Your purpose is simply to be human
“The goal of a human being is to simply be a human being. To be born, and to experience things, and do die. It may sound reductive, but to remind ourselves of this fact, regularly, is a huge mental health win.”
What is my purpose?
It is a question that has rattled around many a skull, including mine. Sometimes gently, and sometimes like a bowling ball. Sometimes on its own, and sometimes with a few friends, namely: what should I be doing with my life? Am I behind? Do I feel fulfilled? Is this it?
Particularly for those straddling their twenties and thirties, these types of questions can feel frequent and overwhelming. We look to our left and see friends getting promoted, to our right we see friends having babies, to the North we see friends living with Tibetan monks and to the South we see friends having one night stands at Glastonbury in a collapsing tent. We watch their Instagram stories and try to decide who is getting it right.
However, there is no right, because there is no end destination or goal for a human life. The goal of a human being is to simply be a human being. To be born, and to experience things, and do die. It may sound reductive, but to remind ourselves of this fact, regularly, is a huge mental health win. Particularly in a time where we are constantly being bombarded with images of what everyone we have known since we were in kindergarten is doing on a daily basis.
There is no one, universal life purpose. Your only purpose is to be you, and to experience your own life, while you are alive. These experiences may be joyful, or miserable, exciting, or dull. They will likely include career highs, lows and changes, travel, love, hate, excitement, disappointment, friendship, adversity, good luck and bad luck. Each is as inevitable as the next.
The goal in life is not to be happy, as we are so often taught. Rather, the goal in life is to experience life. When we remind ourselves of this, it is as if a weight is lifted off our shoulders. All of a sudden, we can observe the life stages of others with curiosity rather than comparison. We can suffer disappointment and make mistakes with acceptance rather than judgment. We can take risks and embrace change with trust rather than fear.
So next time you are spiralling, wondering what you should do next, or if you have made the right decision, or if you’re “getting things right”, just remember that there is no “right.” If you are experiencing life, which of course you are, then you are fulfilling your purpose.
