# Purpose of Life and self motivation



## a|one (Mar 26, 2005)

Hey guys, for a long time I've been feeling kind of dissatisfied with life and was wondering what motivates all of you to go on, what you feel your purpose in life is so to speak.

Though before you begin I should let you all know that im both an athiest and far too young and inexperienced to have children, so if you could think beyond family and god (though I'm sure thats a large part of it for many of you) it would be greatly appreciated.


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## Tsujigiri (Mar 26, 2005)

A bloody minded desire to inflict my ennui upon as many people as I possibly can.


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## Winters_Sorrow (Mar 26, 2005)

Well, as a fellow devout(?) atheist, for me it's just that no matter how bad life gets me down I enjoy the little things - smell of fresh bread the company of good friends - even a good book or movie! 

Life is sweeter than the alternative 
plus, it sounds cheesy but you never know what tomorrow will bring

and like, Tsuji says - if nothing else you can spend your time annoying insufferably happy people!


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## Space Monkey (Mar 26, 2005)

Winters_Sorrow said:
			
		

> I enjoy the little things - smell of fresh bread the company of good friends - even a good book or movie!
> 
> Life is sweeter than the alternative
> plus, it sounds cheesy but you never know what tomorrow will bring


This just about sums it up for me too; one shot at life, and I want to experience everything it has to offer.  I'm striving for wealth, fame, fun every day and to eventually know on my deathbed that I made the best of this opportunity.  Creating perfect memories and all that.
If you wanna hear cheesy, then check this out: my only fear is that I'll get old having missed chances at exploiting this adventure and experience to the max.


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## littlemissattitude (Mar 26, 2005)

a|one said:
			
		

> Hey guys, for a long time I've been feeling kind of dissatisfied with life and was wondering what motivates all of you to go on, what you feel your purpose in life is so to speak.
> 
> Though before you begin I should let you all know that im both an athiest and far too young and inexperienced to have children, so if you could think beyond family and god (though I'm sure thats a large part of it for many of you) it would be greatly appreciated.


 
What motivates me to go on?  That's very simple - I want to see what's going to happen next.  I know that most of it will be sad or pathetic or simply absurd but still, I've never lost that child-like need to know what's going to happen next.  And, you never know; something really cool might happen.

But - and I'm sorry, but this is going to turn philosophical for a bit - I've got to say that I've never really understood the connection between deity and purpose.  I don't know why anyone would assume that there is meaning in the universe just becuase of the existence of a god or gods, and I don't see why there can't be meaning in one's life in the absence of deity.  All that theory - that life is meaningless if there is no God - does is assume that we are all the inhabitants of someone else's story, and that he, she, or it (or they) can move us around the game board of life to satisfy their whims.

I won't start in on the whole argument that creationists make that evolutionary theory is evil because it takes all the meaning out of our existence.  I've run across this argument many times in my research into belief and belief systems, and it just doens't make any sense to me.  I figure that I make my own meaning in life whether there is a higher power (or powers) or not.  And I will admit that I suspect that there is something to this God concept, although I am not a religious person in any orthodox sense.  I just don't happen to believe that any supreme being or beings have that much to do with whether or not my life, anyone else's life, or the universe have meaning.

And that's as far as I will go with that, in view of the policy of the site not to go too much into religious topics.


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## Neon (Mar 26, 2005)

I think most of my motivation usually comes down to being a perfectionist.  That and the fact I am not satisfied with being second best.  It's why I study for hours for each exam, or why I hit the gym 4-5 days a week despite protests from my body.  But also I think you should be driven and motivated by things you are interested in.  I know I could never devote the amount of time I do in school if I hated my major.  As for exercising, everyone should divest a certain amount of effort into their health.  If you take a more personal interest in an activity, you will be that much more motivated to pursue and perfect it.


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## a|one (Mar 26, 2005)

littlemissattitude said:
			
		

> But - and I'm sorry, but this is going to turn philosophical for a bit
> 
> And that's as far as I will go with that, in view of the policy of the site not to go too much into religious topics.



No prob I love philosophy, as for the religious thing I dont really have a desire to impose my will on others so if you want to give your views I'm more than happy to hear them.

I envy you if you can feel satisfied not believing that your life holds any relevence to the greater scheme of things, a good time and a new day just dont cut it for me I guess. Then again, maybe its just part of that teen angst people are always talking about.


