What Is the Purpose of Life?

One possible answer

Cataloochee Ranch Panorama #2 ©Gemignani

TGIF

I’m on a tight deadline right now, so I thought for this week’s email I’d send a pretty picture and simple question to ponder… such as, What is the purpose of life?

Ha. I’m serious, though.

We’ve been led to regard this as a vast and almost rhetorical question, in that it has been suggested that there’s no real answer—or that the the answer is so complex that only theologians and philosophers can offer an explanation.

I think we humans overcomplicate things. We love puzzles, challenges, finding hidden meanings, and seeking rational, scientific data as proof of…whatever. As though making an idea/situation difficult and convoluted increases its worth.

I believe it’s quite the opposite. The more simple, the more valuable.

In regards to the query posited in the title, here’s my take on it:

The purpose of life is to enjoy it.

That means doing what you want and what makes you feel good. If you’re not doing that, you need to ask yourself why. I also suggest challenging every excuse that arises. Because when it comes down to it, if you’re not doing what you want, you’re surely only doing it to please someone else or to satisfy some illusion planted deep within you, making you believe this is what you have to do.

You don’t.

You also don’t have to change everything overnight. Here’s my suggestions to begin to connect with your purpose in life:

• Put down your phone.

• Step away from the computer.

• Take a walk.

• Take a drive.

• Go somewhere with beautiful scenery or views.

• Sit and take in nature.

• Cuddle with someone you love or a pet.

• Read a good book.

• Go to an art gallery or museum.

• Attend a concert or listen to music.

• Engage in a physical or enrichment activity that’s fun for you.

Any of these (and there are many more based on your personal inclinations) will take you back to my original response to the question of the ages.

The purpose of life is to enjoy it.

Start today.