What might my search for meaning be telling me?

You may have achieved things that are widely seen as signs of success: qualifications, career progress, financial security, possessions or the respect of other people. Yet these things do not always bring the fulfilment we expected.

A life can look successful from the outside while feeling empty within. We may sense that we are moving in the wrong direction, living according to other people’s expectations or becoming someone different from the person we truly want to be.

These feelings may be inviting us to reconsider what success really means. The experiences that give life its deepest meaning are often love, friendship, service, truth, creativity, compassion and helping another person.

We may also have private hopes or desires that are not valued by the outside world and bring none of the rewards that others recognise as success. Yet these quieter longings may reveal what matters most deeply to us and the kind of person we truly want to become.

Our search for purpose may therefore be asking more than what we want to achieve. It may be asking who we are becoming, what kind of life is truly worth living and whether we were made for something greater.