Purpose, tell us the creators of wikipedia, "in its most general sense is the anticipated aim which guides action." Do I have one; do you? And how is mine different from yours? We are all born, and we will all die... That is one purpose that every life has, that is one rule that every living thing must follow, a destiny that will be fulfilled.
On a timeline if birth and death were two dots then a life could be any form that joins those two points. What is different is the shape, size, colour and texture of that shape joining those two dots. Intersecting with possibly millions of other such forms. So by that rationale, the straighter the line, the more boring and purpose-less would one's existence be. All that everyone wants is to be happy, to be remembered. To have another line running parallel to theirs. What is important is to have a goal, and the will to pursue it. If you're brave enough, and patient enough, have just the right number of blown fuses, you just might make it.
The Pursuit of Purpose
But wait, let's back up a little. No one is born with a purpose, and if they are, then they are most certainly born unaware of such a thing. The only exceptions being Jesus Christ and all the avtaars Lord Raam, assuming they were in fact, born. So one must begin with the pursuit of a purpose. If you're lucky, you'll be provided with the tools required to achieve, or at least pursue, with some comfort, that reason for your existence; Enter Education; Schools, Colleges, Speciality Colleges, Super-speciality Colleges, Universities and what not.
Now that almost half of our life is over, and we're almost certainly convinced that life is all about career, a job, making-it-big and all, we're almost certainly convinced that the purpose of our lives is to earn money. Who gives a shit about that guy rotting in a pile of his own shit and piss down on the road, right?
"That's not my problem, God chose to punish him, god gave him an infectious rash, god amputated his limbs, god deformed his face, god left him here on earth to remind me of how lucky I am."
"Oh, and just between you and me, I don't believe in god. I just use him as and when required."
The Top Ten Purposes
- Money
- Money
- Money
- Fame
- Money
- Money
- Money
- A lil more Money
- Just a lil more...
- "There's just no end to what I can buy" more...
Let's see now, did I cover it all? I suppose I did. Who do I blame it on? My parents... they measure my success by how much money I earn. And they're not the only ones... It's not their fault really, cuz that's what their parents thought. The only difference... 50 years ago, a girl's success was linked to her husband's... And now, both prefer to maintain, and top-up their own bank accounts.
The Anti-theory
I regret to inform the readers who have been agreeing thus far, that the purpose of life is not to earn money, and your success will not be measured by how much damage your savings brought to the earth's crust, assuming you go the Scrooge McDuck way. You were born, and you will die, and you won't get to take a penny with you. It doesn't matter how pretty your presentations were, or how many of your clients loved you, or if you wrote the best programs on earth. Nobody give a f**k !
All you need, is to be remembered, and if you wanna be remembered for your money then stop wasting time reading this post and go earn some more of it. I want to be remembered for what a loving, caring person I was and how I touched lives by my kindness and selfless nature. Probably a little too much... considering the fact that I look more like an ogre who's out to eat, or at least kill everyone... But who cares, right? I probably don't want to go to villages in Africa or Afghanistan, heck why even leave my country, there's enough famine and misery here...
I just want to love someone with all my heart and if that person would love me back even half as much then I would've acheived the purpose of my life. I thought I had that... I was so close... But alas... that tale's for a different post...
So am I stupid if I want the purpose of my life to be something as trivial as making someone smile everyday? If I want to see her, and make happy all the time? Am I being stupid? It makes me happy to watch the person I love sleep with a peaceful smile on her face, wondering about what she's dreaming... I loved the millions of tiny little things she did that I found incredibly cute...
Sub-Purposes
What does one do when he acheives the goal of his life? Would I just sit on my ass and do nothing then? Of course not! With the wings that the discovery of this"love" gave me I would want it all, and I would go get it all ! A sub-purpose ! When you find something that matter, when you find someone who means the world to you, you do everything in your power to keep them around, to keep them happy, to keep them smiling, to fulfill all of their dreams... No? I guess not... But these sub-purposes are tiny goals that one yearns to achieve and to hang on to. The scariest thing then, would be, that after you've fixed a goal for your life, goal decides to pack it's bags and move away because she believes you're not ambitious enough... because you don't want anything more from life... cuz you don't want to make it big, whatever the fuck that means....
I suppose you can't blame anyone but yourself... So it's probably better to just be chasing the money train instead of anything else... What do I know... I'm just a scared lil 27 year old man who hasn't a clue about what's coming next... Who knows what other twists and turns more would lead me to my last dot... All I wanted was to be happy, instead of being rich or at least trying to be all the time...
