Finding Your Purpose is So Cliche: Why You Should Still Try to Find it Anyways
Finding your purpose seems to be the cliche line of the day at the moment. Every coach and person out there seems to have a secret remedy to help people find their life purpose in 12 easy steps. If only the 12 steps were that easy in recovery. The philosophy of 12-step recovery is that you have a higher power to support and encourage your journey. It is not an easy thing to find or uncover, especially after addiction takes hold for so long. You should still seek it out anyways, but there are some tips for how to get started moving in the right direction, even if they take a bit of time.
Power of Purpose
A sense of purpose is helpful for people in recovery because it helps align them with personal goals. One of four major dimensions of recovery is seeking meaningful activity and participation in society. Purpose and meaning are often described together because they go hand in hand. Purpose emerges from meaning. Having meaning implies some kind of internal value system that comes when an idea or action is deemed worth pursuing. Once you determine what that is, you start to associate meaning with this quest and get determination to keep moving forward towards that goal.
Sources of Purpose and Meaning
Having a perspective and positive mindset can help develop a better idea of how to find purpose. This can include:
- Feeling rescued from self-destruction. People may report feeling their lives turned around to achieve a greater purpose by being productive and helping others
- Sensing hope and feeling gratitude. This feeling of receiving grace encourages the person receiving and inspires a readiness to show appreciation
- Feeling drawn to help and be of service. Receivers of a spiritual awakening often want to pay back the favor and lead themselves towards a service-oriented path
Steps to Purpose
How you can find purpose and meaning varies. You may want to ask yourself what the role of a life purpose in addiction recovery looks like and ask yourself these questions:
- Is addiction fueled by too few meaningful experiences and too weak a sense of purpose
- What experiences in the past felt meaningful
With some self-reflection, you may discover honestly that you have found some meaning and purpose in your life and recall times you experienced it, prior to being addicted, as well. Then you can use these experiences to help you.
As you practice finding meaning, look to your higher self. Instead of responding on auto-pilot, use the tools you’re learning in recovery and seek a different perspective. Recognize and practice gratitude as a way of building optimism, improving self-esteem and increasing your emotional health. Become service-oriented as you look to help others. This builds a sense of pride in who you are and how you support others.
Contact Palmetto Addiction Recovery Center Today
For more than 25 years, Palmetto Addiction Recovery Center has been devoted to helping those who are struggling, to find serenity and recover. With a focus on holistic treatment for the physical, emotional, and spiritual, our program effectively rebuilds and heals what has been broken by addiction. For information on our addiction treatment program in Louisiana, call us today: 866-848-3001