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## littlemissattitude (Mar 27, 2005)

a|one said:
			
		

> No prob I love philosophy, as for the religious thing I dont really have a desire to impose my will on others so if you want to give your views I'm more than happy to hear them.
> 
> I envy you if you can feel satisfied not believing that your life holds any relevence to the greater scheme of things, a good time and a new day just dont cut it for me I guess. Then again, maybe its just part of that teen angst people are always talking about.


 
Teen angst, huh?  I'm not sure why they call it that; I'm 48 and my life is pretty angst-filled sometimes.  Or maybe that's becuase I refuse to grow up. 

I'm not exactly sure that I said I don't believe that my life (or anyone else's life) holds any relevance to the greater scheme of things.  I just said that seeing what's going to happen is enough to keep me motivated to move on to the next day.  If there's more, that's good, too.  And there is more for me a good deal of the time.  I just don't see that whether or not there is a god or gods has any relevance to whether there is a greater meaning to the world or the universe.


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## a|one (Mar 27, 2005)

Well not so much no god, just that there is nothing after this life, that we're all just worm food only we dont know it yet. That nothing we do will really make a significant difference in the long run(and even if it did it would just be random occurance, we have no way of knowing how our lives will affect the future) and that were all destined to just fade away and be forgotten. Part of this is because I do accept evolutionary theory and I do believe that the only reason were here is to reproduce and die.


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## littlemissattitude (Mar 27, 2005)

a|one said:
			
		

> Well not so much no god, just that there is nothing after this life, that we're all just worm food only we dont know it yet. That nothing we do will really make a significant difference in the long run(and even if it did it would just be random occurance, we have no way of knowing how our lives will affect the future) and that were all destined to just fade away and be forgotten. Part of this is because I do accept evolutionary theory and I do believe that the only reason were here is to reproduce and die.


 
That's really interesting.  I also accept evolutionary theory, mostly.  By that I mean that I suspect that what passes as evolutionary theory today is probably mostly accurate, but I also believe that science is a process and not a set of dogmas, and that it is always possible that there have been misapprehensions and misinterpretations and that we may not have it all completely correct just yet.  But I don't believe that the correctness of evolutionary theory rules out the possibility of an afterlife of some sort.  Of course, some evolutionists would have you believe that it does (and so would some creationists who see that as one of the evils of evolutionary theory); I don't see that one follows the other.  I also believe that the existence of a god or gods does not rule out the correctness of evolutionary theory.

I've been told that this just means that I can't make up my mind, but I prefer to believe that this is not an either/or universe.  I was just reading today that the Jains (a sect of Hinduism, from what I understand) have something called the Doctrines of Maybe, which grew out of their conviction that there are not just two possibilities for any given thing, but seven.  This is very different from what the author of the book I was reading (The Creators, by Daniel J. Boorstin, a former Librarian of Congress) called "the law of the excluded middle", which Western thought is mostly based on.  Apparently, this comes from the teachings of the ancient Greek philosophers, and it is a very dualistic way of thinking - something either is or is not.  I'm not convinced that is/is not gives an accurate view of the universe.

I'm not sure if any of this makes any sense.  It's getting too late in the evening to discuss philosophy.


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## Foxbat (Mar 27, 2005)

Here's my own little theory: There is no God (or any other Universal Consciousness). Life creates its own purpose - and that's why death exists - to create the holes in which mutations can occur, and therefore move up the evolutionary ladder.

On a personal level; no, I don't believe there is a purpose because it's all about the species as a whole. Purpose on this level is what you make for yourself. As for feelings of dissatifaction that this affair brings about - you tend to become more accepting of reality as you get older


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## a|one (Mar 27, 2005)

littlemissattitude said:
			
		

> I'm not convinced that is/is not gives an accurate view of the universe.



Well, in many aspects of life I would agree wholeheartedly, but in the question of existence I think a yes or no answer is required, one either exists or one does not. (And I dont consider the flowers growing out of one's corpse existence.)

Foxbat I cant honestly see myself ever becoming content with the mundane or the everyday, I'm just too easily bored. If growing older for me means becoming more satisfied with this sick reality then I will be quite suprised.

Oh and Winter's Sorrow I'm not sure I would call myself a "devout" athiest, I'd really like to believe in god quite a bit, I just dont believe in deluding oneself into believing something that isnt true just because it makes you feel good and a lot of other people are doing it. So no, until I see what I would consider actual proof of existence I believe in no higher being.


