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RE: Why Are You Here? No, Really. Why Are You Here?

in #steem6 years ago

Why Are You Here? is a good question @glenabrethsen and one I frequently ask myself. To be honest I haven't come up with a satisfactory answer and it seems to change from week to week anyway.

I'm not a very "answer your why" sort of person. I'm more of a go with the flow and see what happens type. More of a "why not?"

I don't think life is as black and white as we pretend it is most times.

This whole find your passion/purpose thing can be a big red herring I think. Some people find it helpful and others don't but the consensus seems to be that life is so much better if you know what your "purpose" is.

I'm more of the ilk that such things can't be known. We can pretend we know, if that makes us feel better, but I believe it is ultimately unknowable. 😊

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I'd hate to think that there needs to be a purpose to everything we do, other than I want to do this or that, but for long term things, like I'd like STEEM or at least writing/creating for an actual living to become, it's been helpful to have a reason why. Even if I consciously didn't know it.

Going with the flow can be pretty cathartic for a while—sometimes it lasts longer than others—but then something causes it to lose its sparkle and the next thing you know it's off to something else. Which might not be so bad, but it doesn't always mean the thing being left behind was no longer worthwhile, it just fell out of favor for whatever it might be—it's newness, it's shine, it's initial attraction are gone.

That's not to say I'm saying STEEM is worth doing any of this. Just that if it's going to go beyond a few weeks, months, even a year of dipping in a toe or even throwing everything you've got at it, there has to be more of a reason to stick around. And it needs to be central to who we are. Not necessary our purpose in life, but a why for continuing to do what we do.

I think it's possible to know what we naturally gravitate to and what we'd like to have out of life, and I think it's possible to go even deeper and discover what truly motivates us. I've done it. It can actually get surprisingly candid and emotional, which wasn't at all what I was expecting or I probably would have shied away from doing it.

As far as life purposes go, I think there may be several. I don't think we're necessarily limited to one. And some may be harder to discover or even implement than others. And sometimes we're just not satisfied with the ones we end up with, even if they're it.

It's definitely true that pursuing your passion can be a red herring. Passion and purpose don't always go together, just as passion and what you're good at don't either. But I do believe we should be able to derive higher levels of meaning and satisfaction from life, and if we're not getting that, than we're bound to feel unfulfilled or dissatisfied, or at the very least, listless, or mostly meh. :)