There’s this book that I need to read.

It’s by my favorite Psychologist. Or, rather, my family’s favorite Psychologist (a couple long stories behind that one), as I’ve only read one of his books so far. However, from what I do know, his ways of explaining things are ingenious in a way, and I’ve had many conversations with my mom using information from his works.

One such supplement to our conversations was Meanings of Life. While I still have yet to read it, it’s been increasingly on my mind over the summer—no clue why, but I’ve been thinking about what my mom’s explained to me of its concepts. Wondering more and more what gives people reason to be happy, or simply to keep going. Why they do the things they do.

For essentially the first time in my life, I’ve been doing exactly what everyone accuses me of doing whenever I tell them I’m a Psychology major: observing and evaluating the behavior of everyone around me. Some clearly consider a single thing their purpose—be it their hobby, job, money, adventure, family, or whatever. That one thing is what makes them feel accomplished enough to be content. Others, it’s the amalgamation (ooh, GRE word) of small meaningful things, with less effort put forth toward each. Some people like to keep themselves busy; others feel better when they accomplish a large project and then can get plenty of rest, on and off.

The most important thing to remember here, though, is this: life is made up of choices. You can follow one purpose one time, follow another one another time, follow a single one all of the time, or try to compromise your way to all of the purposes all of the time (good luck with that last one). And also keep in mind: no matter what you do, you will have to fight for it—whether it be because too many other people are trying to do the same thing, or too few are interested.

If you follow money, you’ll have not only other people trying to make their own money from yours, but judgment from those who generalize you to a miserly curmudgeon (another GRE word; I’m on a roll). On the other hand, if you love—with all your heart—something that most people might consider a hobby, you have to deal with the possibility that it’s not something from which to make a reasonable living. After all, you can’t make people interested in what you love to do any more than the family-oriented can make people interested in the pictures they show you of their children (don’t lie—you know them).

So I look around… I see at least three generations of people just sort of wandering around. They try to find some meaning to their life, or at least a reason for being on this earth. Some succeed fully, and manage to find enough whenever they take a look around. Others try and try for that one thing that can make them their best, yet never find it. For the majority, though, there are ups and downs. You’ll feel like you’re finally getting on track one day, and the next be thrown into a ditch, completely discouraged. Or you can have much milder swings—going in a general “forward” direction, then your tire will blow out and you have to pull over to evaluate the situation and change as needed.

Okay, so I once again lost the purpose of my post. But generally, find what gives you purpose, and try to achieve it. It may not work 100% of the time. Someone I care about very much has fallen on some fairly hard times because of his love for a single thing. You hold a conversation with the man, and you can tell that his entire life is dedicated to this. He’s a genius on the subject, but oftentimes, people want to talk about something else or simply misinterpret what he tells them—this causes many problems. Likewise, if you dedicate your life to taking care of your children, you may have trouble providing for them financially. If you prefer to travel the world, talking to different people and finding new experiences, there’s a chance you won’t be able to afford that lifestyle. If you decide to only make money, keep in mind that you may, in fact, become that miserly curmudgeon and lose all those close to you.

But despite all that, the important thing is to not lose sight of what you want while you’re grasping for what you need. Everyone in the world is trying to get by in whatever way they can, but remember to not give up on the things that keep you from feeling empty.

P.S. I know this isn’t the exact topic of the aforementioned book, but the topic of the book is what got me thinking about this.

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