Purpose of Life

Concepts like Purpose, Passion and Drive have been occupying my mind lately. I cast my mind back to when I was younger. I remember that my father gave me a CD titled “the secret” which is a world-renowned documentary with real incidents of ordinary people describing the power of the mind. I recall that this is my first ever encounter with the word “Purpose”. As a teenager, the purpose of my life was simple – to get good grades in studies. I remember a time when in one of the clips in the film, a person mentioned that by manipulating the mind we could achieve what we desire (in my case it was getting good grades) even without having to put in the hard work. I thought to try it for once and see if it worked. So, before my difficult English exam, I decided that instead of focusing on studies, I would train my mind. The result was that I recorded my lowest exam score ever. Some years later, I realized that perhaps, I was too naïve to understand the contents of the documentary.

Years went by as I separated myself from the abstract and dived deeper into realism. During my late teenage and early adulthood, I didn’t do anything else to develop myself. Even during my hostel days in college, I used to watch movies in my free time and occasionally, resorted to writing articles. I always remained inside a shell. I wanted to burst out of it, but something was stopping me. It was me who was stopping me. I was my biggest enemy all along. It was after college that I realized my newfound love for meeting new people. I started showing myself to the world. I started presenting my ideas and beliefs to people. I wanted to be heard. I was no longer a shy person. I started developing my social skills. I felt empowered.

This newfound confidence reflected on other aspects of my life too. I wasn’t satisfied with the substandard conditions I had found myself in in my first ever job. But instead of whining, I gave a conscious effort to find a better one. “Mediocrity is never something anyone should settle for.” When I finally found a better job, I was relieved. I was happier. But the biggest turn around was my decision to come to Germany. Back in my teenage years, I had the desire to fulfil further studies from a foreign country. During my jobs, I always kept telling myself “I deserve better”. Finally, against all odds, I decided to challenge my fate and succeeded in doing so. I refused to accept mediocrity. I fulfilled my purpose.

“Purpose” is something which gives your life a meaning. A person without a purpose is not living but just existing. I believe every human being has a purpose. For a beggar, it can be as basic as finding a good meal. For a child, it can be playing in a garden. For a dog, it can be chasing a cat. In essence, purpose is something which gives the person joy. For others, it can be an act of survival. The very act of performing it may sometimes be painful, however, the real challenge is to enjoy the process and wait for the result.

A painter wants to paint his best picture. A photographer wants to click her best pictures. A swimmer wants to win the race. A traveller wants to travel as many countries in the world as possible. A person experiences joy in doing something he or she likes. Sometimes interests are developed by happenstance and sometimes by consciously trying out new things.

A child dreamt of becoming an astronaut when she was 12 years old. She had always seen spacecrafts and astronaut suits in movies and been fascinated by them. On a summer weekend, her father decided to take her to dive in the ocean. As she dived in, she was astonished by the diversity of flora and fauna the sea had to offer. First time in her life she had experienced something which gave her immense satisfaction and craving for more. She ended up becoming a diving instructor in her later years.

In the above example, the girl found her purpose when her father took her to the ocean. If the father wouldn’t have taken her to the ocean that day, then perhaps, she would have become an astronaut and still been happy. However, by happenstance, she discovered her passion for the ocean and fulfilled her purpose by becoming an instructor.

“Passion” is interconnected to purpose. It is the unflinching desire to attain something or someone. When Grace was 21 years old, she decided to pursue a career in Advanced Physics. She was always fascinated by nature and clicked amazing pictures with her camera whenever she travelled to new places. However, she realized she didn’t have the drive to pursue photography and instead chose a generalized field. Deep down she still thinks that some day she will pursue it and it is then when she will truly be happy.

Drive is the force which gives direction to the goal or passion. Grace didn’t have enough motivation or drive to pursue her field of interest. Maybe she also might have considered the risks of pursuing something she was just fond of and not really interested in. Overall, she was trying new things to make sure what she really liked and wanted to make her purpose.

I believe that people should have short-term and long-term purposes to make their lives more meaningful. If we achieve one short-term goal, we should try to achieve the next goal. Growing up, my purpose changed from studying well to getting a good college to getting a good job to getting a master’s degree from Germany. After fulfilling my dream of getting a master’s degree, I will chase a good and well-paying job in Germany.

Not all your purposes in life get fulfilled. Not all your plans materialize. However, the important thing is to put in the effort. I also don’t mean that all your purposes need to be materialistic. As I am trying to chase money for a better lifestyle on one hand, I am also trying to be mentally and physically fitter, to develop social skills, take up a new hobby on the other hand. I believe these goals are intermediate and are equally important to serve the purpose of our lives.

Another important life purpose is to try to build and maintain relationships with your loved ones. As human beings, we crave for intimacy in romantic relationships and love and care from friends and family. “I want to be remembered for the life I lived and the memories I made, not the money I made” said a great person once.

Money can never buy you happiness so it can never serve your primary purpose. However, it opens new avenues towards achieving your purpose. It gives you the lifestyle where you can afford to spend on leisure activities. It can assure your survival so that you can focus on other equally important things.

The challenge in life is to find purposes which balance the abstract and materialism. When we are able to do that we are a happier version of ourselves.