WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE?
Have you ever set a goal and achieved it? And then felt flat afterwards?
This has happened to most of us.
If we feel flat after achieving a goal, then maybe the goal isn't what's important. So if it's not important, why do we set goals?
We all know of the many problems facing the earth and its people. And I believe that most people would like to do something about it, but they don't do much about it because they believe that what they do will not make any difference. That is how we all usually feel.
But we can learn from the teachings of American Buckminster Fuller. He learned about his life's purpose, and he made a big difference.
Buckminster Fuller is one of the greatest inventors and thinkers of the twentieth century. There is a story that his life was once like most people's, full of going to parties, football etc. He was a bit of a ``wild lad" in the early days. Then something happened which changed his life forever. His daughter Alexandra who was only around 6 years old was very sick at that time. He left the house one day, promising to be back soon. Before he left, he promised Alexandra he would bring her back one of the small flags that they have at the football, as it was her birthday.
Buckminster Fuller didn't return home after the football. He didn't return home for three days. Presumably he was partying.
When he finally arrived home, his wife told him not to waste time apologising to her, but to go upstairs and see his daughter immediately. Alexandra had taken a turn for the worse. When Fuller picked up his daughter up in his arms, he said hello to her.
Then she asked him if he had the flag with him.
This disappointment was enough to end her slender hold on life. She died in his arms.
After that Fuller felt so bad he went for a walk, and decided to end his life. But , the story goes that he heard a voice saying something along the lines -
``You do not have the right to end your life. It is not yours to end. Your life has a purpose. You have not yet done what you came here to do."
After that he began to search for the purpose of life, God and the universe. He sought to discover what, if anything, could be done by a penniless, unknown man working on behalf of all humanity.
First of all, he stopped talking for two years! He realised that words had tremendous power. Words had often got him into trouble. He vowed not to speak until he was sure exactly what was the effect and meaning of any word.
He believed that there was a force (call it evolution, great spirit, God) which is intent upon making people so successful that they can all live at a standard of living much higher than that achieved by ANYONE else before.
He wanted to know what rules God used in setting up this universe. He went onto to discover what he called "Generalised Principles" of the universe.
So here's the cosmic joke. If the goal was your life purpose, and you achieved it, what would happen? You'd stop. But once you stop, there is no precession, no side-effects - and it's the side -effect, not the goal, that is your life purpose.
Humans are MEANT to be IN MOTION.
Fuller looked at the fact that NO ANIMAL HAD TO EARN A LIVING. They are just doing what they are supposed to do. If they do that, then nature & God looks after them.
So he hypothesized that perhaps that is the way that it is meant to run for us. Maybe we don't have to go after money. Maybe for each one of us, there is something that we are supposed to be doing. And if we do that, then God and the universe will look after us.
The real fruit of what we would be doing would not be obvious to us, because it would be at right angles to the goal we set. It would happen as a side effect.
The trick is to set the right goals. How do we know if the goal we set is creating the right side effects?
He said that we are not meant to go after money. He suggested that instead we set a goal that 'ADDS VALUE'. That is, that IMPROVES the quality of people's lives or of the earth.
Maybe that's why people like to help each other. Subconsciously they know that through doing that they are achieving their life purpose.
One way of knowing whether or not we have set the right goals is by listening to the 'taps on the shoulder'. These can be positive taps (blessings) or negative taps.
If something bad happens to us, we could take this as a 'learning experience'. We can also consider that it may be a negative tap on the shoulder. Perhaps there is something that we are doing (or not doing) that is different from what we are supposed to be doing.
The trouble with most people, and a reason why their lives may be in a mess, is that they don't listen to the taps on the shoulder. They think that they are just `bad luck' - and don't stop to consider whether or not the fact that they themselves have anything to do with this `bad luck'.
For many years I have run my life on this information. Bit by bit, more and more blessings came into my life. I kept meeting people who would help me, or give me information or material support that I would normally never have got hold of. Eventually even my cashflow improved. Certainly my health and happiness and the love in my life improved.
And perhaps best of all was a sense of knowing that there really IS a purpose to my life. Life gained a meaning and a quiet excitement that it didn't have before.
Our purpose is to ADD VALUE to the lives of others, and to the earth - to IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE. Our purpose is not to make money.
