Purpose Project

Our attendees working on their purpose worksheets. 

In my developmental psychology classes, we are expected to carry out a group project, informing the public about an area that we feel is important. My group and I decided to do a project on the importance of purpose. We were intending to do it for both college students and the elderly, but ended up only working with seniors.

We put together a power point and made an appointment at Carrington Pointe. We prepared worksheets for the residents to do that would help them think about their purpose, and we also prepared a survey.

When we first got there, I was very nervous that we wouldn't have anyone show up. Kamran and I went out and talked with the residents as they finished their dinner and were able to recruit people to come with us to our seminar. Kamran is six foot seven and very attractive, so all the ladies were flocking around him anyway.

By the time we were done recruiting, the room was filled to capacity. Our typical attendee was late eighties, early nineties. There were three men and the rest were women. We had thought that the presentation would be about 30 minutes, but it ended up being about an hour. Our power point had slides of various senior family members from some of my teammates and I. We each shared stories about seniors with purpose in our lives who touched us and impacted the lives of others. We also discussed how important contributions can be small things or big things. The participants asked questions of us, and shared stories from their own lives. It was truly, truly amazing.

The primary message was that having a sense of purpose can help us get up in the morning, fight off depression and illness, help us work through grief, bless the lives of others, keep us motivated. It was all based on research and materials from our text, and it hit home with many of the seniors.

Some of the comments we received were very touching. They said they couldn't believe that there were young people who cared enough to come and talk to them. One sweet lady said that she had forgotten about her purpose in life. Another said she was so glad to have her purpose written down where she could see it. Several people told us that this workshop was very inspiring and made them feel young again, in the sense that there was still more that they could do in this life rather than just wait to die. All of us were really moved by the experience. It was so worthwhile!! I loved it so much, I'm thinking of working on a presentation to use in all of the facilities here locally, for staff and clients, and calling it the Purpose Project.

What if you could change someone's life? What if you are not done touching the lives of others, but only beginning? What if God's plans for you are bigger than the plans you have for yourself?