- Do you often ponder what is the purpose in life?
- What are you working for so hard?
- Would you be able to achieve what you want?
- Do you doubt whether you will be able to achieve your purpose in life?
- Are you bothered being surrounded by these questions?
You need to seek answers!
Many of you just go with the flow, surrendering to your situation or circumstances. It is not a wrong way to live life, rather it is a good way to live a peaceful life. You are not questioning yourself, but just flowing with the flow. But an enriched life is to define your “purpose” in life as this adds so much value to your life. Life becomes so much more accomplished, meaningful, and joyous.
But the bigger question is “Who defines purpose in your life”? In simple terms – It is you who are the best one to define the purpose of your life. George Bernard Shaw said, “This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.”
Whatever your purpose in life may be and whatever you want to achieve, it is important to analyse the reasons for those things. The reasons for what you want to have and to achieve are your “why.” Your why is intimately tied to your purpose in life.
Now you will say that it is easier said than done! It is, defining purpose or objective in life is quite difficult than it seems. Strangely, most of the time we wander through life without any real purpose of our own. At times we do achieve great things and have the appearance of having a wonderful life. We may even have every material thing, we could ever want and be successful in our careers, businesses, and everything else.
But, as many who have achieved success will tell you, you can still feel empty inside and your life can still lack real meaning. When you look at your swanky home, luxury car, vacation in exotic locations, and many such comforts you have acquired for a comfortable life…you still feel that something is amiss? If you do, you need to think and re-think, what was the purpose of your life? Have you added value to your life by doing those things that would have enhanced your happiness quotient? Have you made a child smile? Have you planted enough trees? Are your parents happy?
Does that set your thinking that have you achieved a purpose in your life? You are famous. So what? You have lots of luxury cars. So what? You are number one in your area of expertise. So what? You have the biggest or best company in the country. So what? You are wealthy beyond your wildest dreams. So what?
Achievement, wealth, and recognition in themselves are useless if they do not answer the “why” question. Why? Because the reason for doing something is ultimately more important than what is done.
According to me, every living being has a purpose in life. All of these have come to do some tasks be it trees, ants, bees, or birds, and every living thing has a purpose for being. Each plays its little part in the delicate architecture of life. Every good invention or good tool answers a question. Technology answers the why question – it is an answer to someone’s problem.
Only we humans whatever you believe their origin to be, are the greatest of all of nature’s wonders. Why are most of them so purposeless in their existence? The Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius asks: “Everything, a horse, a vine, is created for some duty…For what task, then, were you created?”
But the ultimate truth is that many humans exist simply to exist. They live year in and year out as though living itself is our goal. If we make enough money and have enough things to get us through to the next year we are satisfied. But is there more to our lives than that? How can something so wonderfully made and endowed with potential as you are simply here to just exist? What is your contribution to the world? Is your being here making any difference to anyone? Are you inundated with such questions, then you are different from the rest. This self-questioning makes you stand out. You are way above the rest. At least you have started thinking about the purpose of your life.
The problem begins when you are part of the herd mentality. You do not want to think about any specific purpose in life. Just live with the status quo. No trouble with that, but if you are waiting for some miraculous experience that will tell you why you are here and what you must do. Such moments do occur for some people, but they are the exception and not the rule. The fact is, most people already have the starting point for knowing their purpose in life.
If you are one of them, you are at it – crystalizing purpose in your life!
Now that you have a defined purpose in life –
Be HappyHo!
