Dear Listener,

In recent weeks, several patients have confided a longing for clarity around purpose. I’d like to offer a few thoughts on this, beginning with an important clarification: purpose is not a single, fixed destination. It is not something one “arrives at” once and for all. Rather, purpose is fluid—changing with our roles, relationships, and seasons of life. The question What is my purpose? can feel spiritual or pragmatic—or both, depending on where one stands.

Purpose takes different forms depending on context. Within a family, it may look like nurturing or guidance; within a career, it may look like leadership or innovation with a particular lens; within a community, it may look like introducing a novel shared experience. As responsibilities evolve—when one shifts from being part of a team to leading a team, or from singlehood to parenthood—so too does purpose. To treat it as static is to miss its nature:

Purpose is a process, not an endpoint.

That process requires loosening the grip of ego. The guiding question shifts from What do I want? to What outcome would serve the greatest good? This perspective opens the door to what philosophers and contemplatives have long described: a yielding to something greater than oneself—whether conceived of as divine intelligence, natural order, or God. Practices such as meditation and silence are indispensable here. They help peel away the mental and emotional filters that cloud perception, enabling one to discern with greater clarity what is needed in the present moment.

One common stumbling block is expectation. The insistence that purpose should reveal itself at a certain age—“I should know my purpose by now”—often signals a deeper habit of judgment, which blocks natural self-inquiry. On the other hand, joining causes solely to feel important can masquerade as purpose, but actually reinforce ego and displaced feelings. In these cases, action can obscure, rather than reveal, authentic direction.

Compassion offers a truer compass. As Sri Yukteswar writes in The Holy Science (pdf book link here), compassion is “the expansion of individual consciousness to embrace all beings.” It is a state of being in which the ego steps aside, giving way to service uncolored by self-interest. In psychological research, compassion has been linked with increased resilience, lower stress, and improved social connection—qualities that naturally sustain a sense of meaningful purpose.

Purpose grows through trial and error.

Small acts of care—tending to one’s health, nurturing relationships, or contributing modestly to the lives of others—become experiments in meaning. Through these everyday gestures, one learns about oneself, refines direction, and discovers how actions resonate with the wider world. Notably, studies show that even mundane prosocial behaviors (like helping a neighbor or volunteering briefly) enhance well-being and strengthen a sense of life purpose .

Why does purpose matter? Beyond the personal satisfaction it generates, purpose has measurable effects on health. A strong sense of purpose has been associated with lower risk of depression, improved cardiovascular outcomes, and even greater longevity. In times of uncertainty, purpose functions as a filter: it clarifies direction, sorts the essential from the trivial, and prevents us from being swept away by global drama. It anchors us in the present, reminding us of what can be done here and now—with sincerity, and with heart.

Today’s meditation is designed to facilitate the quieting of the mind, opening of the heart for improved clarity and exploring one’s purpose.

Please share this if you find it useful, or know someone who it might help.

be well, SL

somewhere along the Mediterranean

To read/learn more about purpose and its impact on heath

Hill, P. L., & Turiano, N. A. (2014). Purpose in life as a predictor of mortality across adulthood. Psychological Science, 25(7), 1482–1486. Link

Cohen, R., Bavishi, C., & Rozanski, A. (2016). Purpose in life and its relationship to all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events: A meta-analysis. Psychosomatic Medicine, 78(2), 122–133. Link

Neff, K. D., & Germer, C. K. (2013). A pilot study and randomized controlled trial of the mindful self-compassion program. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(1), 28–44. Link

Klein, N. (2017). Prosocial behavior increases perceptions of meaning in life. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(4), 354–361. Link

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