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## GrownUp (Mar 27, 2005)

Purpose doesn't make happiness!!?!

Like looking up into the sky, seeing light filtering through the chopped up clouds and glistening around the edges, and it's gold, and behind it is blue and deep. The way it feels when you look at it. The way that feels in your stomach, if other people were looking at you they would see your eyes full of reflected blue and gold and glistening as if you were dancing without moving.

There is no purpose to it! Time is yours! 

Whether there is destiny or no, whether there is a God or not, even when you are screaming and crying and cutting yourself. No one can remove a second of your experience!!!


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## Tsujigiri (Mar 27, 2005)

Hear Hear!!!


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## Space Monkey (Mar 27, 2005)

a|one said:
			
		

> I cant honestly see myself ever becoming content with the mundane or the everyday, I'm just too easily bored. If growing older for me means becoming more satisfied with this sick reality then I will be quite suprised.


It's up to you to change it from being boring and mundane though. You hold the reins to your entire reality and perception of the world. I know there is badness afoot everywhere, but you hold the remote control to the TV and choose what you absorb of it and dwell on. The older I get, the less news I allow myself to watch, because it depresses me too much and I don't want to spend my life being depressed. Shallow and selfish? Absolutely, but the world does revolve around me. Same as your world revolves around you and everyone's world revolves around them.



> I'd really like to believe in god quite a bit, I just dont believe in deluding oneself into believing something that isnt true just because it makes you feel good...


Why not? A deeper level of you knows you aren't subscribing to the dogma, but on the times you'd 'like' there to be something there, why not consider for a while that there might be and that no-one truly knows? Unless you want to be a martyr, feeling bad is something I recommend avoiding when you can alter that by occasionally adjusting your mindset to get by.
I don't believe in god or atheism - in fact all I I DO believe in is the fact that I don't know. But I always seek the mindsets that make me feel best at any given time. And sometimes, a good old bit of self-delusion works just fine because being alone up the creek without a paddle blows hard.

My purpose in life is to always be feeling good, positive and satisfied. If that means occasionally lying to myself or considering that there might be spooks looking out for us, then fine. Never knowing means never being dissatisfied with what you know. If that makes an ounce of sense. And accepting that you don't know means there will always be discovery and wonder and intrigue in stuff. I find great comfort in not knowing the answers.
My advice is to roll with it and don't take any of it too seriously. Seek euphoria at all times, and keep your hands and feet inside the carriage.


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## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (Mar 28, 2005)

Well...my purpose is to figure out what my purpose is. Really. They were a bit pre-occupied at Mission Control when I was given my assignment, and when I asked what my mission was to be, the man said 'Well, part of your mission can be to figure that out. In the meantime, be dangerous, and unpredictable, and make a lot of noise.'


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## littlemissattitude (Mar 28, 2005)

knivesout said:
			
		

> Well...my purpose is to figure out what my purpose is. Really. They were a bit pre-occupied at Mission Control when I was given my assignment, and when I asked what my mission was to be, the man said 'Well, part of your mission can be to figure that out. In the meantime, be dangerous, and unpredictable, and make a lot of noise.'


 
It occurs to me that the journey may be the purpose.  Wouldn't that be a kick in the pants?  If it didn't matter where you ended up (because there was no where to end up, or because there is an afterlife but everyone goes to the same place no matter how good or evil they were, or because we just come back [the boomerang theory] - does that take care of most of the options?), just that you made the journey?  That would sure leave a lot of surprised folks at the end of it all, wouldn't it?


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## a|one (Mar 28, 2005)

Space Monkey said:
			
		

> My purpose in life is to always be feeling good, positive and satisfied. If that means occasionally lying to myself or considering that there might be spooks looking out for us, then fine. I find great comfort in not knowing the answers.



Thats great. Really. If you can be happy with that, then I envy you. I just couldnt ever feel content living in ignorance, I would rather be intensely depressed my whole life and know everything than be overjoyed and know nothing. Not to mention, I have never been able to/would never want to lie to myself. Never had much difficulty lying to others, but in my own mind I just hear the fakeness as soon as the thoughts occur. I'm an escapist by nature, but I can only try not to think about things, if something does get stuck in my mind, I can never deny the reality. 

Sorry if im getting too introspective, I realize you didnt ask for my life story. I'm just trying to explain why your way would never work for me.


