Your Purpose in Life

Does anyone on this forum actually know what their purpose in life is? If you are spiritual, does your spirituality impact your purpose?

I personally have not figured out my purpose in life, and was just curious if anyone would care to comment.

Whether a theist, or an atheist, I would be interested in hearing from those who know their purpose in life......and how they came to know it.

Originally posted by chaney3
Does anyone on this forum actually know what their purpose in life is? If you are spiritual, does your spirituality impact your purpose?

I think 'life' is an almost incomprehensibly wondrous thing that presents all manner of opportunities that should be seized and explored. I also think people should easily be able to find "purpose" or "purposes" rooted in these opportunities, which are in turn made possible by our highly complex faculties and capacities.

Because we each have unique identities, we will each be the author of a unique narrative that provides the substance of that identity. This task of 'authorship', to my way of thinking, easily involves (or creates) more than enough "purpose" or "purposes".

By this I mean such pursuits as feeding one's natural curiosity with reflection, learning and varied experience, affecting others and changing one's environment in positive ways, building relationships with people we love, setting goals and reaching them or setting different ones if we can't, making plans and implementing them, perhaps raising children and trying to equip them with the capacities to author interesting narratives of their own.

I think it's an exhilarating miscellany of interlocking things that cannot be reduced to a single stated "purpose", but I do think that this constantly developing miscellany can be summed up as the exploration of possibilities and the exercise of our faculties ~ two inclinations/capacities that (I think) define us as humans.

Originally posted by FMF
I think 'life' is an almost incomprehensibly wondrous thing that presents all manner of opportunities that should be seized and explored. I also think people should easily be able to find "purpose" or "purposes" rooted in these opportunities, which are in turn made possible by our highly complex faculties and capacities.

Because we each have unique identitie ...[text shortened]... the exercise of our faculties ~ two inclinations/capacities that (I think) define us as humans.

A well thought post FMF, but I want to know if 'you' have a purpose in life.

This question was asked of me recently, combined with...what motivates me?

Because if a person can awake each day with a purpose, it would seem a rewarding task.

Example: Can one's employment be their purpose? That would be a rewarding life in my opinion.

Originally posted by chaney3
A well thought post FMF, but I want to know if 'you' have a purpose in life.

Yes I do. I thought it was well explained in my "well thought out post", no? 😉

Originally posted by FMF
Yes I do. I thought it was well explained in my "well thought out post", no? 😉

No I don't. You gave some good thoughts of how it 'can' be, but you did not give specifics.

If I asked you directly....what is your OWN purpose in life....can you answer it?

And, if I missed it in your post, please explain.

Originally posted by chaney3
Can one's employment be their purpose?

Perhaps. But it would seem severely limited to me if it were the case. If it's a part of the miscellany of interlocking things I talked about, then I certainly would hope personally that a person's employment was an integral part of it because I wouldn't envy anyone whose employment was merely an unfulfilling chore that financed life's purposes.

Originally posted by chaney3
You gave some good thoughts of how it 'can' be, but you did not give specifics.

Sorry if it was not clear. I meant that for me life is an interlocking miscellany of things like learning and giving myself varied experiences, trying to change my environment in positive ways, building relationships with people I love, setting goals and reaching them, or setting different ones when I can't, and raising children and trying to equip them with the capacities to author interesting narratives that stitch their lives together. I don't see any need for me to be any more specific about the details of my life than this in order to answer your question.

Originally posted by FMF
Perhaps. But it would seem severely limited to me if it were the case. If it's a part of the miscellany of interlocking things I talked about, then I certainly would hope personally that a person's employment was an integral part of it because I wouldn't envy anyone whose employment was merely an unfulfilling chore that financed life's purposes.

And that's exactly my own situation. My job is merely a job, to provide necessary income. The thought of doing something that actually inspires me, motivates me, and brings desired passion into my day is sorely lacking. So, I am curious if maybe others have figured it out, and how they managed to do it.

Originally posted by chaney3
If I asked you directly....what is your OWN purpose in life....can you answer it?

Like said, I don't think it can be reduced to a single stated "purpose". Indeed, to my way of thinking, it would be a misconception of the "purpose[s] of life" to try to reduce it in such a way.

Originally posted by chaney3
So, I am curious if maybe others have figured it out, and how they managed to do it.

You are curious about whether other people here have managed to find jobs that inspire and motivate them?

Originally posted by FMF
You are curious about whether other people here have managed to find jobs that inspire and motivate them?

In your previous post, you talked about one's work being an unfulfilling chore, as a means to make money. So, yes, I would be curious to who has a job that fulfills them and could also serve as their purpose.

But, it's not just employment. Some have mediocre jobs, yet have other things in life that give them purpose.

Originally posted by chaney3
...I would be curious to who has a job that fulfills them and could also serve as their purpose.

Well perhaps some people will tell you that they do and why they are motivated by it, while maybe others will tell you that they are in the same predicament as you, and then there are all stops in between. But I'm not sure what's to be gained from such vicariousness ~ the narratives leading up to what any given person has as their employment and what they do and don't get from it are going to be as unique and as irreplicable as the persons themselves.

Originally posted by chaney3
Does anyone on this forum actually know what their purpose in life is? If you are spiritual, does your spirituality impact your purpose?

I personally have not figured out my purpose in life, and was just curious if anyone would care to comment.

Everybody who has the inner knowledge knows the the answer to life the universe and everything is 42. Our purpose therefore is to follow either the shoe or the gourd for 42 years, to have 42 wives and kill 42 infidels.

Originally posted by divegeester
Everybody who has the inner knowledge knows the the answer to life the universe and everything is 42. Our purpose therefore is to follow either the shoe or the gourd for 42 years, to have 42 wives and kill 42 infidels.

I am always hoping for a 42 page duologue with some wrongheaded fellow poster.