What Are We Living For?

April 25, 2018 in Articles, Motivational - 3 min read

Do you know what your purpose in life is? If so, how did you figure that out? Why did you assume that that is in fact what you were brought on earth to achieve or seize?

Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, we exist merely because of our parents not because there was a particular purpose tied to our souls when we were born? Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, if we have a purpose it would be quite obvious what it is? Why do we have to figure it out? Why do we have to think about it first? And again, if you have figured it out, how did you get there?

We hear people saying that their purpose is to bring about change in society, some say that is it to make their parents happy and some say it’s to help people whenever they are in need of such. How? How is that your purpose? How many hours do you have to sit down and think for you to conclude that your purpose is to change the world or help people or to do anything for that matter? 

So far, this post is mainly made up of rhetorical questions but the point here is that, I personally do not think that we have any sort of purpose in life. Why? Because it is not something we can be 100% sure of and because having the idea that we have a purpose ultimately puts so much unnecessary pressure on us. Thinking that we have a certain purpose in life results in us having so many expectations of ourselves that could potentially bring us down when we realise that we are doing the bare minimum. 

Instead of trying to figure out what purpose we have in life, we should probably make lists of moments and events we are looking forward to in this lifetime because that’s probably what we were brought on earth to do – to make lists of events that will happen soon like waking up tomorrow to have breakfast in that new restaurant in town or even waking up to a text from your partner, events that will happen in the near future like adopting a dog, cat, having a baby of your own or car and events that will happen later in future like officially launching your business.

Life is complicated enough as it is and going through the stress of discovering what our purpose in life is probably isn’t really worth it. Trying to positively change the world, inspire, motivate and help people is something we naturally do, making our parents happy is hard to maintain but also easy to achieve. Everything and anything you might have thought is your purpose probably is if you choose to still think like that but if you have changed your way of thinking then let’s take some time to think about what we look forward to and let life unfold on its own.

22 Comments

  • […] in the topic of Purpose and I once expressed my curoiousity on this blog through the article, ‘What are We Living For?’ Sometimes I am convinced that each of us has a purpose assigned to us from birth and we just need […]

  • Joan Akob May 2, 2018 at

    What are we living for? To answer this, we can also ask …What is life? …Why do we live? …Who gives life? …If we Know who gives life and why he gave life, then we can unravel what we are living for. As a Child of God, I am not living for myself. I was created to glorify God in everything I do, from my relationships to my career, thoughts, actions etcs & to love on people, like God loves me unconditionally. I do have personally goals, aspirations, bucket lists…but I don’t see those as purpose. Those are just my desires as a human being. But I believe purpose belongs to the one who gave life 💞… Just my personal thoughts! Thanks for sharing Mbalenhle 😊❤

    • Mbalenhle May 4, 2018 at

      You are making so much sense sis💕. I really love how you see things, thank you for this enlightenment 🌼!

  • A human. April 30, 2018 at

    I’m happy I came across this. I think that this is a question that comes to us every time we question our purpose in life and I don’t think there is a a definite answer but I believe that we choose or decide what to live for. And sometimes yes we choose to live to pursue our parents dreams and sometimes we choose to pursue our own. This is really a slippery slope.

    • Mbalenhle May 4, 2018 at

      I’m glad you stopped by hun💕. Usually when we are feeling down we tend to ask ourselves this question and it only makes us feel worse when we can’t figure it out. Also, in most cases, what our parents want us to become contradicts what we want to be. It’s quite tricky hey 🌼

  • Marie Christine April 29, 2018 at

    I think deciding on our purpose only limits us! That’s like saying I don’t need to be a great mother because I have a job helping the homeless. Why limit ourselves to a single purpose?

    • Mbalenhle May 4, 2018 at

      That’s how I see it too, it’s quite limiting when there is literally so much we are capable of doing 🙌💖

  • kekgoshigadi April 26, 2018 at

    This is beautiful. I feel like those who have chosen what their purpose is are those who have went with the flow. Leading with the heart is so beautiful! It can take You to beautiful places.

