Purpose

A man needs purpose. Without purpose, what are we? Animals? What’s the point of living if not by a code and goals? Without that we are just left with our desires. At that point are you truly human? But a lot of people do live like that, going with the flow. Does that make them less human than the disciplined go-getters? Isn’t it human to live as we feel like at that particular moment? As much as we weren’t asked to be born, how we feel at a given time isn’t ours to decide.

Thought Experiment: You have a test tomorrow, it’s late at night, you’ve been studying and you’re tired. Should you give in to how you feel and sleep or should you defy what you feel and push on? Pushing on means getting a better grade, means more knowledge, it means potential growth. While sleeping is just that, sleeping. A natural response to being tired. Which choice is more human? I would argue sleeping is. The point I’m trying to make is that the harder choice makes you better in the long run. It also contradicts what the body naturally wants, that is to sleep when tired. So now we have to transcend our nature to become great. Why is that?

Even in the Bible, man is taught to be more like heavenly beings, not human. Heavenly beings like God, Jesus, and the Angels. I believe this is mostly possible since we are made in God’s image. Even if we talk about the Greek or Roman gods, they all had purpose, they were all gods of something (Ares, god of war, Dionysus, god of wine).

God is the epitome of greatness. According to the Bible human nature is sinful. Sin is what separates us from God. Now you have to transcend that nature to reach greatness. Sounds like a rigged game doesn’t it? It’s like telling a bear to fly, it’s not natural.

Side note: I’m not saying being close to God is impossible, I’m just trying to illustrate how hard it is to reach what you might consider greatness.

A man needs purpose? What if you don’t have a purpose? What if you don’t want to be ‘great’? I guess this means you remain human. Is that so bad? What exactly does it mean to be human?

Regardless of what it means, we are all human. Whether you have purpose or not, whether you are great or not, or whether you aspire to be more like God or not, we are all human. This is why we all have rights, or at least in most countries you do. We are all equal. But in reality, this isn’t so. Some are more equal than others (Wealth, Social Status, Good Genetics). These people got to be more equal because they had the drive/purpose to become greater. Or they got to be more equal because they benefit from already great people (children of successful parents). This is where the true problem lies, what the more equal people do with their equality. As history has shown us, great people are capable of doing evil as much as they are good.

It’s sad to say but having purpose is the only way to try and retain your intrinsic value as a human being. Having purpose is the only way to try and fight for others humanity, like children. These children could grow up to do the same thing, or not. Fighting for the rights of a person who doesn’t have to do the same sounds pointless but that is what a great person would do.

A man needs purpose to be a man. To be precise, a man needs purpose to remain a man.