Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? Too often, we become too caught up in our everyday mundane routines that we forget, or perhaps, never truly see what our purpose is. We forget what truly motivates us to live and what truly drives us to reach a greater goal. Oscar Wilde once said, “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” As I look at the people around me, I see ones who furnish their goals with intents of gaining wealth, success, or recognition. However, are they truly happy? How many times have you actually sat down and asked yourself, “why do I do what I do?”. When I was a little girl, I loved to draw. I spent my days going on adventures with my dolls and then doodling the scenarios down on paper. Drawing was amusing and it brought me true pleasure and up to age eleven, I was determined to become an artist when I grew up. One day, while I was sprawled out on the floor doodling, I mentioned my ambition to my mother. There was a moment of silence, and I stoppe...
People who cannot see the difference between a good, noble dream and an immoral dream that leads to nothing worth fighting for are in danger of living sad lives. Likewise, people who fail to strive for anything are in danger of living meaningless lives. Dreams can be both misconstrued and ignored completely. Both actions lead to inevitable misery. When looked at from an unbiased perspective, it seems that there is nearly no chance of winning in the game of life. Even though goals, dreams, and aspirations seem to be important components of success, without the worry of money and power, everything suddenly becomes simple. No one follows false grails and no one falls into misery. In the grand scheme of things, discovering the ultimate root of personal happiness and striving for it immediately solves the complications of life.
Everyone wants to be “happy.” Everyone endeavors to fulfill their desires for their own pleasure. What makes this ironic is, the fact that most don‘t know what the actual definition of happiness is. “In Pursuit of Unhappiness” presents an argument, which states that not everyone will be happy. Darrin McMahon, the article’s author, explores the ways our “relentless pursuit of personal pleasure”(McMahon P.11;S.3) can lead to empty aspirations and impractical expectations, making us sad, and not happy. Rather than working to find the happiness of others, we should all focus on finding what makes ourselves happy. It is easier to find happiness in the little things
I am often bombarded with a seven word question in life as I am sure many other people are. “What is your ultimate goal in life?” Many answers may differ, but my answer seems to always be the same; to seek happiness. If one can’t seek happiness what is the point of living? If you are miserable all the time and not living life with a positive mindset is there any so called “value” to your life? I’m not saying that you have to be happy all of the time because that is hard to achieve. Sometimes there are so called “punishments” in order to seek happiness, but once one achieves happiness it is a feeling that is indescribable.
“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” said John F. Kennedy. Most people today have less concern about the purpose of lives. This lead to the the three questions which set by Dr. Clayton M. Christensen in July 2010 on the article named “How Will You Measure Your Life?”. The first question is will you happy in your career?, Is family the source of happiness? and Will you stay out of jail?. All these questions help us to think more about our “lives”. In the article, Christensen divided the topic into six parts and all parts are essential. In my point of view, I found that the most interesting topic is “Create a Strategy for Your Life.” because the clear purpose helps us to identify the meaning of life, create success and stop wasting time.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson-
In a world where every individual desires to acquire money, prosper, and make a life for themselves nevertheless no part of my being aspires any of it. My life's work wants nothing more than to help other people because at the end of the day, my long list of people I have helped will be worth more than your money. The way I grew up, I would have been the same way as everyone else, but it was with the experiences I have gone through along with my favorite movie, book, quote, historical figure, and my very own personal hero which all single handedly helped mold me to the person I am glad to be today.
Warren, Richard. The Purpose-driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002. Print.
For majority of life I’ve gone through the motions and have done as I have been told to do. Naïve and ignorant to how amazing life really is and refusing to question how things work or what my true purpose is other then surviving. For centuries there have been numerous philosophers to question what our purpose is and have developed different theories to help us get as close as we possibly can to finding the meaning of life. One thing I’ve learned since opening my eyes to the reality of the world is that in our lifetime the closest thing we will have is theories and ideas but we will never know the true meaning of life.
“Life is a balanced system of learning, adjusting, and evolving. Whether pleasure or pain; every situation in your life serves a purpose. It is up to us to recognize what that purpose could be.” - Dr. Steve Maraboli
We are told never to cross a bridge until we come to it, but this world is owned by men who have 'crossed bridges' in their imagination far ahead of the crowd. I was watching the Doctor Phil Show the other day, and he was talking about the five reasons for why successful people are as successful as they are. Number one on the list was a plan. A goal. A destination. An ambition. Without an ambition we have no purpose in our lives. In contrast, a goal can help us get organized and take steps towards achieving what we want in our day-to-day lives. My friend Ryan always used to tell me, and still does; “My life's ambition is to be happy with my place in, and contribution to Society.” That might be a nice thought, but is there really a workable goal there? No! “The ambitious man is essentially a visualizer and an actualizer... He can visualize something, and when he visualizes it he sees exactly how to make it happen.” - Robert L. Schwartz A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it. We were given a brain for a reason, and this is a perfect excuse to use it.
I think about art often. My father is an artist as well as my sister. I grew up surrounded by art either in paintings, dance, or art performances I attended at my sister’s high school, the arts academy. My desire to create art must have a root in my childhood, where I was constantly involved in beautiful creations of the human
The arts have influenced my life in amazing ways. Throughout my life, art has been the place I run to and my escape from the world. As I’ve grown older, art has become so much more than that. Every piece of art I create is a journey into my soul. It’s a priceless way to deal with my emotions and my struggles. I create art not only because I enjoy it and because I want to, but because I have to. Somewhere deep inside there is a driving force, urging me to put my heart down on paper. I become emotionally attached to each of my pieces because they are like dashes on the wall marking my growth. Each one is the solution to a problem I have dealt with and overcome.
When I was young, I drew a picture of my mother. It was her standing in a yard with a house in the background. It wasn't our house, and my mother looked like anyone but herself. Dressed entirely in green, with green hair and a green expression on her green face, she stood in front of a green two-story house surrounded by a green landscape. Green was her favorite color, and I wanted to make a surprise out of the drawing for her.
We might not have the same opinions, paths, and ways of living; but we all, millions of people around the world, share the same purpose of life: Being able to say “I am having a good life!” What we mean by “good life” is living in pure happiness and having a wonderful peace of mind. The difference between us is that each one of us chooses a different way in his pursuit of happiness. Some find it in stability with a big house, a family, and a good paying job. Some find it in adventure and wildness, travel, and taking risks. While others don’t really have specific criteria or an organized plan, they just believe that happiness comes with living each day as if it was the last, with no worries about the rest. Personally, I find it in trying to be the best version of myself, in staying true to my principles, and in the same time in being able to make my own decisions; which reminds me of what George Loewenstein said “Just because we figure out that X makes people happy and they're choosing Y, we don't want to impose X on them.”
Finding meaning in who you are and what you do is vital to having happiness. “Leading a happy life… is associated with being a "taker" while leading a meaningful life corresponds with being a “giver””(Smith 2013). The idea of giving if often thought of one that brings happiness, but it doesn’t, it brings about meaning. Happiness is a selfish thing, and while to a point we must be selfish in out pursuit to live a happy life, we must not forget to be kind to one another and be humble. Being happy and having meaning go much together, finding a balance is what is hard. Happiness doesn’t last forever and will fluctuate with moods and situations, but meaning doesn’t. Meaning connects all of the aspects of your life, past, present, and future, together. This connection allows one to look inward and focus on who they are, and while those who report more meaning are slightly less happy in the present they tend to be happier overall (Smith