    • Mbalenhle May 4, 2018 at

      That’s such a beautiful way of seeing it – going with the flow🍃. Thanks for this sis💕

  • myexpressionofthoughtsblog April 25, 2018 at

    Beautiful content of your topic and how well you expressed

    • Mbalenhle April 26, 2018 at

      Thank you so much. I’m glad you stopped by 💖💖

  • Absolutely Olivia April 25, 2018 at

    I think I agree with this. People find it so easy to get caught up on a purpose that sometimes they forget to spread their wings.

    • Mbalenhle April 26, 2018 at

      Agreed!🌼 Focussing so much on purpose makes us forget to just live 💕💕

  • Ms. L April 25, 2018 at

    So many people get hung up on that question. I agree totally with you. I used to drive myself crazy trying to figure out what my purpose in life is. Now, I live each day as it is.
    That is my purpose. To live. As each moment is. To trust in my Buddha nature and the basic goodness in all others. Great post!

    • Mbalenhle April 26, 2018 at

      I myself used to lay on my bed staring blankly at the ceiling, trying to figure out my purpose 😄. I came to a conclusion that it can’t be that we were all assigned to a particular purpose, maybe all we have to do is to just live our lives the way that best suits us. Thanks for stopping by 💞

  • Deshi Nenkinan Nehemiah April 25, 2018 at

    Mbalenhle I beg to differ but I won’t put up a comment that can potentially harm you and your image on your blog. I want to talk. If you’re up for it send a dm on Twitter 😀😀

    • Mbalenhle April 26, 2018 at

      Haha. Your comment could harm the image of my blog? The website as a whole. Deshi lol. I say it’s not a problem, feel free to comment, that’s what the comment section is for afterall and this is a controversial topic anyway. Feel free 🙃

      • Deshi Nenkinan Nehemiah April 26, 2018 at

        Haha with all due respect I think and feel life has a purpose. There’s a reason we’re all out here but Where I differ is there isn’t one purpose. There are multiple paths you just have to choose one and be on the right side of history. Im tryna not go Christian here but life has purpose. And you Miss Mbalenhle are fulfilling part of your purpose by writing on Budding Regardless 😀😀

        • Mbalenhle May 4, 2018 at

          Okay this actually makes sense, surely there isn’t just 1 purpose or reason why we were brought on earth. But then again Deshi, how does one figure that out? What if l feel like writing on Budding Regardless isn’t my purpose, it’s probably what l do when I’m bored or because someone has paid me thousands to do this? I find it quick tricky really but l do get your point 👌💖

          • Deshi Nenkinan Nehemiah May 5, 2018 at

            Haha then you rust God and do what you can with what you have right now. Blogging regardless might be your purpose for now other next thing will soon pop up. Yours is to follow the lead and live

  • astoldbyali April 25, 2018 at

    To each his own. I personally don’t think we were just put here to do nothing, I think we all have a purpose however small or great it is. To me, it’s what keeps you going. A type of feeling like yes I love doing this and it also changes you and you grow from it. I don’t think that’s natural for everyone, not everyone has that same gift of doing something. Also, won’t making lists be the same? by putting pressure on you for completing the tasks on the list. Hope all this makes sense and I’m not just babbling lol You post did make me stop and think though, but that’s just my two cents and I respect yours as well.

    • Mbalenhle April 26, 2018 at

      That’s one of the things I actually thought of and I believe you are quite right in saying that our purpose could be what keeps us going. That makes a lot of sense and thank you so much for sharing your thoughts 🌼💕

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    Hi and welcome! My name is Mbalenhle K but everyone calls me Mbali for short (say: mm-bah-lee). I am a freelance copywriter who loves all things art, experiences and aesthetics (big time Pinterest gworl 🧚🏽)! I am the founder of Budding Regardless where I talk about mindfulness, self-development and self-nurturing for creatives. Read More

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