The purpose of life

Nothing like a deep topic to get us through the end of the week. What is the purpose of life? There’s a bunch of different thoughts on the matter. And often the answer depends on one’s foundational beliefs to guide their answer. It seems as though purpose doesn’t give us a starting point, but rather helps us clarify our beliefs.

For example, I think it’s pretty safe to say that there are many who would answer the question by saying that the purpose of life is to be happy. If we take that answer at face value, it raises a few follow-up questions. The most obvious one being — what does that mean? What is happiness? How is it being defined and used here?

Going deeper, we need to ask some other questions. How does one achieve or obtain happiness? This is where it gets interesting. Some will answer that the happiness is something within us and others will say that it has something to do external to us. Some link happiness to others. Some to experiences. And some see happiness coming as a form of transference. And there are others who see that happiness only comes by making others miserable. This belief if linked to the idea that if you aren’t ok, then I must be ok. Kind of like a set pie with the size of the pieces changing, if that makes any sense. It’s an assumption that there is a limited amount of happiness, as if it were a natural resource.

The sad reality about this way of seeing the world and others is that it is really a projection — that those who spread misery are actually miserable themselves. Why? Who knows. There’s…