Purpose
“Man cannot stand a meaningless life.” ~Carl Jung
When you are a kid, purpose is the last thing on your mind, or maybe it is more accurate to say having fun is your only true purpose. But as you grow older you may find yourself wanting more out of life than a nice cold grape juice and Saturday morning cartoons. It is not uncommon to wake up one day and think “what am i doing with my life?” What is it that defines you and how do you find out? The answer often begins with your wildest hopes and dreams, think of the one thing you dream of doing but don’t feel like you can accomplish. Begin there and develop a plan to accomplish it, it may take you years, but working towards a goal is more purpose than most of us could ever hope for.
If your search for purpose leads you to a dead end, you may feel that you don’t have one. I can almost guarantee that is not the case, there is someone out there who you matter to, let that give your life purpose as you plan your ultimate goal. You may even find out that what you thought you wanted your purpose to be does not fit you at all, or maybe it is completely unobtainable to you, this is not a finality, it is a setback at most. Dig deeper, the question is no longer “what do you want to do?” but instead “what makes you feel happy?” If it is helping others, how can you do it full time? If it is travel, how can you make the necessary money to make that happen?
It is possible that you may find yourself searching for purpose in another person, in the form of love. This can be a slippery slope, it isn’t often that another human being can actually be seen as your purpose and not just another part of your life. Don’t get me wrong, love is one of the most amazing things you will ever experience, but to attach a feeling of purpose to that love can be very dangerous. After all, you can’t truly love someone else without first loving yourself…this goes tenfold for purpose, you cannot find purpose in another human being, it has to come from inside, you may then invite another human being to become a part of that purpose.
In the episode “Rixty Minutes” Morty captures the struggle of finding purpose perfectly, while trying to convince his sister not to run away.
Morty: On one of our adventures, Rick and I basically destroyed the whole world, so we bailed on that reality and we came to this one, because in this one, the world wasn’t destroyed and in this one, we were dead. So we came here, a- a- and we buried ourselves and we took their place. And every morning, Summer, I eat breakfast twenty yards away from my own rotting corpse.
Summer: So you’re not my brother?
Morty: I’m better than your brother. I’m a version of your brother you can trust when he says “Don’t run.” Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody’s gonna die. Come watch TV.
