Purpose-driven human life
SINCE starting community life about 5000 to 10,000 years ago, humans have begun thinking about creation and the purpose of human life. Initially, humans lived among animals like them in forests and deserts.
Homo sapiens or wiser human beings started evolving about 300,000 years ago and the modern humans or Cro-Magnon Man inhabited Europe 40,000 to 10,000 years ago. Real human community life started less than 10,000 years ago and the modern human being started evolving about 3000 years ago.
Therefore, human beings at one time lived among animals like animals, and the evolution into an intelligent animal able to think, communicate and invent changed human life. Human beings evolved into modern man with the power of innovations and inventions started about 1500 years ago when Europeans started exploring the world, proving that the Earth is round and later defined it as one of the planets going around the Sun, and discovered that we are part of the Milky Way galaxy where there are several stars like the sun and planet around them and moons around the planet.
Then we found out that there are billions of galaxies like the Milky Way in the universe and there are billions of stars, planets and moons in each galaxy. The universe is so large, it is beyond our imagination and there are dark holes through which stars disappear. New stars and galaxies are being formed and the universe continues to expand. Humans invented the Internet, the World Wide Web, Facebook, WhatsApp, Artificial Intelligence, airplanes, automobiles and the list goes on. Innovations and inventions of human beings shall continue.
That was a short story about human beings in this world. With the continued development of human beings from being a hunter-gatherer to the modern high tech creature in this world, much different from all other life, our search to find the purpose of human life continues. Many religions were started and developed by human beings in search of a creator and these religions tried to define the purpose of human life and ultimately attain heaven, moksha, paradise or nirvana. Practicing a religion or philosophy is one of the things people do in their life.
During our life from birth through childhood to adulthood to parenthood to grandparenthood to death, most of the people in this world struggle through these periods and continue till the end of life. Many pass through a comfortable period of life. Some are successful; some go through troubles and turbulence, health issues, early death, accidents, etc. Is human life a process that happens on Earth using space and time? Or is human life purpose-driven?
By reading and studying religions and various philosophies, I never could get a real answer to the question, is there a purpose to our life on this earth? Based on what I was taught and learned, I always think that human life should be purpose-driven. Every human being leaves a legacy after death. The best legacy to leave behind is that your family, children, grandchildren, friends, classmates, neighbors, coworkers, associates and all the people you know say good things about you, that you were a good person, helpful person, nice person, good neighbor, best father, etc. To me, that should be the purpose of life, leave a good legacy after your death, which means you have to lead a purpose-driven life.
Getting good education, making money and being successful are goals of life and for poor people; their goal is to have enough food to eat and money to buy the stuff you need.
Human beings are always confused between the goals of life and the purpose of life. Let us all analyse and figure out what a purpose-driven human life is. We know about our own life, life around us and life around the world.
Spend some time thinking, reading and studying about your life.
