Do you have a purpose? | INFJ Forum

Do you have a purpose?

arbygil

arbygil

Passing through
Nov 29, 2008
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Do you have purpose or have a purpose? Do you feel your life has meaning, and that you're on the road to something greater? I hope you do. I feel I do, but maybe that's more of a personal thing.

It actually saddens me when I meet with some of my students and they have no idea what they want to do with their lives. The number I see who have no idea who they are or what they should do is increasing each year and it hurts to see them flounder. I think it's really, really important to have goals and to see yourself - and envision where you'd like to go - every so often.

The one way to do that is to know you're here for a reason, and that you have things to do on this planet that benefit more than just you.

So.

Do you have a purpose? Do you feel you're here for a reason? If you do/if it's yes, then what are you doing to get to your future? How have you secured it, and what are your Big Future Plans?
 
I have a purpose. Procreation. Whether I'll ever get round to it is debatable.
 
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Actually I do have a serious answer. In terms of career one of the things that set me apart from a lot of other kids was that I knew exactly what I wanted to do from a very young age. I'm not gonna get into it specifically because it just sounds pretentious and words on a forum don't do justice to my conviction and don't illustrate the evidence supporting my endeavours. Part of the reason why I feel I can excel in my chosen fields is because....I know I can. It's sounds big headed but I really think it's far, far reaching Ni at work. I analyse my environment, compare myself to others and can make predictions about the outcome of what a certain amount of exertion will give me in terms of result. The flip side of learning all the necessary skills, and this is a big motivation, is that I can pass these skills onto others. I see a gap in the market, so to speak, where no one is really attempting to help others achieve theses goals. So I'd like to think that when I become proficient at what I do, I can then give it others. I won't charge people either, so it's not just the rich who can afford it, it's the talented that deserve it who can benefit from these skills.
 
I just want to help people and animals the best I can. I want to be there for people, and actually give animals some proper welfare rights. Everyone needs to look after eachother, afterall.
 
I have always been one of those people, I know I have a reason to be here, I feel there is a purpose to my existence. A big one. But I have never found that purpose. Or I have and my past has prevented me from getting on the boat so to speak. I'm nearly 30 and I still have no idea what I want to do with my life, or my greater purpose. The things that I do I love, but they dont seem like the one. For now my purpose is illuding me, perhapse it is still out there waiting for me to discover it, or perhapse I already have and it just has not fully blossomed yet

I love to write, and the things I have written fill me with great joy, purpose and pride. But still the empty feeling lingers

I love what I create, I love that I am making money from it, I love that I am helping the environment. I feel great fulfilment, but its not complete.

I long to get a degree in graphic design, but thats merely a personal dream. It doesnt feel like the end all be all for my purpose

There are few other things I want to learn in my life that will be just as fulfilling but not my lifes dream.
 
arbygil said:
Do you have purpose or have a purpose? Do you feel your life has meaning, and that you're on the road to something greater? I hope you do. I feel I do, but maybe that's more of a personal thing.

It actually saddens me when I meet with some of my students and they have no idea what they want to do with their lives. The number I see who have no idea who they are or what they should do is increasing each year and it hurts to see them flounder. I think it's really, really important to have goals and to see yourself - and envision where you'd like to go - every so often.

The one way to do that is to know you're here for a reason, and that you have things to do on this planet that benefit more than just you.

So.

Do you have a purpose? Do you feel you're here for a reason? If you do/if it's yes, then what are you doing to get to your future? How have you secured it, and what are your Big Future Plans?
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Oh man! I could be one of your students. I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I don't have a clue where I'm headed.

I also don't believe that life really has any more purpose than what we give it. It's up to us to give it meaning and it's up to us to create our purpose. But that's just my two cents.
 
The purpose I have set myself for now is "To be happy, helpful and do small things with great love".

I don't believe everyone needs to have a 'great purpose', although some people feel drawn in this direction or are otherwise coerced towards it (in which case it will never feel true to them). It is enough to set oneself a purpose on the character level - to be kind, good, faithful etc, or even just to consistently work to the standard one is capable of.
 
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I think...as long as you're doing something you love to do, something that brings you great joy, that you are fulfilling your purpose here on earth and it will spill over and bring joy to others. It doesn't need to be earth shattering or navel-gazingly accurate. Just...(to paraphrase Curly from City Slickers) find your One Thing.

