In my previous article, I wrote about the alarming rate at which Namibia is losing men to suicide and the importance of perseverance in the face of hardship.
This raises an important question: What exactly are men persevering for?
Much of the conversation around men’s mental health focuses on what men should stop doing. Stop suffering in silence. Stop suppressing emotions. Stop isolating themselves from others.
However, there is another side to the discussion that receives far less attention: Men need something to carry.
One observation that repeatedly emerges in discussions around men’s well-being is that many struggle when they lose their sense of purpose, direction, or usefulness. Work loses meaning. Goals disappear. Responsibilities fall away. The future becomes difficult to see.
What follows is often a gradual decline.
Purpose matters because it provides context to hardship. Difficult circumstances become easier to endure when they are attached to something larger than the discomfort itself.
A demanding job becomes more tolerable when it supports a family. Long hours of studying become worthwhile when they are tied to a future career. Financial sacrifices feel different when they are connected to a goal that genuinely matters.
The hardship does not disappear. The meaning attached to it changes.
This is why purpose should not be confused with achievement. Achievements are milestones. Purpose is direction. You can achieve a goal and still feel lost. Purpose survives beyond individual successes and failures because it exists independently of them.
For many men, the challenge is not simply finding happiness. It is finding something meaningful enough to carry through difficult seasons. Something that gives structure to effort and direction to sacrifice.
That purpose will differ from person to person. For some it is family. For others it is faith, service, community, business, education, craftsmanship, or the pursuit of mastery in a chosen field.
The specific purpose matters less than the fact that it exists.
Men were not built to drift endlessly through life reacting to circumstances. We function best when moving towards something.
– Johannes Shangadi is a Namibian legal professional and managing consultant at Strategic Corporate Advisory Namibia.
