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I take issue with traditional advice on the subject-- it's all self-centered. Finding MY purpose. MY life meaning. MY values. The path to getting there involves
by jstarfish 4y ago
I take issue with traditional advice on the subject-- it's all self-centered. Finding MY purpose. MY life meaning. MY values. The path to getting there involves MY consumption of <drugs>, acquisition of wealth, influence, or other forms of self-indulgence. Everything is about MY happiness.
Consider that perhaps you don't find your "calling." Instead, it finds you.
The only "trick" here is that you have to be reachable by putting yourself out there, and keeping in mind that you're fishing, not hunting. Coming back empty-handed is not a sign of failure, it's one round in a process of elimination.
Volunteer work is a good start, missionary work is even better. Or pick up a holiday shift in retail or a temp job. Help out at homeless outreach, animal control and domestic violence centers. Attend a service at a church, a temple and a mosque. Go on a ride-along with the local cops. Visit your national parks and memorials.
Most of this is an exercise in forced association with people and situations you'd otherwise overlook-- you'll hang out with the poor, the wealthy, the criminal, the pious, and everything in-between enough to at least get a sense for the breadth of the struggles of the human condition-- and present you with a buffet of experiences broad enough to encounter a perspective that resonates with you.
My pet theory is that triumph over struggle is the real driver of happiness and the only universal purpose any of us have. Once people transcend the struggle, there is nothing left for them to overcome, and they never again feel any sense of satisfaction.
ESID, and not everyone is meant for servitude, but it works for me. Best of luck to you.
- lostlogin 4y ago> Volunteer work is a good start, missionary work is even better. I couldn’t disagree more with regard to missionary work. Having someone tell me why their sky friend needs to be in my life is outright offensive. I get a fair few US 20-25 year olds trying this crap out at my home in Auckland, New Zealand.
- mistermann 4y agoOn the other hand, beneficiaries of missionary work may be more interested in the actual tangible benefits they receive from missionary initiatives than they are in your imaginations about reality (which is what they are).
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- death_star 4y agoMissionaries also have "imaginations about reality" but they think that their imaginations are so much more important and meaningful than everyone else's. It's annoying. I don't care that they get value out of it. They get value out of something that's annoying and offensive to others; that's just selfish.
- Mandatum 4y agoHighly recommend asking them for help with chores when they come knocking.
- janef0421 4y agoSame issue in Wellington. Really grinds my gears.
- readenough 4y agojstarfish did not say that missionary work would benefit the target audience of the missionary, and you did nothing to disabuse what he did say.
- jstarfish 4y agoI wasn't suggesting anything secular. Programs like Doctors Without Borders was more what I had in mind, but that particular example requires specialization and longer-term commitment. The point is to travel, see the real rest of the world, and to get something from the experience other than hangovers and gonorrhea. Door-to-door evangelism amounts to harassment and is not at all in scope.
- lostlogin 4y agoAbsolutely agree that this example is a good things. I’ve never heard Doctors Without Borders described as missionary work.
- jstarfish 4y agoI've always used the term to describe anything with (an ideological) Mission. Looking it up, it appears to have strictly religious connotation. Oops...
- hatmatrix 4y agoIndeed. But you should try to put yourself in a position where you can define the struggle you want to triumph over.