2.6 Summary
Key Takeaways
- Meaning and purpose are fundamental to the pursuit of wellness.
- Meaning is the significance or value we attach to our experiences and understanding of why life matters.
- Purpose is the direction and motivation that drives our actions toward meaningful goals.
- Meaning can emerge through experiences or can be actively created.
- A strong sense of purpose fosters resilience, helping individuals grow from adversity and persist through challenges.
- Relationships with family and community, personal growth, meaningful work, spirituality, helping others, creative expression, and overcoming challenges can foster meaning and purpose.
- Meaning and purpose may evolve depending on which stage of life an individual is in.
- Barriers to meaning and purpose can hinder personal growth but also offer opportunities for reflection, resilience, and transformative action.
Key Terms
- Meaning: The significance or value we assign to our lives and experiences (the “why”).
- Purpose: The reason or intention behind our actions; what we aim to achieve (the “how”).
- Positive Psychology: Understanding and promoting positive emotions, meaningful experiences, resilience, personal growth, and optimal functioning, factors that contribute to individual and collective well-being with the goal of helping individuals and communities thrive by enhancing happiness, life satisfaction, and overall quality of life.
- Flow: When a person becomes so focused and engaged in a challenging yet fulfilling activity that they lose track of time (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
- Mindfulness: Focusing one’s attention on the present moment by being fully aware of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and the surrounding environment without trying to change them.
- Resilience: Adapting and growing stronger in the face of adversity, stress, or trauma by developing the capacity to cope effectively and move forward in a positive way.
