Peeling with Purpose

Me:  I want to write about purpose, but I just can't get started. Can you help?

Main Man: Why don't you write about making applesauce? You can use my photos.

Me:  They're great photos, but what does applesauce have to do with "purpose?"

Main Man:  Lots--more than you think.

Me: Really? Like what?

Main Man: When you make applesauce you have to be intentional. You have to decide to  do it. You may have other things to do, but you put them aside to focus on the sauce.

Me:  Okay . . . let me give that some thought.

Purpose Perspective
I must admit that my husband and I don't always think alike. In fact, sometimes I find his thoughts downright weird. Where does he come up with this stuff, I wonder. What is going on in his head?

At the same time, I have to admit that when my ruminations get stuck in a rut a fresh perspective is usually helpful. As I considered his suggestion of an analogy between making applesauce and having a sense of purpose, I decided he might actually be on to something.

According to The Blue Zones: Nine Lessons for Living Longer (Buettner, 2012), there is a correlation between having a sense of purpose and living a long, healthy, happy life. In an eleven-year, NIH-funded study led by Dr. Robert Butler, those "individuals who expressed a clear goal in life--something to get up for in the morning, something that made a difference--living longer and were sharper than those who did not" (p.282).

So, if I'm following my Main Man's thinking, intentionally--a decision--is involved with making applesauce and with living with purpose.

Purpose Defined
What is purpose? According to Richard Leider, author of The Power of Purpose, it has a lot to do with your reason for being, your aim in life. Those people who live with purpose are happier and more focused regardless of the challenges they face. It seems the more we can identify and focus on our purpose, the less stress we are likely to experience--in part because we are able to identify and extricate ourselves from choices and activities not in keeping with who we are. We are more likely to know what we want and where we are going.

According to Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, when we live with purpose we are more likely to experience "a sense of freedom, enjoyment, fulfillment, and skill," as well as the experience of losing track of time and related temporal concerns.

And the connection to making applesauce, you say?

Well, when my Main Man is engaged in making applesauce he's living in the moment, especially if he has been given the apples, as he was recently. He's thinking, "I'm making something I love and it's costing me very little." (This is spoken like the truly frugal person he is.)

He's totally absorbed in the process of washing and quartering tart, red Jonathans, simmering them on the stove, filling the kitchen with the sweet smell of warm apples, and pushing them through the puree'er into a large bowl of pink sauce. I might notice an annoying buzz from the dryer in the laundry room or the telephone ringing, but he is totally absorbed in the moment of warm, sweet-smelling applesauce.

And how does this relate to a purpose-driving life?

Perhaps we might think of it this way. If we want to live with purpose, we first must make a decision to do so. It's easy to drift along in life without giving much thought to why we are getting up in the morning, but purpose is necessary for direction. It make take some time to articulate our purpose, i.e., our personal mission statement, but once we have decided, things become easier. We put aside good choices and options for the best ones--the ones most in keeping with our values, identity and passions.

For my Main Man, who highly values frugality and fresh produce, the decision to make applesauce was an easy one. Engagement in the process enabled him to put aside other cares and concerns--a natural stress reliever. The joy of eating a bowl of warm, apple-y goodness made it all even better. 

Maybe he does know something about purpose after all. I may have to listen to him more often. He always likes that.

Saucily yours,

Dr. Jennifer Baker