Regaining purpose

The New Year approaches, but this is a completely manmade event. Christmas has just passed, and it is manufactured as well.

But we all sense that something momentous happens this time of year, every year. It is in our blood, we feel the tides of the planet. The shortest day of the year has just occurred. The sun has just begun to once more make its northerly trek. In the Northern Hemisphere, we are entering the depths of winter. The coldest months are to come, even as the days grow longer and the shadows shorter.

We are disconnected from our agrarian past. But on the few remaining family farms, ancient duties are still completed. The root cellar is full of apples, potatoes, turnips, beets, carrots, onions, and winter squash. The shelves are stocked with canned tomatoes, green beans, corn, and peppers. Cabbage has been rendered into sauerkraut, excess apples into cider.

In the barn, cows low in contentment as they munch their hay, stored sunshine providing nutrition in these dark, short, cold days. The silo is full of aromatic chopped corn, more sustenance for these beasts which will provide milk and cream and butter and beef to the family.

The woodshed is stacked with cord after cord of split and dried hardwood. Burning in several woodstoves (fireplaces are too inefficient), the farmhouse is kept warm through the frigid winter nights and days.

All this munificence was accumulated with arduous work during the long days of summer and more. It may seem an embarrassment, but the store of food must last, not until spring, but until the first garden crops are harvested, perhaps six months hence.

Always working for the future, planning ahead, every season preparing for the next one and the next after that. We northerners had a keen sense of past, present, and future.

But it’s all different now. Cold? Just turn up the thermostat. Hungry? A quick trip to Domino’s or Stop and Shop. Bored? Easily addressed with Netflix or Facebook.

Our lives have become so easy in terms of raw survival. Not simple, but easy. The purposeful efforts of keeping oneself and one’s family fed and sheltered and warm have morphed into a general one of “get a job and keep it.” This has resulted in some significant angst, a lack of satisfaction, of purpose missed.

In this modern age, as our New Year approaches, what can we resolve to increase our happiness?

Here are some ideas, really quite basic.

1. Improve your health.

Eat a healthy diet at least half of which is fruits and vegetables. Consume whole wheat or multigrain breads and pastas. More fish and less beef. Eschew sugar. (That means avoid, not chew).

Run or walk vigorously. While 30 minutes a day is good, an hour or more may become habit forming.

Lift a few weights, increase your strength.

2. Socialize with friends

Research has proven that those with a wide circle of friends are not only happier, but live longer too. Join a club. Volunteer. Become a regular at a local coffee house or hot dog stand. There are many ways to make friends.

3. Expand your horizons.

Spend a weekend in your local large city (e.g., Boston, New York). Museums. Restaurants. Art galleries. Food for the body and the mind. Gain perspective, appreciate the variety and complexity of the human endeavor.

4. Adopt the AMP rule

Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose. Daniel Pink in his 2009 book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us,” theorized the factors that motivate us. Meant as a guide for managers intending to inspire their employees, it can also be your guide to inspiration in life.

Autonomy describes our desire to be independent, self-directed.

Mastery is the achievement of solid skills, know-how, confidence.

Purpose is the application of autonomy and mastery to something that matters, to accomplish something that has meaning.

Apply these factors to your life, choose your career and job with them in mind.

Think about the 19^th century New England farm family, working hard but happily to provide for themselves. They ticked all of the boxes above, it was a natural outcome of their world, and resulted in deep satisfaction.

We can do the same, but our evolved technologies separate us from the natural world and natural labors and require us to work at deriving fulfillment.

Foregoing are a few ideas on how to increase your satisfaction in the new year. Only you can decide if it’s worth it.