Precession is a Generalised Principle that can make good come out of bad. For example, in the early days the king asked the men to make metal. What was the precession, the side-effect, from this? The metal plough, which meant that more people could be fed with less work.
What was a side effect of the space program that put man on the moon? The transistor radio.
Get into MOTION! With other people who are IN MOTION! And improve the QUALITY of life!
What is the most important word in the definition of precession? In MOTION.
So do you think that there's much precession while your sitting watching TV? Nope.
Get into ACTION. Do SOMETHING. Preferably do something that ADDS VALUE. Then start to watch for the positive taps on the shoulder.
Also note that part of the definition of precession is "the effect of bodies in motion on OTHER BODIES IN MOTION ".
Don't waste time talking to people who don't want to hear what you have to say. Or who are watching TV. Instead, interact with others who are in motion.
What is the life expectancy of most people after they retire? ONLY THREE YEARS! Once they are not in motion, they are no longer achieving their life purpose - and so there is no more point in them being alive.
But people don't need to stop being in motion just because they don't have a job. On the contrary, once they retire there are plenty of things to do. They could:
• Volunteer to help at the UK or USA offices of www.givewater.org. One Billion people do not have any access to clean water. The average woman has to walk 6 miles a day to collect filthy, muddy, manure-filled water. Just $25 gives clean water to one person for life - by digging a well close by.
• Run for office. We need honest people who are cannot be bought by anyone.
• Plant trees
• Learn about natural health. Start by learning kinesiology.
• Do educational travel with a purpose. Travel to the countries that heifer.org is helping.
• Teach children the things that are REALLY important
• Teach adults the things that are really important
• Learn a new language
• Learn to paint etc....
Which is not to say that it is bad. It is good to experience many different things. But these people end up going around in circles. They never stick with any one thing long enough to become a MASTER at it. They don't build up a network of contacts and a store of knowledge, expertise, wealth etc... to make as big a difference as they would have if they had stayed in roughly one direction for a longer period of time.
The answer? Find a goal that ADDS VALUE and that you REALLY LOVE. That you REALLY CARE about. And CLEARLY CHOOSE to commit to stick with that for a long period of time, say at least 20 years. You may find that changes occur along the way. You may end up achieving your goal in a way that you would never have thought possible. For example, if your goal is to improve health, you may end up not being a doctor. You may work in health food stores, write books and work with natural health instead. If your goal is to improve education, you may end up running for office rather than becoming a teacher.
Work out what you want to ACHIEVE. Work out what the final end result will look like. Don't work out how you are going to do it, or what your are going to be to do it. For example, make a goal "To have cancer no more on the face of the earth" rather than to "Be a doctor".
As well as work which provides money for you, you may do things that earn you no monetary reward directly. But the blessings (positive taps) will flow to you in other ways (and sometimes in the form of money as well).
If other goals occur to you along your journey, you may want to do them as well. Just so long as your main eye is still on your main goal which adds value. The other goals will probably end up helping your main goal.
Knowing Your True Life Purpose
So the joke is - you will probably never fully know your true life purpose. But know that if you are in motion and adding value (improving the quality of life), you are achieving it. Especially if you are getting positive taps on the shoulder.
Some people sit around meditating to "find out what their life purpose is". Guess what, this is not how to do it. Meditation is good if that helps people to work out what goals to set. And to be more effective and aware. But if there's no motion, there's no precession. People don't start achieving their purpose until they get into motion. Imagine if the honey bees decided to start meditating and stopped collecting nectar!
What goal should you set? It is suggested that if you know of something which needs doing, and nobody's doing it, THEN THAT'S YOUR JOB.
PRECESSION BY ARTIFACT
An artifact is "an object produced or shaped by human workmanship". It could be a book, song, invention, webpage, movie, building or magazine article that adds value. Once it is made, and 'out there', it will be producing it's own precession. This is a very powerful way to make a difference.
I SUGGEST THAT LIFE IS A GAME. AND IN THIS GAME- THE ONLY FAILURE IS THE FAILURE TO PARTICIPATE.
In this life we don't have winners and losers. We have winners and learners!
(From the works of Buckminster Fuller & Dr W. Edwards Deming. The pictures of flipcharts are from a seminar I did called "Money & You". See www.excellerated.com/
