Time and Place Are Key to the Search for Happiness and Meaning
“The world is made up of times and places — any time can be yours, any place can be yours, too. It’s all about looking for our time and place in this world.”
The times and places that comprise our world can give us a sense of meaning.
For as long as we’re alive, we’ll be given the opportunities we need to find that sense of meaning in our lives. (And yes, even amid a pandemic.)
This very moment is a time and place.
What do we choose to do with it?
Lisa A. Williams writes on finding meaning in life for an article in The Conversation.
One truth about most of our lives is that we tend to engage ourselves in short-term well-being only.
But if we were to pursue real meaning, that would entail searching for something that lasts in the long run.
A study was conducted by Andrew Steptoe and Daisy Fancourt for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where over 7,000 residents in the UK above the age of 50 were tasked to answer a range of questions on their lives and lifestyles, such as:
“What advantage might having a strong sense of meaning in life afford a few years down the road?”
Of these 7,000 participants, there were those who reported lower risks of things such as divorce and living alone, as well as increased social connections, relationships, and engagement with others and increased healthful habits like exercising regularly and consuming more fruits and vegetables; — naturally, these are the people who reported having a larger sense of meaning in their lives.
One question we might ask is: Are these people happy?
Does “meaning” equate to happiness?
Williams writes that: it depends. Meaning and happiness are two things that overlap, and in a study done by social psychologist Roy Baumeister, we are given a simple distinction between meaning vs. happiness:
“…Satisfying basic needs promotes happiness, but not meaning.”
“…Linking a sense of self across one’s past, present, and future promotes meaning, but not happiness.”
Maybe, in this sense, it’s helpful to think that happiness is not meaning and meaning is not happiness… in the sense that they've achieved through different means.
But we can definitely pursue and find contentment (happiness) and meaning (purpose) by expanding what we do with our lives. That is, not limiting ourselves through close-mindedness, and being open to many experiences.
1. We can find contentment or happiness by satisfying our needs;
2. We can find meaning by developing a sense of self.
Clearly this takes a sort of self-awareness — an understanding of who we are and where we stand.
Williams notes three components of “meaning”: purpose, significance, and coherence.
With self-awareness, we’re better able to understand the answers to three questions in line with these aspects:
1. What is my purpose? What are my goals? What direction do I wish to take?
2. How is my life significant? What can I do to make it significant? How can I see the value, worth, and importance of my life? What things indicate this significance?
3. What is my routine? How does my life all tie in together with the things that I do each day? (And should anything be changed or adjusted?)
By answering these questions, and really reflecting on them (Now’s your opportunity), we get to understand ourselves better. We get to re-evaluate the process of our lives.
But at the end of the day, “happiness” or “meaning” are two things that aren’t pursued as an end-goal, as Williams writes.
The truth? Maybe we’ll never even arrive there.
“The world is made up of times and places — any time can be yours, any place can be yours, too. It’s all about looking for our time and place in this world.”
Instead, we are given times and places in our lives — many of them. And all of these are opportunities to search for happiness and meaning.
Rather than thinking of these things as our end-goal, we should view the course of our lives as a constant flux of activity.
Happiness is more closely achieved by satisfying basic needs — and so, we must understand what those basic needs are;
Meaning is more closely achieved by understanding our identity — so, it would help to understand the answer to the question: Who am I?
Aside from reflection, as shown by research, more meaning can be applied to our lives by choosing a good routine, or making better choices:
1. Develop relationships with people. Make genuine connections. Keep in touch.
2. Make a better choice of exercising regularly and eating healthy.
These two simple things, as Steptoe and Fancourt prove, are very helpful in finding meaning in life.
“Do I know who I am?”
“Do I know what I want?”
“Do I know what I need?”
“Do I have people I can share this journey with?”
If the answer is yes, perhaps “meaning” is much closer than you think.
