Having a purpose in life is often considered a way to live life to its full potential. This sentiment almost makes it seem unnecessary to have a true purpose, as if life is manageable without one. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Purpose is actually one of the four main components that determines our personal human condition. If we forego purpose and try to subsist on a totally uninspired life, it will deteriorate us from the inside out. Living without purpose is toxic to our personal condition and can actually depreciate the quality of our health, spirituality and personal relationships.

Without purpose, we struggle to feel a sense of worth and usefulness. It is innately human to attribute value to one’s self based on one’s talents, intellect or ability. In general, people are aware of what they are good at or in what ways they are intelligent, and they strive to make use of their abilities in their vocations. One enormous frustration with capitalistic values is that people cannot always make a living at their talents and are forced into vocations that do not meet their need to be purposeful. This is often referred to as “giving up on your dreams,” but the question is, is it the individual who gives up on their dreams or is it society that gives up on the individual? Humanity would be much happier if everyone was filling their time with the things they considered meaningful instead of lowering themselves from their talents in order to make a living.

The other thing about having purpose in life is that it occupies our talents and minds in the way they were meant to be occupied. People are aware that their personal talents are where their full potential lies. Our brains all have different areas of development which gives us our incredible diversity of talent and ability. Finding one’s purpose in life involves matching up these talents with a legitimate vocation that a person can spend their lifetime focusing on, which will keep their interest better than any other pursuit. When a person is forced to settle for a vocation that does not make use of their true abilities, they are condemned to a life of feeling unsatisfied and not using the most developed parts of their brain. The moral is, a purposeful life is worth fighting for, even if the cards are stacked against you.