My Purpose In Life

I've recently read ShinTien's blog post about one's purpose in life. I've cut and paste the article here:

The other day, I had an interesting conversation with a wise friend which revolved around the big question: “What is your purpose in life?”

If asked this question a few years ago, I would have quickly related the answer to be somewhat religious. And being a non-religious person, I was under the impression that I could never be able to give a satisfactory answer. True enough, I did not know the answer. I was so eager to give the right answer that my mind went blank thinking of one. I was intimidated by the question.

When faced with the same question once again a few days ago, I gave it a little thought and suddenly had a eureka moment. Right then and there. I came to the realisation that this question has no right answer, it’s really a question of opinion. I said smiling, “I know it’s a little vague, but my purpose in life is to be happy.”

My friend assured me that my answer was not vague at all. In fact she thought it was very specific. We discussed further and I arrived at some interesting conclusions about myself. Now that I know what my purpose in life is, I started to think about ways in which I could live my life, driven by that specific purpose.

We both acknowledged that the state of being happy is highly subjective to every individual, life situation and most importantly – timing. In my opinion, I will truly be happy when I have contentment in life. In order to be contented, I need to pursue all my “wants” to come to the stage where I could finally say “I am happy now.” Of course I cannot deny the complication of not knowing what I want. I might think I want something, but I wouldn’t really know until I got it. Agree?

Instead of pondering on my doubts, I decided to put things in action now. Well because life is short and I am not there yet! At the present moment, I think I will be happy if I can graduate by year 2012 and start living a life that I enjoy. Well, what kind of life would I enjoy? That’s another story for another post  

For now, I should focus to make this work. When come 2012, I will decide again if I am truly happy or….plan something else. I shall keep doing this until I find contentment in life. This may take me a few years or a lifetime (let’s hope it’s not the latter…). Then, I can be happy.

So tell me, what is your purpose in life…?

I used to asked myself the same question over and over again, in my high school years. There was once I felt really melancholic (I blame myself for being a typical piscean) that I started doubting the existence of the whole universe. I thought that it was pointless that the world existed - the whole damn world. I questioned the existence of God (if there ever was one) and his intentions. I believed that he created the world to watch the sufferings of mankind.

I was about 17 and at that age, thoughts come and go. Backstreet Boys, Jay Chou and Japanese drama series soon occupied my mind. And as I grew older, I realized that the purpose in life can't be given to you by others - you have to define it yourself. I have found mine - to enjoy life. 

The last thing I want, is to be tied up to my career. My career, is merely a stepping stone to earn me an ability to enjoy life. I want to be able to buy the things I like, to go to places I like, to do the things I like (blogging being one of them). And when the time comes, maybe I'll have a family. Why not?

And that, is my purpose in life. ;)