Life Beyond Purpose
Most of the time we vacillate between living the best of life and fearing the worst. We often forget that we are here to live and not survive. Blame it on the internet, social media and other technical advancements we have believed that we are late for everything. There is no time to breathe, rest, wonder and love. We are constantly hustling even when we are on a break. We define ourselves as free souls but the bitter fact is we are more chained than anyone else could ever be. Most of us are so caught up in finding our purpose in the grand things that we completely and utterly forget that the meaning of life is to find our purpose right here, now. There is no rule book to finding purpose in life, it’s simply adding value every day and even if you fail to do this on some days the earth won’t change its course of action.
There will be days when you are going to regret all your life decisions. You will go for a shower and will forget all your clothes and maybe then you will cry for hours inside. You will find it difficult to open a packet of bread. And maybe you will have all your food without even tasting it. You will eat only when you’ll feel feeble. You will reply to only important emails and answer your mom’s calls. Getting out of the room will be a great task for you and you will only do it when it’s your exam. Life will seem meaningless and the sky will lose its colour. Sunrise and sunsets will no longer be magnificent sights. Your room will be a mess and all you’ll do is lie down in one corner all the time. When all you do is the bare minimum to just survive. But let me tell you in all these days also you will be YOU, nothing less and nothing more. Maybe not well organised, not well articulated but you will be the one you have been, irrespective of the stains in your clothes and the dark circles under your eyes.
On those days recall every moment from the past, when you managed to figure out life. Recall every test you failed in school but still were able to make finally with good grades. Every embarrassing incident in college but you never lost hope. Recall how that unrequited love left you in your hard times and all you did was cry for months. How you lost your best friend in an accident. But you survived it all and came out stronger than before. This is what you are, more powerful than you even think. It’s the insecurities you have held upon so long and it’s okay. This is your battle to fight!
On these days when shampooing your messy hair is rebellion, pat yourself on the back. When you wear freshly ironed clothes feel that the world is hugging you. When you finish a bottle of water clap for yourself. Finish the food, rather enjoy it and celebrate after that. Talk to your mom and listen to her story that how you came this far and how proud she is of you. Go out and smile seeing a random stranger, feel that there is more in this life than sorrow. Play the song you used to dance to when kid and dance it out. Dial an old friend and talk for hours and laugh till your eyes become wet and your stomach starts aching. Because all you have got is this life. The universe adjusted itself when you were born. You have got so many beaches to go to, so many places to wander. You have a list of cafes to visit and thousands of strangers to meet. Don’t break your bones to fit into the boxes of people who don’t see the fire in you. You exist in so many places you don’t even know.
So life could be very meaningless at times and that is just okay. There is no inherent purpose or grand meaning to this life. And when there is no inherent meaning, not until now, why do we fret about not living life to the fullest. You don’t have to have a bucket list of generic items to live life to the fullest. You could certainly live it in your own way. The universe isn’t symmetrical or infinite and so aren’t you. So why keep colouring inside the lines when most rainbows are formed by walking an extra mile. The purpose, for now, is to be happy, to be content with what you have, to be okay with the fact that not everyone can figure it all out by 30, and to be a little more gentle with yourself. So the next time you find yourself baffled about finding purpose in life just pause and think when did hustling become synonymous with the living?
