What is Your Purpose in Life? 10 Deep Thoughts to Guide Your Hero’s Journey to Finding Life Purpose
Ultimately, since there is no single answer to the meaning of life, you get to make up your own answer and embrace the mystery of life. If this sounds overwhelming, don’t worry—you get plenty of help from nature to point you in the right direction.
“There is no answer. The real answer is ‘because.’ You get to make up your own answer is the beauty. If there was a single answer, we would not be free. We would be trapped … we would all have to live to that answer … luckily there is no answer.” — Naval Ravikant
Perhaps nature’s purpose is simply being alive and evolving/emerging into more and more aliveness. Think about it: what living thing (plant, insect, animal, human) doesn’t strive for full aliveness? Plants even strive to grow through concrete.
“The value of the question, ‘Why am I here?’ doesn’t depend on it achieving an answer. But, it drives a life process … The reason for life is life. The reason for life is to make more life. The reason for life is to bring more life into all that is. To make the universe more and more and more alive. That life is unfolding into greater and greater livingness … The point is to be part of the increasing livingness of life … The nature of reality is toward life. To become more and more alive … Please allow the service to life, this concept of I am life, therefore, I, like all life, am here to make the whole world more alive. Try that on and let that color your perceptions for awhile and see how that idea works on you.” — Charles Eisenstein
Do You Live Life, or Does Life Live You?🔒 Allow life to live you, and all will be natural and naturally you. This could be viewed as fate and free will working together—loving your fate and actively choosing it. Purpose is a combination of finding and creating—you don’t choose your life purpose (finding), but you do choose what you do with it (creating).
“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.” — Joseph Campbell
Perhaps purpose exists at all levels of life and all are interconnected—the universe’s purpose is connected to humanity’s purpose is connected to the individual human’s purpose is connected to the cell’s purpose and on and on. Not to get too deep too quickly, but if you’re interested in this topic check out: the fractal pattern of nature, the microcosm reflects the macrocosm (“as above, so below”), increasing complexity and integrative levels of organization, and emergent evolution.
“If you look within rather than only without, however, you discover that you have an inner and an outer purpose, and since you are a microcosmic reflection of the macrocosm, it follows that the universe too has an inner and outer purpose inseparable from yours. The outer purpose of the universe is to create form and experience the interaction of forms – the play, the dream, the drama, or whatever you choose to call it. Its inner purpose is to awaken to its formless essence.” — Eckhart Tolle
You have a primary, inner purpose (being) and secondary, outer purpose (doing). Your inner purpose is shared with all humanity (awakening and staying awake). Your outer purpose is unique to you and can evolve throughout your lifetime (what you do). The two combined create “awakened doing.”
“Awakened doing is the alignment of your outer purpose – what you do – with your inner purpose – awakening and staying awake. Through awakened doing, you become one with the outgoing purpose of the universe. Consciousness flows through you into this world. It flows into your thoughts and inspires them. It flows into what you do and guides and empowers it.” — Eckhart Tolle