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## Circus Cranium (Mar 28, 2005)

I think more like you, alone, though I go out of my way NOT to focus on it. When I do, however, my views are pretty much that nothing makes sense, I don't want to age and die, how the HELL was the universe formed, and why does it even matter that I'm thinking these thoughts, because I'll be OVER in a few decades. And then I get pissed off. So I try and do the live for the day, but not because of any great philosophy, but because it's easier not to think about the futility, and focus on the now. And I love the now, I have a great life. While it lasts.


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## a|one (Mar 28, 2005)

ditto


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## Space Monkey (Mar 28, 2005)

a|one said:
			
		

> Thats great. Really. If you can be happy with that, then I envy you. I just couldnt ever feel content living in ignorance, I would rather be intensely depressed my whole life and know everything than be overjoyed and know nothing. Not to mention, I have never been able to/would never want to lie to myself. Never had much difficulty lying to others, but in my own mind I just hear the fakeness as soon as the thoughts occur. I'm an escapist by nature, but I can only try not to think about things, if something does get stuck in my mind, I can never deny the reality.


Thing is, don't you realise there isn't a person in the whole world who doesn't live in ignorance regarding this issue?
Nobody knows what it's all about; we make our own purposes, we dream up our own ideals, we create our own reality. If you're a die-hard atheist, then your reality is that there is no God. If you're a die-hard believer, then your reality says there is a God, no question of it. I'm only living in the same ignorance as the next guy. To presume you know what reality is seems a bit silly to me, or to claim to know what happens (or doesn't) after this life seems awfully presumtuous. I choose to accept that we'll never know everything and that we have to live with it. This is unfortunately the truth, and if you choose to live in depression over that, then you've already answered your own question.

When I talked about lying to yourself, that was the wrong turn of phrase. You can only lie if you know the truth. You just said you choose not to think about it. What's the difference? I make up pretend friends in my head. I daydream. I enjoy both of these things; does that make me unrealistic?
It doesn't mean I don't think, or even think about this.  I never stop thinking about it, but I'm no closer to the answer than I was the day I was born.


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## xRAZERx (Mar 28, 2005)

I may not always enjoy life, I may not always know where I'm going in life but I am doing my best to enjoy it. Life holds a lot of little pleasures for me (that I imagine would do nothing for others) like the smell of a new book, or going for a walk in the rain, and they make life worth living.

There have been times in my life when I've sat and puzzled out the reason for living, there have been weeks when I've not been able to sleep for worrying what happens to us after we die. When I feared sleep in case I woke up dead (I know that makes no sense but you know what I mean lol). But when I look back and think about it, I realise life is here to live, sitting about worrying has done me no good so now I just enjoy it.


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## Space Monkey (Mar 28, 2005)

xRAZERx said:
			
		

> There have been times in my life when I've sat and puzzled out the reason for living, there have been weeks when I've not been able to sleep for worrying what happens to us after we die. When I feared sleep in case I woke up dead (I know that makes no sense but you know what I mean lol). But when I look back and think about it, I realise life is here to live, sitting about worrying has done me no good so now I just enjoy it.


My point exactly.


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## Neon (Mar 28, 2005)

Ignorance is bliss.  

The more I know, the more I grow, the more responsibilities I get.... the more I worry and can't have as much fun.


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## a|one (Mar 29, 2005)

Space Monkey said:
			
		

> Thing is, don't you realise there isn't a person in the whole world who doesn't live in ignorance regarding this issue?
> 
> If you're a die-hard atheist, then your reality is that there is no God.
> 
> ...



I do realize that... I just said that I would *rather *know everything than know nothing, not that I *do *know everything. And I thought I had clearly explained I'm not a "die-hard athiest" I'm just an athiest until I see proof, which I look for constantly, and which others I know claim that I will see eventually.

I'm not saying I dont live in ignorace, obviously there are many things I dont know, but that doesnt mean I wont make an effort to learn more.

As for not being able to lie if you dont know the truth, thats just plain not true. It is quite possible to know that one thing isnt true without knowing what is true. It's called a process of elimination.

Also I said I *try *not to think about it, most of the time. But there are many days when I cant help it or really stop caring about anything else.


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## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (Mar 29, 2005)

It's OK. We are questioning creatures after all. Treat the dillemas and puzzles as signs that you're on the right track, and don't beat yourself up for not getting it all the time. The day you stop wondering, that's the death of wonder, and I think that's a terrible thing. I'd rather live tormented with questions than smug with ignorance. But it doesn't have to be a torment, I think.


