Fourth Week of November, Year Two

Excerpted from Spiritual Aging: Weekly Reflections for Embracing Age by Carol Orsborn, Ph.D.  To be published December, 2024 Inner Traditions.

The search for meaning drove you for decades. You thought of life as a puzzle to be solved and the prize would be the discovery of your higher purpose.

When you were young, it was others who attempted to answer the question of meaning for you. Following their lead, some of us were expected to go into the family business, others to cure cancer or become a priest.

Some of us realized early on that others’ desire to determine our life’s purpose was not a good fit. We were the ones who were labeled rebels or failures. “You’ll never amount to anything” was the refrain that accompanied our coming of age. Others of us complied and found ourselves praised and respected, while feeling hollow inside.

Meanwhile, life goes on. You got educated, got your first job. You made choices about getting married, having children. You decided where you would live, which hobbies, activities and causes you would adopt. Some of your decisions worked out fine, others not so much. But still, you persevered.

All the while, you were building memories: a lifetime full of simple joys and unavoidable losses. There was celebration, crisis, joy, sadness, every possible emotion, but through it all, something miraculous transpired. You fell in love with your life.

Now that you are old, you have finally come to realize that there’s a better question to ask yourself than what is the purpose of life? Simply this:

What would I like to do today?