WHAT IS THE "PURPOSE OF LIFE"?
"If I knew this…. I could not write it all down. If I thought of this… Could I ever find it in any single moment? If I heard of this… Would it to be something I could seek consciously?"
"What is the Purpose of life?"... We all desire to know this, either consciously or unconsciously. We go through our lives born into a certain kind of society that tells us from birth “This is what life is about and this is how you live it.”. If we look to the world as a whole, there are many different ways of living, languages, societies, and human adaptations to their environments. Yet, it seems that we are all going about living… to a large extent… internally and externally very much the same.
FOR EXAMPLE… We all have our “Work” (ie. profession, trade skill, service job). Whatever it is we do to sustain our lives and be an active part in our Society, Country, and Community. From this perspective, we are all a part of a large collective. We think, act, and become a lot like the people we surround ourselves by. No matter the work, if we are surrounded by positive, enthusiastic, and honorable people... we too will be so. If we are surrounded by negative people, that have lazy work ethic, are unreliable, and/or gossip... we will be that way too, or will may become that way over time.
From one standpoint or another, we surround ourselves by people like us to give us a sense of who we are. If we are surrounded by our children, we feel like a parent. When we are with our co-workers, we feel like a part of a team. If we are with our friends, we feel a connection to a group and a society as a whole. My questions are "Why do we do this…? Does it define our life’s purpose?"?
I believe that it may play a major part in our experience of our human nature, to feel connected to a part of something external to ourselves. Yet is this the "reason why we are here" or "why we are doing what we are doing"?
Essentially "Meaning/Purpose"… is what we are trying to find subconsciously in every moment of our life. We may say to ourselves... “I am at THIS PLACE to do THIS THING”. (i.e... Being at the gym, home, job, restaurant, church, natural setting… etc.) We are there for a personal subconscious reason. Yet, do we truly know why we are there consciously... and what that experience fulfills for our deeper natures?
What does it mean to ask” What is the purpose of life”? What are we trying to solve? Are we trying to find out why we experience Life, why we are at our chosen environment, and why are we in this world in all its complexities?
There are so many different aspects of Life constantly telling us... “We are like this because….” and we base our residual self-image on the observations of others' opinions & expectations of us. Combined with the continuous stream of thoughts rolling through our psyche, these things essentially create everything around us and every aspect of our experience without us being consciously aware of it most of the time.
So back to the question…" What is the purpose of life?". To understand this question, we must first define the questions “What is a Purpose?” and “What does it have to do with our lives?”. The truth is we all live on purpose at all times, either consciously or unconsciously. Yet, it is said that only the people that have a defined purpose in life are the ones who become successful in creating the life they want. On the other side, the ones that live in a state of reaction to life, or without a conscious purpose, tend to struggle in life and rarely are satisfied with the life they live.
I personally have found the purpose of "Life" to be this. Finding something meaningful enough to inspire the desire for us to become an "IDEAL SELF... LIVING OUR BEST LIFE”. To live with a conscious purpose (according to our own measure) and to be able to sit down and contemplate what aspects, hobbies, and people that bring us joy and satisfaction to our experiences.
Of course… we all have many different responsibilities in our lives. (I.e… work, families {and all that comes with that}, social obligations… etc). Though, I believe that there is a much deeper purpose and drive within all of us that we discover along our path to maturity from years of experiences with different things. When we begin to find our own "Purposes" in life... our experiences are what brings us a sense of satisfaction and desire to be the best we can in "this moment”.
I believe we all have many different purposes in life. Though, it is the "purposes" that we define ourselves with that seem to be the ones that bring the greatest sense of "Meaning" to our lives. I do not believe that a deeper purpose can be given to us. It is the journey that our soul has come into this world to experience and find with-in itself. To find a meaning to our experiences, an understanding to what we are, who we are, and to find where we fit in this complex experience we call "Life".
IN CONCLUSION … I would like to suggest, when we are able to find something that we can internally and deeply feel a desire to say “Yes!” to those questions presented in the opening lines of this essay, I believe we have found “A” purpose, in this moment in "time", and something worth living for. Whatever it is that inspires us to be "The best we can be!" in a single moment.
It's almost like... "The Purpose of Life" ... is not something we can think about. It is the ability to deeply feel connected to who we are as a “Human with Life” ... projected into every moment of our experience of it.