Why Are You Here?

Seriously. I mean here on earth.

Now if you give a canned answer (and this is not a religious hub) like "To serve the Lord Jesus Christ" or "To glorify God" then I have two responses:

- Is this really your own belief, or have you derived it from your background, or upbringing

- Give me specifics. In actual, everyday, terms, what specifically are you doing or should you be doing if that is your stated "reason for being."

Of course, before getting into a religious wrangle, perhaps it is better to ask this question:

- Does it matter?

It is perhaps a controversial matter in the first place as to whether you even "should" have a purpose. In addition, it is entirely possible that there is no set answer written in stone -- or in the stars.

It is possible that some people "should" have a purpose and some shouldn't. Or/And, perhaps at certain times you should and at certain times you shouldn't.

One thing's for sure, sorting out this question requires some careful thought. Or... maybe it doesn't -- indeed, a preliminary question is: "Is this sort of a question even right for me to ask?"

By this I mean that I suspect that at certain points in ones life, or in fact, for some people, at any time in ones life, this question can do more to confuse than to enlighten... sometimes thinking is not to be recommended.

If you are going to try and tackle this question, my suggestion is the following:

- Write down a list of all the things in your life that:

(a) you already know you need to attend to, i.e., that you are committed or obligated to attend to

(b) you feel you ought to attend to or address, or do something about (global warming perhaps, or the tearing down of the belief in global warming in others, perhaps)

...and put them in order.

Then assign them a rough score. Obviously this is just an exercise, but it will help you clarify what is important to you, and in what order

Once you have determined this list, and once you have scored everything on the list, you now have a blueprint for how to live. This does not mean you need never revise it, or that you are now forced to live by it, but at least you now have a framework for living.

Many times, the mental states we get into -- anxiety, depression, and so on -- are due to never having done this exercise in "values clarification." It is sometimes said that a lack of motivation is not simply the result of a lack of discipline, it is "not having a big enough "why" inside of you." Think about this idea: it might help you a lot; who knows, it could change your life...