Finding Purpose

I think that one of life's greatest mysteries is when a human being attempts to discover what is their purpose of existence. There comes a point in every person's life when they ask themselves if they are important at all, and ponder whether or not they matter in the grand scheme of the universe. We all wonder, whether in the years of puberty, or the age of retirement, for what specific purpose we as humans were placed here on the planet Earth. Several questions arise when attempting to discover our purpose. The first, is 'Who will be affected by my purpose?'. The second, is 'How will my purpose help to better the world?'. The third, and most important of course, is 'How do I find out my purpose?'. Let us look at these three questions in further detail.

The first question, 'Who will be affected by my purpose?', can be answered easily enough. Anyone who is attached to you through friendship, caring, and love. These can be people you have perhaps never met before. These can be people you will meet with in twenty years, and who with at the moment you are oblivious. If you were to ask me: 'Will you love your future wife?', the answer I would give of course, would be yes. However, if I do not know my future wife - how can I make such a statement? What if I have met this person already, and am unaware that in the future our paths will intertwine? It is not only a matter of who you love at this moment, on this day, in this universe. It is also a matter of every single person you will come to love and share your life with for the duration of your existence. Those are the people who will be affected by your purpose in the world. In turn, it is my belief that your purpose will affect them, and their purpose will affect you, and you will both share what you have gained from the other with everyone else in your life.

The second question asks 'How will be purpose help better the world?'. Millions of people go through life, and the majority of it is spent working to support a family, or working to support themselves. Many people go through eighty or more years simply existing and surviving. There is a distinct difference between living and existing. Living is contrived of the things in life which change people forever, including their outlooks on life. While not everyone may become a Gandhi, Mother Teresa, or Jesus Christ, we can, within our own social contacts, spread wisdom and knowledge we have obtained throughout our life. It is my belief that any goodness you can spread, any joy that you can share, and any happiness that you can cause, helps to better the world. Yes, you are but one individual of billions, but remember, you can make a difference even by making one person smile throughout the day. One such simple connection can make a link of love (albeit a very small one), and such links are what connect people to a greater force and power which I believe is the driving force of the universe.

Finally, we come to the conclusion. 'How do I find my purpose?' is the most important question of all. People sometimes spend their entire lives attempting to figure out for what reason they were created. The most important thing to note is that depending on where you are born, and depending on what kind of life you are handed (because I assure you they are all vastly disparate) your purpose will automatically differ. That is not to say that you have a pre-determined purpose, or that you cannot shape and mold your purpose in to whatever you wish. For that, is exactly the belief which I believe to be true. Your purpose, my friend, is whatever you wish it to be. If you wish to be a messenger of kindness and goodness throughout the world, then you may be one. If you wish to be a reporter of love, and teach thousands of people that they contain within themselves the potential, the motive, and the willpower to achieve what their hearts desire, then you may be so. All it takes is a strong sense of heart, and an even stronger sense of self. Perhaps you will never know anyone in your life as well as you know yourself. And you should of course never love anyone (not even family or those joined in matrimony) more than you love yourself. This is the most important task that humans must execute at some point in their existence. They must all at some point come to the realization that you are the most important person to yourself, and that you alone have the choice of purpose.