Today I want to return to the issue of purpose. I do so because of its central importance in giving meaning and direction to our lives.In recent times many of the people with whom I have interacted seemed to have lost their passion for life. They complain that they are bored and feel trapped in jobs that give them very little satisfaction. They all desire happiness but find themselves in situations in which they feel highly stressed, confused, and somewhat lost in the midst of life.Some of these folks are mere teenagers whilst others are well into their sixties. They are all looking for self-fulfilment but feel like failures and, in fact, some go as far as saying that life "sucks." People in such situations tend to selfishly seek pleasure in the world of alcohol, drugs, food, sex, lei-sure, partying and the pursuit of material things. In so doing, they further complicate their lives with the disastrous consequences and misery that tend to follow such life pursuits. There are also dire societal consequences arising from the anti-social behaviours that may result.The underlying cause that traps people in such states is a lack of purpose in life. Although alive, they have not yet discovered that there is something wonderful that they can do with their lives. They are yet to come alive emotionally and spiritually.
With purpose there is something to live for, there is a reason to wake up, there is a reason to face the traffic, there is a reason to maintain good health, there is a reason to eat well, there is a reason to exercise, there is a reason to go to work, there is a reason to be more tolerant, there is a reason to forgive and there is a reason to cope with the tough challenges of life.When you do not have a reason to live there is spiritual emptiness. You stumble, you drift in the darkness of life, you are bored and you constantly seek external stimulation. There is doubt, there is confusion, there is uncertainty and there is anxiety and stress. You are prone to be ill and you are unhappy.You are really only fully alive when you discover your reason to live and, hence, we are all challenged to discover our purpose and to begin living.Striving for a healthy life is the mantra of our times. We are obsessed with looking good. We seek to avoid the unpleasantness of pain and suffering since they are never pleasant. We seek to avoid early death and some of us even seek to avoid death itself. Are these the only reasons for a healthy life?I believe that we all have a spiritual responsibility to preserve our bodily health so that we are better able to maximise our service to humanity. Purpose gives us the maximum opportunity to be of such service. A healthy body gives us the physical capacity to better live out our purpose.
Ill health is a distraction that saps our energy and takes away our ability to express our full potential. Therefore a healthy lifestyle is not just about avoiding the pain of ill health or even just looking good, but it is more about maintaining the physical and emotional capacity to live out our purpose such that we can find the fulfilment that we seek.We live to serve. Life only has value when we are serving others. The longer we live the greater our opportunity to serve. Without purpose we tend to become selfish and to pursue the selfish pleasures.To desire longevity for selfish reasons is being irresponsible since we all have a divine calling to pursue our purpose; and purpose always has to do with being of service to humanity. Long life is our opportunity to be of greater service to humanity.
It is our extended opportunity to pursue our divine will.Sadly, the society in which we live tends to condition people to find a "good" job and to hold on to it even when it results in chronic stress, illness and little personal fulfilment. Hence the vast majority of people find themselves trapped in jobs that they dislike and sometimes hate, but need for survival reasons.Parents and teachers need to devote much more of their time to helping their children to understand that they each have a unique purpose which, when discovered, can put them on a path towards a more fulfilled life.My interaction with young adults over the years has led me to conclude that many parents and teachers are actively diverting their children from their real interests and into areas that the parent or teacher may feel is best for the child.
Despite what may be the good intention of the parent or teacher, they are not in a position to determine or even understand the purpose of another human being since purpose is only revealed to the individuals themselves and to no one else.To believe that you know the purpose of another human being when you wield the power of being a parent or teacher is to abuse that power. The prime responsibility of the parent or teacher is to help that child to develop the self-confidence such that he/she can best discover his/her purpose and to pursue it accordingly.As a university lecturer I had to tutor many young people who arrived at the university with little understanding of what life was all about. Throughout most of their lives they dutifully followed the instructions of the authority figures around them-parents and teachers-and ended up at the university following a course of study that someone else said was good for them while they, themselves, never took the time to understand what is best for them.
Many were oblivious to the concept of purpose and that they carry a special gift which, when pursued, can put them on a path towards the greatest self-fulfilment.Hence many of our young people continue to be misguided along a path of studying hard in order to get a job, to earn money to satisfy their selfish pleasures, rather than to acquire education towards the pursuit of their life's purpose and finding fulfilment and happiness.Purpose brings meaning to our lives. It opens the door to finding fulfilment. We are all challenged to open the door ourselves. Self-introspection aids the process.