We have different purpose in life. “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience,” said American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Even the twins and triples have different purposes although they make them look the same. Fortunately, we are the ones who shape our own destiny. “The human race may be compared to a writer,” Felix Adler, a German-American professor of political and social ethics, once wrote. “At the outset a writer has often only a vague general notion of the plan of his work, and of the thought he intends to elaborate.
“As he proceeds,” he continued, “penetrating his material, laboring to express himself fitly, he lays a firmer grasp on his thought; he finds himself. So, the human race is writing its story, finding itself, discovering its own underlying purpose, revising, recasting a tale pathetic often, yet none the less sublime.”
We only have one life to live in this world. Most people believe that we are here to uplift our fellow beings. We have to follow the golden rule: Do to others what you would like others to do to you. You reap what you sow.
“I shall pass through this world but once,” Stephen Grellet, a prominent French-born American missionary, once said. “Any good that I can do, or any kindness that I can show any human being, let me do it now and not defer it for I shall not pass this way again.”
“Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements,” Napoleon Hill reiterated.
Years ago, while unearthing an ancient Egyptian tomb, an archaeologist came upon seeds buried in a piece of wood. Planted, the seeds realized their potential after more than 3,000 years!
“I visualized where I wanted to be, what kind of player I wanted to become,” American basketball superstar Michael Jordan disclosed. “I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and I focused on getting there.”
We are who we are because that is what we want ourselves to be. Some of us would become stars but not everyone could reach the “impossible star.” If you cannot be a star, then be a tree that bears fruits. And if you can’t still be a tree, then be a grass. But just don’t be contented of being a grass; instead, be the best grass of all grasses.
Don’t be mediocre – even in the work you have chosen. Martin Luther King Jr. reminds, “We are challenged on every hand to work untiringly to achieve excellence in our lifework. Not all men are called to specialized or professional jobs; even fewer rise to the heights of genius in arts and sciences; many are called to be laborers in factories. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’”
Of course, you know Pablo Picasso. At one time, his mother told him when he was still a teenager, “If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general; if you become a monk, you’ll end up as the Pope.”
Instead, Picasso became a painter and became one of the world’s greatest painters.
Our purpose in this life differs from each other. But we are the ones who shape our destiny.
“The human race may be compared to a writer,” Felix Adler once wrote. “At the outset a writer has often only a vague general notion of the plan of his work, and of the thought he intends to elaborate. As he proceeds, penetrating his material, laboring to express himself fitly, he lays a firmer grasp on his thought; he finds himself. So, the human race is writing its story, finding itself, discovering its own underlying purpose, revising, recasting a tale pathetic often, yet none the less sublime.”
We only have one life to live in this world. We are here to uplift our fellow beings. We have to follow the golden rule: Do to others what you would like others to do to you. You reap what you sow.
An unknown author penned these golden rules for living: If you open it, close it. If you turn it on, turn it off. If you unlock it, lock it up. If you break it, admit it. If you can’t fix it, call in someone who can. If you borrow it, return it. If you value it, take care of it. If you make a mess, clean it up. If you move it, put it back. If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission. If you don’t know how to operate it, leave it alone. If it’s none of your business, don’t ask questions. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If it will brighten someone’s day, say it. If it will tarnish someone’s reputation, keep it to yourself.”
Just remember this. “The purpose of life,” said Robert Byrne, “is a life of purpose.”
