not realized your potential, you are likely to feel unsatisfied with your life. It is as if people have an inside need to unfold and acknowledge all they are capable of.
5. Allow yourself to be flexible with your goals
Things are never going to work out precisely as you plan them. You can accomplish more being sober than you ever thought, so your goals that you have can hold you back if you hold onto them too firmly. You should be willing to handle them with the unexpected ups and downs that will certainly be part of your future. You should still set goals for yourself, but be willing to change your course of action as needed. As long as you are going in the right direction, don’t be too set on where it is going.
6. Be willing to get out of your comfort zone
Establishing a routine is a good way in early recovery to give you a solid foundation and keep yourself safe. Becoming too attached to a routine can hinder your life. Staying in your comfort zone can restrict you from reaching your full potential by not trying new things.
7. Keep the faith
There are times in everyone’s life when things feel scary and unsettled. During times like these, you need to keep your faith that you are still doing your best and that something good can come from your pain. During times of suffering, people can grow the most. Unforeseeable issues can seem more bearable if you use this perspective.
8. Keep an open mind
Sometimes, people in active addiction don't know what is best for them. If you are used to being defiant to new things, you may end up pushing away things that could benefit you. On the search for your purpose, new things can look dreadful, but just keep an open mind and give yourself a chance to learn.