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## Brian G Turner (Mar 29, 2005)

a|one said:
			
		

> I've been feeling kind of dissatisfied with life and was wondering what motivates all of you to go on, what you feel your purpose in life is so to speak.



I've always had a sense of predestination - it's something that can be very hard to communicate.

Sometimes it's like remembering the future - nothing ever happens as expected, but there are familiar "objects" I can move towards. Listening to my "inner voice" is definitely the way.

So I'm often striving to try and make this sense of destiny play out. 

Sometimes things have gotten very low - but even at the lowest possible point in my life, I figured that I was alive for a reason, even if I no longer had any idea what that idea may be.

One thing I realised a while back - if I knew my future exactly, life would be pretty darn boring. Mystery is good - it can make life an exciting frontier. Even those boring humdrum moments are experiences which are unique to yourself in the universe.


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## Tsujigiri (Mar 29, 2005)

That sounds more or less similar to my own philosophy Brian, even when the worst thing possible happened to me I still found some solace in the fact that I was experiencing it, that I would survive it and that it and thes I had some vague purpose in existing.


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## Winters_Sorrow (Mar 29, 2005)

Sorry to be mundane but I just love the smell of fresh bread, really - does that make me shallow? 

oh, and about the whole "What's my purpose?" and "Nothing I do will ever matter" debate?

1) Your purpose is your own to create and shape - would you really be satisfied in having the question answered?
2) Everything you do matters to someone - maybe you won't be the next Einstein (maybe you will) maybe people will still be singing your praises 3,000 yrs from now (maybe they won't). Either way, you probably won't find out about it until you shuffle off the mortal coil (to something greater? who knows) so any time spent worrying about it is wasted energy.
If you do want to make a big noise so you are remembered, it'll be a lot of hard work involved and will probably take up a lot of your free time.

Personally, I'd rather be rich than famous


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## Circus Cranium (Mar 29, 2005)

Not Mundane. Fresh bread for you, burning woodfires in the winter for me.


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## a|one (Mar 29, 2005)

Winters_Sorrow said:
			
		

> Sorry to be mundane but I just love the smell of fresh bread, really - does that make me shallow?
> 
> oh, and about the whole "What's my purpose?" and "Nothing I do will ever matter" debate?
> 
> ...


\

"1) Your purpose is your own to create and shape - would you really be satisfied in having the question answered?"

Honestly, I really would. I accept the large possibility that it would just make me feel worse, but at least then I could get spiteful and do the opposite. 
What I'd really like to know is, are we just here to provide yet another chink in the evolutionary chain? Or is there a greater meaning?

Also in no way was I implying that your shallow for appreciating the simpler things in life, I apologize if I came off that way. It's just everything about us is so connected to survival; you enjoy the smell of fresh bread because your body is telling you that you need food to survive, personally I also like the smelling of burning wood, as do many other people im sure. Now why would our bodies want us to enjoy the smell of burning wood? If you really think about it everything we feel is just another way of our own bodies manipulating us.

As for the part about how hard you would have to work to be remembered, that honestly wouldnt matter to me. It's more about doing something that would actually make a positive difference millenia down the line.

Once again I apologize if I've come off arrogant, you wouldnt be the first to say that and I swear its entirely unconscious. I enjoy debating with the people on this site more than the majority of people I know in RL. Considering I'm still in high school I suppose thats kind of a given, 
but still...


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## Leto (Mar 29, 2005)

Arrogance ? OK, I'm in...
Just to say I'm gonna state more platitude than Arnold Rimmer in a good day...

The purpose of life ? There's none except to live. From this, it's you and you alone (no pun intended) to create your own purpose.

My personal one is simple : not to be bored. As soon as I sense something boring on the way, I quit : be it a job (done that already 3 times and I'm still light-years far from retirement), a bf (do I need to count ?) or a place. You can't always quit it as soon as you decide, but planning a replacement solution to get you back on track can be as much enjoyable.


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## Brian G Turner (Mar 29, 2005)

Circus Cranium said:
			
		

> Not Mundane. Fresh bread for you, burning woodfires in the winter for me.



The little details are the best.


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## lucifer_principle (May 29, 2005)

The purpose of life is to get and keep motivation, isn't that what you are biologicaly meant to do; survive, reprocreate, and move along.


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