What is the Purpose of Life?

This is one of the most confusing, huge, and bottomless questions that you will ever try to answer. Most of the time… without any success. At least until you are lucky enough to stumble upon your purpose during your lifetime.

A Scary Realization

On 17^th June, 2021, my country Zambia lost a lot of famous people after a spike in covid-19 cases. I had just recovered from malaria and covid-19 myself. Seems I was fortunate enough to still be relatively young and healthy. So I guess my body’s immune system was able to handle it better than others who were not as fortunate.

However, because of the deaths of several famous people on this day, fear and panic gripped me –and something hit me. What if I was very old? What if I had underlying health issues? What if for instance I had been over 60 years old with diabetes and hypertension for arguments sake?

Truthfully, the way I know myself, I would have been very panicky and frantic during my illness if I was 60 years old with underlying issues. But my panic would not have been because I am afraid to die –because we all die sometime (it’s just a matter of when). My panic would have been because I know this one thing for sure…I have not yet achieved my life’s purpose! Worse still, I am nowhere near close to achieving it. In fact, let me just be honest and say it… I STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HECK MY LIFE’S PURPOSE IS! (Slaps head in embarrassment). THERE! I SAID IT! I still don’t know what my purpose in life is –I only have clues.

 

Clues from Mother Life

Anyway even though I don’t know what my life’s purpose is, the only time I feel meaningful, alive, and like I am doing something important is when I am creating. When I am writing an article, blog post, or a book. When I am writing a new verse for a song or when I am excitedly rapping out lyrics in the studio.

Truth be told, I don’t get that feeling as much at my day job –even though I like my day job –and even though I am good at it. I don’t frequently get that feeling from my day job even though my job gives me the opportunity to solve huge and pressing problems for people. In the end, for some reason, it is still the ‘hobbies’ that set me on fire.

What’s even more confusing, unfortunate –and annoying –is the fact that I have the curse of ‘quickly shifting interests.’ I also have the curse of somewhat being a ‘jack of all trades.’ Though many people might not consider it a problem, the truth is that being a “jack of all trades” is one of the biggest obstacles that a person may face in becoming their best self.

The Confusing Search for Purpose

In a world where most people are not particularly good at anything, imagine being average at too many things. Imagine the confusion. What do you pursue? What do you focus on? And when you somehow find the guts to focus on one thing, the little demon in your head pops up and reminds you that you suck at it. It also tells you that you will never be great at the thing you are focusing on and that you are better off trying something else –something you can actually be good at.

Contrary to what most people think, being able to do over 5 things averagely well is a problem. It causes you to be unclear about what to focus on and which direction to go. It is a really confusing path which often does not lead to excellence. If you are a jack of all trades or a multi-talented person, deep down you know that having too many options is keeping you from reaching your highest potential at one particular thing. You also know that being unable to narrow down your pursuits is keeping you from finding your life’s purpose and becoming your greatest self.

…To be continued.