Finding Your True Purpose?

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
1

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but when I’m thrown a curveball in life, I like asking other philosophical minds for their input. Let me start with a little background.

I’m 23 years old, and I quit my job today. I’d been there for three days as a mutual fund trader. It was, relative to my situation (no college degree, little experience in any field), a well paying job with great benefits. The job I’d had before that was a crap paying job helping disabled people, with a crap company with crap benefits. I was there for 30 days.

I haven’t always jumped ship like this when I start a job I don’t like. I was working for two years at two different jobs previously, and one year at another. Lately, it seems, I haven’t had the tolerance for jobs I didn’t like. I can’t imagine this being a good thing.

I’m sure everybody’s heard stories about people who find their dream job, who wake up every morning and love what they do, look forward going to work, and work at a company for decades. I’ll assume from whom I’ve met in life that this is a rare minority, and the majority of people don’t like what they do, but trudge through life anyways to earn an income and possibly one day retire.

So which can you relate to the most? And are those who find what seems to be their destiny and purpose just fortunate? Do the chemicals in the brain work differently? Or did they just get lucky and try something early on, found they liked it, and decided to dedicate their lives to it? Off the top of my head, I can’t think of anything I feel so passionately about that I’d want to do it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for the rest of my life. Does this mean I’m already destined to be a trudger, unless I stumble upon what I want to do? Are there people who quit jobs every few months for their entire lives, or eventually do most people just get comfortable? And are people who can’t hold a job for more than a few months psychologically different or disabled?

Forgive me if this is the wrong forum, but I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts and experiences on the matter.

2

I can relate to your problem, the only passion I have found in life (that I like to do 8 hours daily) is reading various scientific/to a much lesser degree philosophic material/texts.

Maybe one day i’ll be a scientist or science journalist. Otherwise i’m destined to be worse than ‘trudger’

3

It sounds like you need some self-examination. Once you figure yourself out, then you’ll figure your life out and live it accordingly.

4

D00d,
In my experience there are few jobs that will satisfy us philosophic types. I’m almost 21 and completely sympathize with you, and I have some ideas on the matter. Not any solutions. Just some thoughts on why some people find themselves in such a place.

A friend of mine, he’s 25 now, has spent the last 8 years studying at least 5 hours every day in order to be a doctor. On one occasion I asked him whether being a doctor, after all this hard work he’s put into it, is something he will enjoy, being that doctors have a very stressful life, and usually don’t have much time for their own selves. He told me that this is something he wants to do even though I gathered from the way he answered that he hadn’t really thought about this question much. This dude was groomed ever since he was little for this profession, so I don’t see that he could possibly not like it. He’s spent all this time and effort already into this–ever since he was young and probably before he knew this is what he wanted to do, so it’s easy to see why this is a profession he is willing to spend the rest of his life doing, and identifying himself as. He’s internalized the desires of his folks and society in general, and so he finds himself not in short of a supply of motivation to go to work day after day and doing this.

The problem with our types is that we’ve broken free of what society has deemed honorable or desirable or worthy of a allotting time, effort, sweat, and most importantly, our identity. So in lacking this internalized societal standard we are left (some would say we are “free”) to create, in a manner of speaking, the things that we want to desire, and find honorable on our own standards. Which means that you, “dorkydood” probably feel that you must first analyze the worth of a profession, it’s utility with respect to something you care about, like society, or your family to be more specific, and then after you agree with it’s utility, you can then create a passion for which will then justify the time and sweat you spend working towards maintaining the profession and becoming a representative of it.

It’s far easier to just stop thinking, and to stop reevaluating and deinternalize values which have been prepared for society and to just sweat and bleed for whatever society has deemed worthy. But once one deinternalizes, one can’t just simply go back to feeling as strongly about things as one used to, and as a result one is left in inaction–a bum. Have you seen the family guy episode where peter recalls his great great philosopher grandfather, who when asked why he doesn’t go out and get a job [to support his family] he asks, “Why?” lol.

A trap that I’ve seen some fall into, which I myself almost fell into, is in going into a profession because the identity associated with that profession is honored or generally looked up upon by society. I myself thought I’d want to go into the marines simply because I saw how marines were treated and I wanted the same treatment. These people are likely to find themselves in a mid-life crisis, in that they will find themselves having spent their years learning a trade they hate and unable to start off from scratch again doing what they’ve grown to find enjoyable doing.

A quote from the movie 8 mile, with Eminem, comes to mind. When he’s asked what he’s dream by his mother, he responds by saying, “My dream is to have a dream.” I think this sums up quite nicely. Or maybe it’s not a quote from that movie since I can’t find it on google, but it’s a quote I like very much nonetheless.

5

I want to give advice, but i have trouble following my own advice, so i will only say this.

When people claim that time is money, I wonder why people dont value time more. I guess i would tell you to secure as much time as possible, for thinking purposes.

6

I quite like my work and have spent well more that eight hours a day on it for five years now. Risk more might be my advice, if you lose you’re back where you started, if you win then even better. Another point to consider is something like this; three weeks back I had to make a fairly big decision; I thought about it for a few days then realized that one way was not any better than the other, just different. As you would have heard before, it is important to happiness to both get what you want and also to want what you get.

