Reviewing Irvin Yalom’s book “The Gift of Therapy”, his insights on purpose in life are inspiring (ch 44 – spotify link). The Buddha instructs to immerse oneself into the river of life, and let the question drift away. Schopenhauer warns against simply wishing for something in the future. Instead, complete small tasks confidently, inch-by-inch. Being engaged in the process towards future goals brings fulfilling Eudaimonia. Then you-don’t-moan-anymore, living The Good Life. Don’t expect the end result to bring happiness. It won’t last. Russ Harris in “The Happiness trap”, concurs (ch 4).
Dive in – drift away
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Irving Yalom’s concurs with Jung that a huge proportion of his clients are seeking meaning and purpose in life (MPL). Yalom’s advice is to approach the topic from a sideways, oblique angle, rather than tackling it head-on. This is how MPL differs from most other reasons people come to therapy. For topics like bereavement, addiction, relationship issues, etc, it is usually best to focus on targeted efforts to fix the underlying cause of distress. Whereas MPL is more illusory.
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