Your Purpose

I wish I had some inscrutable Oriental wisdom to share with you on that, but do you love what you do? There is a big difference between being content and being in love. I had to sacrifice my career in the USMC to become what I was supposed to be: a writer. Half of me loved the Corps, but even after 10 years, it wasn't where I belonged. Just have faith that the Lord will reveal your true purpose.

For example, I had just got out of the Corps and was going to school, trying to work two jobs to support my kids and I still didn't know what I wanted to do. A friend of mine from church saw me at the bank and he mentioned the newspaper needed sports correspondents to cover h/s football. The rest they say is history.

 

You and I are going to get along just fine.

 

AB first off condolences on your loss. I had some friends commit suicide back in high school, as well as college. It sucks. Its not your fault, or even theirs...

Take this for what its worth. Your purpose in life is to love to the best extent of your nature and since you're Christian, to love in Christ past your extent (i.e. agape or divine love)...

So what is love? I suggest a good book on it is C.S. Lewis' The Four Loves...

However...lets take the question to a broader extent...take a r****ded (mentally handicapped person) Are they any less human because their reason is flawed...? Does a blind person become less of a person simply because they can't see? No...they still have the capacity to love...and that is what our purpose as humans is...

So...find out how that weaves its way into your life and do all of your actions from love, from your family, to your spouse, to your job...just make people laugh man...I know that sometimes clowns can be the saddest people...but its up to you to find that strength to reach out beyond yourself...

 

Maybe you should rent the Steve Martin movie " The Jerk "

I think he found his " Special Purpose "

( Not to mention his was born a poor black child )

 

AB, good question, with an easy answer:

Back in the days when I was learning my spiritualness, it was: My intention is to do my part in transforming the collective consciousness and revealing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

I've toned it down some to this:

To be the best I can be. To be as joyful as I can be. To be as happy as can be.

Maybe the latter two are one in the same...who knows.

Although my purpose can sound selfish, but when I'm at my best, joyful and happy, it spreads like wild flowers (hey, I like that analogy).

RR

 

I'm so sorry to hear about that, Another Brother. I had two friends commit suicide in high school, so I know you're going through a brutally hard time right now. If there's anything I can do to help, email me.

I'll keep you in my thoughts. Good luck...

 

The Timeless Universe exits on a scale that renders an individual life less than insignificant. Seeking a purpose that somehow affects the external world is an exercise in futility.

The perception of one's own life, while living it, is the only relevent judgement, the only measure of success or failure.
Being happy is your only purpose.

 

Hedonism, right?

 

i don't post in this forum, but it's impossible for this one to be confrontational.

sorry about your losses, ab. i've never been in a situation where i've lost friends or close relatives, but i can understand why you'd ask the question afterwards.

just want to say thanks for posting this topic. i've been sitting here typing and deleting and typing and deleting and so on... for the past 30 to 40 minutes on a response that i ended up just deleting in the end. too thought provoking, but your question was helpful in a way.

 

It's tough to lose people you care deeply about when they're relatively young and have most of their lives ahead of them. It's not any easier to lose the ones who have lived a full and fairly long life, but at least you feel a little better later... thinking that they had a good run while it lasted.

I've lost both kinds of friends and relatives.
One of my best friends moved over a thousand miles away recently, and he's got a problem with depression. I could always tell when he'd stopped taking his medication and started going into those black moods. I worry about him, since I'm not around to help, but there's a limit to what you can do.

You can lose a close companion in a car wreck or they can lose their life by wrecking themselves. You do what you can, but there is always a limit to what that is. Ultimately, each of us has to keep ourselves as safe as fate and luck allows.

And a little help from our friends.

 

My purpose in life is make my own purpose.

 

"We were made to love..."
-Switchfoot

 

Did ya already apply for the Fall 2004?

 

Only if you consider, say, Mother Theresa Hedonistic. Or Bob Marley, or Michael Jordan or Bruce Springsteen, or John Astin during the Gomez years.

 

To make the world a better place, prove to Allah I am a worthy, and to reproduce.

 

I think your goals 1 and 3 are by definition conflicting...

 

From Mr. Dalai Lama:

I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy.

From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor
ideology affect this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment. I don't know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars and planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but at the very least, it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves.

Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.

 

That dude is ripping off my shtick!

 

My purpose is to take care of my wife and family. That is it. That is all I care about and all I have to have to be happy. Everything else is just secondary except maybe the rockets.

 

That's what I am often told