And that's what saddens me about my students. So many are graduating, living the lives of others, and they haven't taken the time to find that One Thing. Or they've been told all their lives what they should be, but they haven't discovered who they are.
 
arbygil said:
The one way to do that is to know you're here for a reason, and that you have things to do on this planet that benefit more than just you.
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I completely disagree with this idea-belief, Arbygil, no matter how politically correct it may be.


I'll get back on this later on to present my argument.
 
Creon said:
I completely disagree with this idea-belief, Arbygil, no matter how politically correct it may be.


I'll get back on this later on to present my argument.
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That's fine - some might have issues with it. But it could be a feeling issue, too - to feel that you matter in some respects, that what you do counts. I can't imagine not having that or feeling that.
 
arbygil said:
I think...as long as you're doing something you love to do, something that brings you great joy, that you are fulfilling your purpose here on earth and it will spill over and bring joy to others. It doesn't need to be earth shattering or navel-gazingly accurate. Just...(to paraphrase Curly from City Slickers) find your One Thing.
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I totally agree, I think everyone is here to fulfill a purpose and that sense of joy or love for it is the very indication that you have found it. Imagine what the world would be like if everybody found their purpose and had that sense of fulfillment

arbygil said:
And that's what saddens me about my students. So many are graduating, living the lives of others, and they haven't taken the time to find that One Thing. Or they've been told all their lives what they should be, but they haven't discovered who they are.
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I think people can be forced by convention onto paths that are not exactly their own, the age that the majority of people attend college and decide on a career is so young.... but you could take solace in the fact that it could prove for them to be helpful in discovering what they don't want to do, as long as people are learning something it can't be all that bad
 
I think about career options every day but I don't want to plan it out because if I do somehow something better will come along and then I'll have put work/money/ and time in something that isn't the exciting thing that I'd like to be doing for the rest of my life. I'd actually like to try several hundred jobs in my lifetime but it seems like the career aspirations is 'making it to the top' rather than just going with the flow, taking what comes your way.

Do I have a purpose? Nah.

Purpose is for pussies. :D
 
I firmly believe that no one has a purpose. It's just biology. My parents had a baby and it grew up to be me. I didn't choose to be born, and I don't have any purpose for being here in the world, anymore than any other living thing.

It's a lot of pressure to think one has a purpose. What if you never achieve your purpose - is your life a failure? Imagine living 90 years and never fulfilling your perceived purpose.

Now, if one chooses to have a purpose, that's another story. I choose to do my best to help people, animals and the planet in any way I can. It's not my purpose, but it's something to do while I'm here on earth.
 
To become the leader of some benevolent underground militant pacifist faction. And live in hidden bunker and do secret missions.

No. Not really.

When I was a kid, I thought I did. I thought I was destined for great heroic things, but I realize that was all part of hiding from the miserable reality right in front of me. Some people take trauma and traumatize others while some people take trauma and build grandiose dreams of being the hero and champion of the downtrodden.

The only purpose I have is to unravel myself of the soul-deadening illusionary coping mechanisms I've put in place since I was a child, and to become a more authentic person.
Just have to see what happens after that.
 
alt ctrl del said:
When I was a kid, I thought I did. I thought I was destined for great heroic things, but I realize that was all part of hiding from the miserable reality right in front of me. Some people take trauma and traumatize others while some people take trauma and build grandiose dreams of being the hero and champion of the downtrodden.
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You might as well just slap me in the face.
 
Try your life path number
find a calculator on the web or just take your birthday as numbers and add them up
if you get an 11/22/33/44 - do not reduce them - they are master numbers
Ex.

mine is
09/24/1987
the sum of these numbers is 22 = my life path number
 
goldfinch said:
I firmly believe that no one has a purpose. It's just biology. My parents had a baby and it grew up to be me. I didn't choose to be born, and I don't have any purpose for being here in the world, anymore than any other living thing.
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I think every living being has a purpose and it can appear be 'just' biology, the ecosystem we exist in is so intricate and interdependent that I can't view it as anything other than purposeful, even if it was all randomly created (which I don't believe) in order to continue to function all beings must serve/fulfill their purpose.

goldfinch said:
It's a lot of pressure to think one has a purpose. What if you never achieve your purpose - is your life a failure? Imagine living 90 years and never fulfilling your perceived purpose.
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Maybe not achieving your purpose is purposeful, just by being around you impact and influence others consciously or otherwise. As far as I'm concerned it's just about being happy, doing all you can to ensure that you and yours achieve as much happiness as possible whatever that means, it doesn't necessarily have to have anything to do with a career really.
 
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