7

what about avoiding wanting when you can?

8

Thanks for all of your input thus far.

Erlir, you raise an interesting point. There are some who could never see themselves being anything else than what they are, or are attempting to become. I can’t help but envy people who know from a young age what they want to do, or can only picture themselves doing one profession. How fortunate for them. I’ve also ready about people who don’t find that one thing until they are about 50. I’d prefer the former.

9

It might be if you are looking to wake happily in the morning.

Just cruel stories to make you miserable! Like the ‘notion/belief’ of ‘freedom’!
Also, the less your ‘needs and wants’ the less important is the means of making money. If your desires are few enough, go on the dole, push an ice cream cart, go back to ‘helping’ others…

Then don’t do it. There are relatively infinite possibilities and alternatives. It is natural to quail at the idea of doing the same thing 8 hours a day, etc… You, as a full human are so much more than that every moment of your existence. One day you might be a healer, the next, perhaps, a murderer… Every moment everything is different from another moment… every moment, you are different, which is why the sort of ‘stasis’ cement-block life you envision you find repulsive. Perspective, my friend. Follow your star(s).

Yes, we are creatures (of habit) that seek stability and security, seeking ‘continuity’ therefore. Eventually people ‘identify’ with their ‘doings’ and find the stability in keeping that ‘doing’ consistent. People will kick and scream to be able to remain in their well known pain (the comfort of the ‘known’ and stability/consistency) then to attempt ‘healing’ and leaving the pain behind. (Heading into the 'unknown.)

Everyone is psychologically (a) unique (perspective).
You are only ‘disabled’ if that is how you envision yourself.

Can we be ‘other’ than ‘what we are’ each and every moment?

Ahh the exciting depths of the ‘game’…

10

When you can’t see yourself going to the same old grind every day, the same office, the same people, the same path, You might wanting look into being a proffesional consultant/troubleshooter for whatever field/s interests you the most. Passion not required just knowledge. Its risky but the pay off can be pretty darn good. You are the boss eventually, you set your own hours eventually, you can pick and choose your clients eventually and eventually you set your own wage. Consultants/troubleshooters can demand ridiculous fees if they are at the top of their field in knowledge. Good luck

11

I’m probably the oldest homind here and there’s a lot of water under my bridge so I’ll take a stab and share what
I do when this happens.

Your story indicates you are actually an intelligent being
( I realize we don’t see that around us too often so there
aren’t many role models…LOL )

Take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back (the rest of the herd won’t do that until you succeed).

Beings with great intelligence are adverse to repetition and working just to survive.
Also they don’t believe in ‘self-sacrifice’ as an intelligent and most admirable way of life
as our most popular accepted mythology ‘The Bible’ teaches us.

Pretend for a moment you are a billionaire and money is meaningless to you.
What would you do? That would represent your heart’s desire.

Now starting with the assumption that ‘this is possible’ versus any other assumption…
THINK ABOUT HOW YOU CAN DO IT. Thinkiing is really a pragmatic ability even
though many people don’t think that (pun intended).

I’ll give you one example out of many of how this process worked for me.

I am an artist, writer, and philosopher.
I’ve had my ups and downs like everyone.
Last year I sat down and made this assumption…
it is POSSIBLE for me to live as an artist all the time

My first thought was "well that would be possible if I didn’t have ‘rent’.
New assumption: It is possible for me to live as an artist without rent.
I thought about that assumption and came up with six ways to do that.
One of my ‘actions’ was a listing on Craigslist…
[“i]Artist will trade art for rent.[/i]”

Believe it or not that worked. A man in Boston gave me the use of his
time share in Florida (at the beach no less) for six months rent and expense FREE
for a painting a month.

Anyway try the process and I hope something I shared here brings you the happiness
we all deserve!

12

Start with what you like and are good at (which is usually what you like since you enjoy doing it). Don’t be afraid to pursue what you like. For an extreme example, George Patton loved war (not necessarily the destruction, but the contest in a good cause). Most people cringe at the idea, but we will always need people like him in the military and police. And you can be sidetracked by prestige from what you’re really best at.

Often it takes a lot of preparation and talent (ie being a doctor or lawyer) or just hunting down or creating your own niche. The answer is right in front of your face, you just gotta look. I was distracted until it was way too late to make a living using a skill that in my education my teachers and professors said I sucked at (not their word). And maybe I couldn’t have done it at that time, my thinking was mushy. Some of us are just late bloomers (even slow :-$ ), life ain’t fair, but you are just beginning.

13

We are all born with a purpose in life and know what it is, but most people deny this purpose to themselves and suffer because of that denial: hence screwing up everyone else’s purpose in the mean-while…

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Do you personally believe in free choice. Let me answer yes for you because you seem to suggest that denial can be reversed.

How then, if you have a purpose can you choose against your purpose. If purpose is meant to be, how can it not be meant to be?

You can challenge my answering for you, because I dont know how you would get out of the trap I set for you.

15

:laughing:

Denial only leads to consequence and delayed reaction! :evilfun:

16

How could it be otherwise?

17

I think we agree here???