My Purpose in Life
Image by Gerd Altmann
This is my entry to The 31 Sentence Contest Round 8 by @tristancarax. It is a contest based on creating a story with 31 sentences exactly, and each sentence has a set number of words allowed. For more information on joining the challenge see this post:
My Purpose in Life
Do you wonder about existence, why you’re here and if you have a purpose? Is seeking your purpose then your most compelling life’s quest? Am I describing you? If so, and you are sure that you have a purpose for being here, would you say that yours is an assigned purpose or a purpose that you chose?
It wouldn’t be an assigned purpose if we’re not aware of the purpose from the start. It wouldn’t make sense having an assigned purpose that’s kept from us. While there may be a delay in grasping full understanding, knowledge of an assigned purpose shouldn’t require a painstakingly difficult “search.”
Image by OpenClipart-VectorsThe suggestions I’ve brought up are harmonious with religious dogma, but does our assigned purpose extend outside the religious realm? I can’t answer that question, because I haven’t taken the time to explore and poll the opinions inside both the religious and secular communities.
What I’m writing here is basically my opinion. It’s not science.
I’ve always been a bit perplexed by the purposeful folks that I’ve encountered. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been assigned a purpose.
I’ve done lots of things, some boring, some exciting, some relaxing, and some were intense. None cried out as my purpose. None said, “Hey look at me over here, I’m here to guide you and make sure you’re on the right path to me, your purpose.”
This has caused me to seriously ponder whether some of us don’t get a purpose; or at least, not an assigned purpose.
Image by Christian Dorn
Is there something drastically wrong with me that I didn’t receive notification of a purpose that my life should be wrapped around my every waking moment? I wonder.
Could the fact that I’ve not been inspired to search for my special purpose be even more depraved than I could imagine, making me a bad person who’s unworthy of purpose? As it is, I can only come to the conclusion that I’ve been left stranded without purpose.
Well, that’s not true really, since once again, this whole subject and its many inroads into the way we process life and its wonders, comes from those who speak philosophically.
I’m not suggesting there’s something wrong with philosophy, as though it’s a subject that is unworthy to study. I’m also not suggesting philosophy is pointless. The fact that there aren’t a lot of philosopher jobs around doesn’t even matter when we’re discussing the importance many recognize in the words of the ancient philosophers.
Value. It’s there, but you may have to overlook things you weren’t aware of at the time you initially answered the call and didn’t understand the language spoken. If you do understand, then was the very purpose of the call achieved, or were just the basics ingested?
It’s up to you, really.
We can philosophize over all of life’s subjects, meanings, outcomes, etc.
It all boils down to living – for some it’s the “allowable” quality of life that isn’t quality at all – just a different philosophy.
My Purpose in Life © free-reign 2020
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nteresting your post.
It made me reflect on my life and its purpose.
I think when I stopped looking for him, it was when I felt a release.
The hardest part was that my family got used to my new lifestyle.
If I feel like eating, I sleep if I feel like it and what I can't solve I leave in the hands of a force that I call God.
I live like this for some years and so far I have never felt that this formula has failed me.
It has allowed me to live without complications and enjoy more pleasant and peaceful moments.
Congratulations on a Curie vote!
Thank you for reading my post and your wonderful comment! I think you have found the path to happiness @mariita52! Best wishes to you!
You have garnered support from the @bananafish community. We appreciate you're fine work and hope that you will continue to produce awesome content for us to feast our minds on.
Thank you @bananafish community!
An entertaining and well-written piece. Well done.
I can't say I've found any purpose in my life and imagine that's the case for a lot of people. We're born, we live, we die and very few of us do anything of significance between birth and death. Perhaps most of us are just extras in someone else's play, someone who has found or has been given a purpose.
Perhaps most of us are just extras in someone else's play-no, no, a thousand times no! Pawns! Toys or building blocks in the hands of the master manipulators... no!!!
Just when I start believing nothing matters and we have no purpose, something in my soul revolts and I'm back to shaking my puny fist of rage at the powers that be. *What powers?
Let me know if you figure out who they are. :)
Thank you! I could see it for people who are exceptionally great at doing one thing better than anyone else can do the same thing. Lots of people say, "I was born to do this," whatever it is, and then maybe they see that as their purpose, at which they are incredibly good.
But I'm with you, I'm getting a bit old at this point to be finding a purpose I'm supposed to have, so I probably am an extra, lol!
Leave it to @free-reign to get us thinking!
I have heard it said that if you do not follow your destiny, the universe will drag you kicking and screaming until you do. Have you been kicking and screaming? Perhaps you are meeting your purpose and don't know it. Is passion the same as purpose? You suggest that in this piece.
