Life as a stepping stone.

Posted on 10.13.04. Tagged with , All

I had this crazy dream last night, as my roommates can attest I do quite often. It is long and complicated, but basically I was going along life all happy and fine, got mixed up with a few drug addicts, ended up getting messed up, and near death, while I effected the others enough to quit and change their lives.

I woke up pondering, life and the inevitable curiousity of its meaning. Some people strive for success, happiness, love, money etc. Now this may seem anticlimatic, but I had just never thought that maybe some peoples lives purpose is as a stepping stone. Not in the bad sense, but in the way that you are a guide, a pathway to help others reach happiness or contentment. Maybe some people lives aren't even meant to be enjoyed by themselves, of course that happens to, but to prevent that one person from making a fatal mistake, or helping a single person recognize an unpercieved opportunity and help them realize what it will take to attain it. Or helping somebody find happiness. Or truth. Or wisdom. Or even matchmaking 2 people meant to be.

The list could go on forever, but I guess I just wanted to raise the point that maybe, just maybe, your life isn't about you, your dreams and hopes, but as a stepping stone for somebody else's. It's a win-win situation in my opinion, you help somebody reach their goals, and essentially reach your purpose of helping at the same time.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "It is one of the most beautiful compensations in life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."

6 Comments

Chirag
08:25 PM on 10.13.04

The sole purpose of your life is my amusement. Dance biatch!

Taylor
08:28 PM on 10.13.04

somehow, i think i was searching for something a bit more insightful than that, but thanks chirag.

Jay
09:57 PM on 10.13.04

A very thoughtful post. Quite well-balanced, too. Not too much into the suffer-for-others direction.

Personally, I like to think in this post's direction when I think life is totally wrecked. Like a butterfly-effect in our little global human network. You flip a switch and who knows, maybe in a few generations (hopefully earlier) someone comes along and savestheearth/findsacureagainstaids/cancer/etcwhatever.

Taking a good look at the bigger picture always helps. Still, sounds like a really weird dream :p

Lis
04:57 PM on 10.14.04

I like to consider the possibility that the opposite can also be true.. that we can do something in our lives that is seemingly so insignificant, that can completely change another person's life around..

For instance, eating dinner in a restaurant with your mom and a stranger that notices your interaction feels inclined to contact her mother with whom she hasn't talked to in years.. Something to that effect :-)

Amiya
01:52 AM on 10.15.04

Why always look at the bright side :p
http://www.despair.com/demotivators/mis24x30prin.html

Tommy D
10:53 PM on 10.18.04

Wow... Thats hardcore deep, and kind of sent a chill down my spine


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