What is this “purpose” mumbo-jumbo?
“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.” — Alan Watts
I recently was listening to a podcast by a motivational speaker that I respect quite a lot and whom I choose to listen to at the beginning of my day as a daily ritual. It would not be wrong to assume that this man has had a profound effect on my life however in a recent recording I heard him say -
“I don’t believe that any of us have dreams that were not given to us for the purpose of accomplishing those dreams.”
Now, just a side note, as this quote is taken out of it’s original context and may seem confusing, I will add that the reason I chose this particular quote that it, as a whole, encompassed what its author was trying to entail in the podcast with regards to having “a purpose or meaning in life”. And that’s where he lost me. Now I am not saying that I will never ever listen to him again and now my morning ritual, due to this single podcast, will forever be changed. But I do have to argue…
About now you are probably wondering how reading any further into this article is going to better your life and thinking that most people will be more successful by actually having a purpose than not. Well, you are most likely absolutely right. But my purpose is not to prove or even change your mind about any of this. It is simply to raise awareness to other side of the coin, so to speak. Because, simply put, people like me who seem to not have a set purpose in life, and feel that they don’t need one, are seen as failures and I’m sick of it.
A life purpose or having a meaning to one’s life is a touchy subject for me as you can tell and as harmless and constructive the above podcast may seem, I feel that this particular chain of thought jeopardizes people in so many ways depending on which path they allow themselves to take. I mean, simply the idea that we come into this world in a predetermined manner with a preordained “mission” or “goal” does not sit well with me. Is it just me who is “pro-choice” and freedom about this whole thing?
For example, my main line of work is in the health and fitness industry where I do physical preparation and strength & conditioning for vast majority of people. I love my job. But I do not identify myself with only that job. I refuse to put myself into a singular box for the ease of the society. I do not for one second believe that this is my life’s purpose and do not at all relate to people when they say things such as “you were born to do this” or “that’s truly what you’re on earth for”. My response to most of these people, however arrogant it may sound, is “No, I am actually on this pale blue dot to just be fucking awesome”. And, rightfully so. Why limit ourselves to just one thing?
This doesn’t obviously and immediately mean that I am removing the idea of effort. The society we live in congratulates those who seem to be purpose-driven or have an “end-goal” in mind because we assume that this means that they are hard working. Now this may or may not be true but it’s the opposite notion to the above that I would like to highlight. When a person seems to be living a life without a purpose or without a goal, this person is immediately ostracized. And this is what I am arguing against.
Not having a singular purpose or meaning to our life does not mean that we do not devote our self to a passion. In fact, it just means that we devote ourselves to many.
