Ever wonder....what is your purpose of existance?

Sonic_95 said:

I have been asking myself this just about every day lately.....why was I ever put here?

There must be SOME reason I was brought into existence...

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EveWasFramed said:

There is no reason for my existence. I am. That's it.

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Minus said:

I don't recall ever being concerned about a reason. I seem to exist so all that matters is what i do with that.

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Alaric said:

ALL people question the purpose of their existence at some point. Even those who say they do not, will, at some time, have that question.

Existentialists believe that the purpose of your life can be found in the moment, not in the past or in the future. There are some things that are just plain inescapable. You were born, so that's a fact. You are alive, and that's a fact. You WILL die. That's just how life is. It is finite, and not very long. So... What do you do in the meantime? Do you concern yourself over things that have already happened? You cannot change the past. Do you concern yourself over things that might happen? We cannot predict the future, only make guesses about where it might go.

As human beings, it is natural for us to seek out other human beings, even if only one or two. So we need other people in our lives. People who totally isolate themselves are invariably very depressed, or very angry, or have some fairly serious disorder, whether anxiety-based, or deeper. You can find meaningfulness in the smallest things, and meaninglessness in things that may be important to others, but not you. You can be isolated in a crowd of people, or overwhelmed by one person. You can be imprisoned by your circumstances, or find freedom from within.

The meaning in your life may change from moment to moment. I started out desperately wanting to fly combat aircraft, but a middle ear problem stopped that, so Plan A went down the toilet. I joined the army wanting to be a part of something good. I loved it, but hated the attitudes of many men in the military. I mustered out and went to school to become an entomologist because the salaries were huge. I made over $100,000 a year back in the eighties! But it was not fulfilling. I went back to school and became a social worker. The pay is bad, but the intrinsic benefits were good. My point is that you can find meaning in one thing one day, and in something totally different the next. It is YOUR life. It is finite, and you have to make the best you can of what you have according to your own lights.

A friend of mine spent 35 years working in a job he hated. All those years he saved for retirement, and put aside money to buy an RV so he and his wife could see America during their twilight years. He retired three years ago. Within a week of retirement he had a brand new 40 foot long RV parked in his driveway. Almost exactly a week after that, he was dead. Less than three months after he died, his wife also died. He had spent a lifetime doing something he hated so he could do something he thought would be meaningful, only to die and never do any of it. As much as I liked my friend, he told me endless stories about how miserable he was. He did not live in his own moments.

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