What My Puppy Taught Me About Purpose

04.12.25

3 weeks ago, my wife and I got a border collie, and despite him being the cutest dog ever, we weren’t prepared for all the chaos, lol.

Within a week, we were sleep-deprived and decided to look for a dog trainer.

We already knew that border collies are smart and need to be stimulated, but apparently, we were doing it all wrong, and that’s why he was constantly anxious.

But after we learned how to channel his energy through tricks and obedience training, he started feeling much calmer.

It’s amazing how happy he feels when he’s learning new tricks and being challenged.

He’s constantly looking at me, asking to learn, and when I don’t do it enough, he feels bored, and the anxiety comes back.

• Here’s a clip of Sterling with 2 weeks of training

This got me thinking about how border collies have an inherent sense of purpose. They’re meant to work, herd sheep, and can perform several tasks.

When they’re aligned with this instinct, they feel happy. When they aren’t, they feel restless, frustrated, angry, and dull.

What’s striking is that human beings are the exact same way.

A lot of people experience a lack of meaning because they have tons of misplaced creative energy.

But when you don’t use your creativity, it rots inside, and when you don’t develop your talents, you feel purposeless.

That’s why living a meaningful life can be quite simple.

All we have to do is find what we’re good at, devote time and energy to develop our crafts, and be in the service of other people and the greater good.

Carl Jung explores this under the guise of the theological aspect of the psyche.

In other words, individuation entails being aligned with our inherent purpose and directing our creative potential.

Individuation requires movement and being fully involved with life, our relationships, and actively realizing our potential.

The main problem is that people tend to waste a lot of time trapped inside their heads, practicing living life instead of actually carving their own paths.

But the moment you get out of your own way and allow yourself to experiment, everything starts flowing, and the Flow State is a great guide in this process of finding meaning.

But to experience Flow, we must push to the edge of our abilities, move in the direction of our fears, and have devotion to our crafts.

That’s when you feel inspired to create and achieve that effortless state, even when the obstacle seems insurmountable.

To live meaningfully, we must actively give life to the creative elements of our personality and allow them to overflow into our relationships and crafts, and not distantly philosophize about them.

Yeah, dogs seem to have it all figured out.

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Rafael Krüger – Live an Audacious Life

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