What is The Essence of Life?
Secrets to finding peace and fulfilment in life.
What could be more frustrating about living than living and not knowing what your life is about or how to lead a fulfilling life.
What is the answer to this big question in everyone’s life?
Is it the pursuit of wealth, fame, influence, high income skill, education to the highest level or any other ambition?
Our world today is almost denied of real impact because just a few know and understand what really is the essence of life and even fewer dedicate their lives to pursuing it.
The Essence of Life.
Philosophically, the word essence means the true nature of a thing.
What is the true nature of what life should be?
The essence of life in one word is "Impact" – Impacting your world positively.
Everything created is created for something else.
Life isn't given to us for consumption, but for contribution.
Vegetation was not created for itself but for humans and animals.
The sun does not absorb its own light or heat.
The river does not drink its own water.
The tree does not eat its own fruit.
The essence of life is ‘purpose fulfillment’.
At the core of any man who ever lived a fulfilled life is purpose fulfillment.
Fulfilling purpose is simply getting involved in the building of lives and the society for good in the areas you are passionate about and have developed the relevant skills to excel in them.
Purpose fulfillment is not mysterious as many people think. It’s simple expression is adding value to your life and then to others.
This is more about developing a mindset that propels you to add value to any and everything, person or place you find yourself connected to.
I advice young people whenever I get the opportunity to speak to them to discover their purposes early and develop the mindset of becoming a person of value.
A lot of people today are carried away by what seems to be the in thing that one must have a “high income skill” to thrive, but the untold truth is that every skill has the potential to yield high income and fulfillment if properly mastered.
There will always be room for whoever is the best on the table.
Knowing your purpose early helps you gain focus. It makes you stand out. It'll give you a clear vision for your life, knowing the things to focus on and the things to ignore, the skills to learn and develop mastery in and the skills you may never need to learn or just have a basic knowledge of.
Purpose gives you your life's vision.
The subject of vision has not been properly understood by many in this current generation.
Every true vision should outlive the vision bearer and such visions can only come from knowing and understanding your purpose.
The Three Kinds of Life.
There are three kinds of lives which people live on earth. Every man living today falls into one category.
The Wasted Life: From the name, I am sure you can already figure out what kind of life this is.
This is a life wasted on seeking pleasure, enjoyment and trying to survive.
These are the group of people who never have tried to figure out what they’re supposed to be doing with their lives, never added any value to themselves and by default can’t add any value to their world.
The wasted life is the worst kind of life any one can live.
These folks end up becoming only a liability to themselves, families and society at large.
The Spent Life: This is the life spent on pursuing things only for personal benefits. Seeking only for self.
Many people in our world today are caught up in this circle of life. Myself, my own, my bills, my problems, etc.
As wonderful as taking care of those things are, they will hinder you from fulfilling purpose if you spend all your life focusing on them.
No man who ever fulfilled purpose focused on thinking of himself.
The spent life on its own, isn't so bad, just that it doesn't achieve the essence of life.
The Invested Life: Writing about this kind of life gives me a bubbling feeling within me, because this is the kind of life I’ve set out my heart to lead.
The invested life fulfills the real essence of life, these are men who give their lives for a worthy cause. Those who live to fulfill their purpose and build a legacy.
In this category, you find men like Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Papa Benson Idahosa, the great Billy Graham. Such men never stop living.
Living an invested life takes one's life beyond himself.
Falling into any category of these kinds of life has nothing to do with your current status, situation or whatever in life. It has everything to do with one’s choices and mindset.
The Process of Purpose Discovery.
The process of purpose discovery involves asking ourselves certain questions and I have listed a few of them below.
- What are my talents and gifts
- What would I love to do with my life?
- What do I most enjoy doing?
- What has been my life long dream?
- What idea do I have that refuses to go away or keeps recurring in my mind?
- What have I always wanted to do but never thought I would be able to do?
- What injustice makes me so angry that I must do something to alleviate?
Investing into the success of others beyond our personal success unlocks you into the realm of significance and contribution. That is the true essence of life.
