The pursuit of purpose
Purpose is a rather subjective concept. It can take on different shapes to different people, and for some, the idea of having purpose itself is meaningless. Nevertheless, going through life with a vision makes the journey much more enjoyable. After all, the thought of travelling for years to an unknown, perhaps non-existent destination is not pleasant at all.
As young people who are just beginning to step into this colourful world, the pursuit of purpose becomes a tedious quest. Starting from our homes, throughout school, and until we enter into the world of work, we are constantly introduced to new subjects, new hobbies and new people on a daily basis. All of this is done in the hope that we may soon begin to deeply relate to any one of these things, thus acquiring an objective, or purpose. A student who enjoys biology may become a doctor in the future. A child who enjoys painting may become an artist in the future. A young person who idolises a singer may become a musician in the future. Thus, they will all have discovered their purpose in life, and we can rest assured that our future generation will be one that is ambitious and driven.
Then, what about the individual who does not like any of the subjects he was introduced to? Is he left wondering if he has no purpose in life? Will he go through the entirety of his life feeling as if it has no meaning? After all, these young people are our future generation too.
Recently, I observed a small fly dancing from surface to surface. It moved in an aimless way; it flew towards the windows, then back again in circles. At one point, its loud buzzing began to become an irritation, and I began to wonder. What is the purpose of this creature? What great task could it possibly carry on its small glass wings that made its bothersome existence worth bearing?
Then, it occurred to me that without flies, the natural process of degradation and decay would take place at an extremely slow rate. We would suffer through the buildup of garbage around us and perhaps many more problems that we do not foresee. So, this seemingly useless fly was just a small part of a much bigger picture. It did have a very important purpose, just one it could not achieve by itself.
As people, we like to believe that each individual has
a different purpose. When young persons are not able to identify their purpose they become disheartened. Days begin to weigh heavily on them, and time loses value. However, what we forget is that human beings are not very different from all the other creatures that live on our Earth. A single fly, a single plant or a single animal rarely has a specific purpose in its life. Yet, their existence is still immensely valuable because they are all working towards a bigger goal that they may not even be aware of.
For the younger generation, the search for a “purpose” has metamorphosed into a search for uniqueness. Being able to achieve something special with one’s own life has become much more important than building
frameworks for a goal that humanity can work towards together. Many of the social issues that we are battling today are pieces of a world that our ancestors left behind for us to clear away. When we leave this world behind for our children, it must not be in pieces, but rather as building blocks that they can use to create a perfect global community. What we work towards in our youth must not be something whose benefits only our generation can enjoy, but rather a gift that we can pass on to our children. So, whenever we seem to be the only one without a place, let us remember that searching for an aim is a voyage that should be taken as a society, and not alone, or we just might find ourselves lost in the pursuit of purpose.