I'm the opposite of you. I had an intense passion for food, especially the sweet stuff, and spent day and night happily pursuing excellence in the field of food for decades. I made money! I made friends! I had it all!
But I am being dragged kicking and screaming now, toward what I do not know. I think despite my feeling I was living my purpose, my destiny, I was not. That is still to be found.
Everybody's wondering what and where we all come from Iris DeMent. (Not sure I spelled her name write or if she wrote the song, but she sang it and it's one of my faves)
Wow, wow, wow,
one measure of a good story is the quality (and quantity!) of comments it inspires. By this measure, you've struck a gold mine, @free-reign. Owasco, this is beyond awesome,
*** if you do not follow your destiny, the universe will drag you kicking and screaming until you do. Have you been kicking and screaming? Perhaps you are meeting your purpose and don't know it. Is passion the same as purpose?***
And the part where you thought you'd found your purpose and all was well (or seemed to be well) but you were dragged kicking and screaming to some OTHER purpose....
#wow!!!
You are right @carolkean, @owasco leaves great comments as a rule it seems, and they're much appreciated always! She revealed quite a lot on this subject in her great, thought-provoking comment!
Ha ha, I really haven't kicked or screamed at any part of my life (unless I did as an infant). I've never felt I could have approached life from a better angle or that I messed up somewhere along the way. And it is certainly possible i am meeting but not comprehending my purpose. I think passion can be our purpose, as the passionate do not back down easily from anything they feel deserves their attention.
It's very interesting that you thought you were pursuing your purpose, but then later discovering that you possibly weren't pursuing your real purpose with the food gig, and now you must search for your real purpose. I think your comment adds a lot of understanding on what this post is about.
Nice song!
I think perhaps our life's purpose changes. I had learned what it was I needed to learn, and it was time to evolve more fully. I have been blessed with significant challenges after four decades of a charmed life. Now my life is hard, very hard. Or is it? It's not what I wanted, it's not what I imagined, it's not what my friends have, but I am a kinder more patient person, and far less self motivated.
Everybody's wondering. Isn't Iris wonderful? thank you for taking the time to find this recording of her. I adore her.
I think my mindset concerning purpose - that I haven't been able to recognize one tailor-made for me - may actually represent my purpose in life, sort of like a jack-of-all-trades purpose. It must be that, if following our assigned purpose brings happiness to us.
Yes, she certainly is! I had heard the name before, but had never heard her music. You sure picked a great one as a first listen. I loved this song immediately and that doesn't happen all that often to me. Thanks for sharing !
Highly enjoy. Your words flowed like magic. Loved the topic, purpose and the use of philosophy to seek an answer to your questions. This, to me, sounded like a real person talking when I read it outloud.
I really like this line.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! I'm up really late for me lol, but I had to get this posted tonight for my own peace of mind. :)
Great lines, indeed - one of my favorites,
Could the fact that I’ve not been inspired to search for my special purpose be even more depraved than I could imagine, making me a bad person who’s unworthy of purpose?
sounds worthy of a Dostoevsky dialogue (those argumentative Russians in Brothers K with their ten-page opinions on every subject...I applaud your brevity!)...
Thanks for your great comments! Your thoughts on this line for example; so informed and to the point. And very complimentary. I greatly appreciate your taking the time to leave such a great and encouraging response!
You're most welcome!
(And no, I'm not in competition with @owasco :) or in the @curie comment contest... btw, do they still have that?)
Well said. I guess for my peace of mind, I believe we all have a purpose. I don't think we're all going to know what that is or are meant to. I used to be consumed with the 'my place' in life. I had to stop thinking about it, it took away from my quality of life. It feeds my depression.
We have no idea who we impact and what the result of that impact is. The ripple effect is the only explanation that comes to mind. Once something touches the water it is forever changed, even though we cannot see it. It's rings spread out, we don't know how far.
A great response! I agree with you and feel that our purpose in life, if we have one, may serve as an invisible guide of some sort, helping us with decisions we make, for example, and we may not recognize that's what's going on in real time.
Maybe some of us are wired to reflect on our purpose later in life, as we come to an understanding of what our purpose is, rather than being aware of it the whole time.
Thanks for your personal insight into this topic. It's very helpful and on point!
Well written and thought out, sometimes it is taking thoughts from the head to th heart, then finding a way to live them, something you love.
Thank you @joanstewart for your kind support! I really like your explanation, and what you've written I think illustrates possibly, what I wrote in my reply to tryskele's comment above, except in this case we would know that this is our purpose, and accept being guided by it.
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