Why is purpose essential?
We are value directed, goal-driven beings. We need to have a vision of where we are going to be able to get out of bed in the morning. Life is seemingly arbitrary, which can be one of two things:
Meaningless
Extraordinarily meaningful.
The choice here is ours. Because we as humans are meaning-making machines, we can choose to make the meanings we want that bring us the most joy and happiness possible. We can find purpose in the most seemingly menial tasks. We need to see this purpose to establish and sustain our drive toward an end goal that we find sacrifice worthwhile.