Date: 9/24/2003 10:42:00 AM
From Authorid: 59418
i want to live for a purpose lol. i dont want to just be here as a lump of human flesh.  |
Date: 9/24/2003 10:44:00 AM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 47162
metal...but why do you think you need to have a purpose in the first place? Did you read this whole thing? The deeper question being asked here is, is the search for purpose just a concept placed on us by culture?  |
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Date: 9/24/2003 10:51:00 AM
From Authorid: 59418
Well...i'm not sure how to explain it....but i dont want to just live day to day and not make an impact on ppl or anything...it would be a waste of time...ya know??? |
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Date: 9/24/2003 10:51:00 AM
From Authorid: 59418
i dont think its a concept placed on us by culture...i think its just a state of mind...some ppl want to think theyre here for a purpose...others dont mind i guess |
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Date: 9/24/2003 10:55:00 AM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 47162
The whole concept of finding some big over arching purpose so I can impact the world and change stuff seems so prideful and narcacissitic(Sp) It's like I have to look at myself and say, Chris (that's my name) you're so important that the world must be impacted by you. You must rustle the waters or else this world will just wither away. |
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Date: 9/24/2003 11:05:00 AM
From Authorid: 59418
i dont mean that you have to make the world love you and worship you or the world will wither away....i just mean you cant live life on your own only fulfilling your own needs...you should try and make others happy too.... |
Date: 9/24/2003 12:09:00 PM
From Authorid: 17204
I think it is. It's your purpose in life that makes you keep on going, strive to be better, and always try to accomplish more. Always climbing towards your purpose provides drive, and to me, drive is really important, it keeps you going!  |
Date: 9/24/2003 12:26:00 PM
From Authorid: 24813
I think it comes down to the fear of death and the quest for immortality. If we search for and find a purpose, it gives us the opportunity to leave a legacy and not be forgotten. It also infuses the beneficiaries of our legacy with the desire for us not to pass away, as though their collective will can help us survive. This, of course, assumes that the found purpose involves somehow helping others and doing good for the world. I know this is my overall mindset. On a less deep note, the simple "golden rule" notion of "Do onto others..." adds a great deal of support, even if the above reasoning is fundamentally flawed with regard to the grand scheme of things.  |
Date: 9/24/2003 2:48:00 PM
From Authorid: 21867
Sometimes fictional movies have a good way of describing things about actual life: "We're not here because we're free. We're here because we're not free. There is no escaping reason; no denying purpose. Because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist. It is purpose that created us. Purpose that connects us. Purpose that pulls us. That guides us. That drives us. It is purpose that defines us. Purpose that binds us..." Agent Smith, Matrix Reloaded. Peace,  |
Date: 9/24/2003 4:13:00 PM
From Authorid: 55967
No, humans don't have a need for a purpose, since the word "need" implies the lack of one. We all do have a purpose already. That purpose is to live and learn as we grow, and to find the inner peace that is deep within us of which most of us are completely unaware. Everything else is a false lead which covers the real road to inner peace, and is the cover that blinds us to it. I am talking about the examples you already gave: climbing the corporate ladder, feeding children, etc., are things we think will give us our inner peace, but will not. They are all temporary pleasures that eventually go away, leaving us hungry for more and doubting the very existance of a purpose---hence your post. You brought up your example of Sarah Vowell. She said that she felt fine and happy---as a child. That's exactly the way most children should feel. Jesus said that unless we turn around and become like children (with the inner peace), we cannot experience the Kingdom of Heaven. We are born to already have the inner peace, but we lose it to society. In that, I say you are partially right; society created all the wrong roads back to inner peace. What we need to do then is see wholeheartedly that all the conditioned beliefs we've been given, including material success, popularity, and even the ego, are all false assumptions of inner peace. So yes, we all already have a purpose, but it is not what we think it is.  |
Date: 9/24/2003 5:36:00 PM
From Authorid: 54987
A great post Resilient One. We seem to think that we have or need a special quest or reason to be here. I agree with you that LIFE itself is the reason. Searcing for happiness is one of the main quests we have, but we always look in the wrong places for something that doesn't belong to the material plane. Happiness is an inside job. Our mistake is maybe thinking that we are missing out... having no reason for being. But being itself is the reason. Thanks for a great post... I like ones that make me think. Now I'll go read the other replies.  |
Date: 9/24/2003 8:36:00 PM
From Authorid: 34487
I think most people search for their purpose and that it's more instinctive than anything. It may not be instinctive to know it's called a purpose, that's obviously learned. What's instinctive is the desire that a normal, mentally-healthy person has to help in some way or make a difference. "A purpose," is misunderstood though, since many feel there are conditions on it or it that it can't just be fulfilled through every day events. Some people feel if they aren't donating to causes or joining organizations to help others...their not fulfilling a purpose. A purpose to me, is doing what ever it is in your life that brings joy and happiness to others and yourself, resulting in a positive outcome. My current purpose, is being a good and attentive mother, loyal to God and my husband, family and friends.  |
Date: 9/25/2003 5:39:00 AM
From Authorid: 16849
It's like we're all stumbling around in a darkened room feeling for the lightswitch, and we oftentimes hear people claim that they've found the lightswitch, but somehow the room remains dark...the fact is, we don't even know for sure that there is a lightswitch to be found, no matter how much some people hope that there is one...  |
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Date: 9/25/2003 9:56:00 AM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 47162
Pyro or even worse. We were all content in that room until someone told us that there is something wrong with that room. Now that we've been made to think that, boom, we're all uncontent. |
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Date: 9/25/2003 3:48:00 PM
From Authorid: 55967
That is correct, R1, and very insightful. But WHY would people tell us something is wrong?! There's only one logical answer. Something is wrong with THEM already. What is it? It is the fact that they have lost their way back to the contentment, and think that their goals and such are the correct way back, which they is not. The EGO, the false paradigms, the limited sight of others are what rip people away from their contentment, and the only purpose we have is to find our way back and show it to others. See what I mean? |
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Date: 9/25/2003 3:49:00 PM
From Authorid: 55967
And yes, this is everyone's purpose, because it is a given that, born into this world, everyone, without exception, will go through this. |
Date: 9/26/2003 12:11:00 PM
From Authorid: 62060
I think purpose is what defines us as individuals - each and every one of us has their own private purpose, whether its to have a family, or own a certain car. I dont think this is prideful, a lot of the time I realise that I have very little impact or anything in this world. And that this world has very little impact on anything in the universe. The lives that we have are just blips on a timeline, and I think the concept of purpose gives some comfort.  |
Date: 9/26/2003 3:54:00 PM
From Authorid: 1225
Life for the sake of life, eh? Sounds great but who would clean the bathroom?  |
Date: 12/21/2003 9:48:00 PM
From Authorid: 37900
The desire to do more than exist, to be more than a consumer of resources, separates humanity from the rest of the animal kingdom. There must be a "why" when we consider our lives. If there is no "why," if there is no purpose, no passion in our lives, we can be consumed with an utter sense of doom and foreboding and cease to contribute meaningfully to another's life.  |
