Do you have an overarching life purpose?

dmc_hunter wrote

I was randomly placed here on earth.   I have no pretense that I am anything more.   I do not believe in a god..
My life has no overarching purpose except for me to thrive and live my best life..

..

Brownski wrote

What’s more important in life? The thing you pursue or how you go about pursuing it?  I think at its core, this is one of the big questions of the universe.

Yeah, Brownski's post is more of what I was getting at. I don't particularly care about *what* people are passionate about (although glass blowing is pretty cool - there's a good reality show on Netflix right now), I was more asking about the drive, the struggle, the grind, the things you give up to pursue it, the doubts, the quitting, the reinventions, the reincarnations, the walk away moment, the pursuit of a different thing, the grind for that other thing, etc.

That being said...

. We have a job to do and we hopefully do it well but it’s not a patriotic or moral mission in any way. My wife on the other hand has a job that’s a lot more important to society as a whole. I hope we both live by a set of principles that would stand up to scrutiny and set a good example for our kids and others but in one case the work being done is a lot more important (societally) then the other.

I feel like a lot of times, people demean their own work in an effort to place work in some sort of hierarchy and I think that's interesting.

I'm not entirely sure what kind of work Brownski does (does it involve liquor?), but there's obviously some value in it. I feel like one reason I asked this question was a "what drives you to pursue this day in & day out?" angle. It's probably not the money (money is available in a lot of places). I'd speculate that it's a "fit". People have decided that the money they make is worth doing the job that they do because they have [something] in their personality that matches the job profile (personal affinity for the product, a good story they tell themselves about the work they do, a long-term plan, a desire to help people, a knack for doing the job, etc.).

As far as a "patriotic or moral mission", that's tough. Without getting too into politics, [content deleted by me, unprompted, because I was getting too much into politics].

We all have stories about life that we tell ourselves, even if the story is just "I'm just out here trying to live my best life, man". That means a lot of things to a lot of different people. I was kinda just wondering what drives the choices. If the best life is on the beach in a shack? If so, was that always your opinion of the "best life"? Or did it evolve? And what even prompted that change? A bad experience in a different thing that you thought was the "best life"?

JasonWx wrote

i know a dude that flies for Jet Blue...makes in 150 range..

When I was thinking about the Air Force, commercial pilots made $200k-$300k, and I think that there has been a rapid drop in salaries over the previous 20 years. I'm not sure why (de-unionization?).

MC2 5678F589 wrote

JasonWx wrote

i know a dude that flies for Jet Blue...makes in 150 range..

When I was thinking about the Air Force, commercial pilots made $200k-$300k, and I think that there has been a rapid drop in salaries over the previous 20 years. I'm not sure why (de-unionization?).

Long haul capts make 300k

this guy just became a capt..i'm sure he's on that track now...
new pilots make crap..

raisingarizona wrote

JasonWx wrote

I would give my left nut to be airline pilot..but red /green color blindness squashed that plan..

While watching the helicopters fight the fire Cody thought that being a pilot would be a really cool career. I’m all for it.

Dude I saw you pics on IG --- I would cry if that were to happen in my woods

MC2 5678F589 wrote

I don't particularly care about *what* people are passionate about (although glass blowing is pretty cool - there's a good reality show on Netflix right now), I was more asking about the drive, the struggle, the grind, the things you give up to pursue it, the doubts, the quitting, the reinventions, the reincarnations, the walk away moment, the pursuit of a different thing, the grind for that other thing, etc.

Word. I see a lot of those aspects of life differently than "purpose".

We have a new CEO at my company right now and everything has to relate to this new company "purpose". So we have company values, mission statement, and vision... and now we also have a purpose that I don't feel connected to in any way, shape, or form. Just a lot of words with empty intention. It is what they tell these millionaire CEOs that they have to do when they are getting their MBAs.

Any ways, I digress. Haphazard circumstance guides my life. If something inspires me, I pursue it. If it sticks, super. If not, I move onto something else. I've gone through several phases throughout my life, which is great. I love the notion that I've explored so much of the possibilities of life. I don't think attaching yourself to one thing for your entire life is the best use of your limited time.

For many years when I was young, I didn't ski at all and was completely immersed in music. I got back into skiing in 1997 and by 2005, I pretty much put my music endeavors completely to the side, moved north, and went 100% at skiing and the outdoors. This is all passion and pursuing things that interest me, though. Not purpose.

The most recent posts on my blog deal with a current transition period in which skiing, while still hugely important, isn't satisfying the way it used to and I have nothing else to fill the void with. I haven't dealt with the transition very well to say the least! Mostly because there isn't anything else that I want to pursue like crazy to fill in the gaps from where I pulled back a bit from skiing.

MC2 5678F589 wrote

Have you given any thought to your overall life purpose?

If you were to finish the following sentence, what would it say:

"I feel like I was put on this Earth to__________"

(No credit for "kick ass and chew bubblegum and I'm all out of bubblegum". I've heard that one before)

Have you always felt that way? How did you develop that concept? Have you ever had a different life purpose, that you abandoned? Why did you abandon it? Do you feel like you missed out on anything because of it?

All answers (career related, sports related, family related, religion related) are accepted. Whatever you're into is what you're into, so no judgment. Just mainly looking for stories about realizing that certain things were no longer providing the push that they once did, and making a change based on that.

I grew up in a family with lots of tragedy and financially challenged. That pretty much shaped my personality and thinking as well as what made me happy throughout different phases of my life. We are all wired differently, I am wired as a analysts and problem solver - I love puzzles. Early in my life, I wanted no risk - I saved and avoided debts. As I grew older my personality changed, taking on more risk was ok. As I developed a solid financial base everything else was gravy. I still work today because at my core I still love solving problems and building things. But I also enjoy afternoon naps and playing with my grand kids.

MC2 5678F589 wrote

I was kinda just wondering what drives the choices. If the best life is on the beach in a shack? If so, was that always your opinion of the "best life"? Or did it evolve? And what even prompted that change? A bad experience in a different thing that you thought was the "best life"?

I always just wanted to fit in somewhere.  I have an odd and narrow skill set and I wanted to find a situation where I could thrive, and people would respect my contribution. I wanted to work for a boss I respected.  (I had that about half the time.)  Thank God google invented SEO and (some) people give a shit about it.

Later in life, I added "and I want to make some money too."  Getting married and having a kid will do that to you. Or me.

Pretty vanilla answer, but true for me.

I've not given much thought to overarching life purpose.  Just trying to get out and do the best that I can.

I've tried to eat dolphin safe tuna.  That's my porpoise in life.

Ok so you asked , and i expect very few if any to agree :

My purpose in life is to be the very best person i can be given my limitations and many shortcomings

 . That translates into being the best husband , father , grandfather, and friend i can be .  To explain ,i am a believer in a supreme being and tmy goal in that direction is to overcome or at least struggle with my many faults to strive to be that better person and ultimately achieve what my faith and creed believes .

On professional  level goals : my goal was to work in higher education , my dad was always active in his alumni organization and as a kid i dug the environment . i was able to surpasss my wildest dreams( never believing i would actually lead a complex organization  ( a College )  ) , but rather simply hoping to play an instrumental supporting role in leadership)  and enjoy a career helping others attain their potential and thus touch the future as a leader , educator and coach .i had tremendous mentoring and soon learned about the THREE kinds of people in Life paradigm.


As exlained in the next paragraph a life crisis resulted in a late in life change .
 my goal was modified To be come  a cheerleader or motivational coach for those i hold in friendship .

When i had to face my own mortality 10 yrs ago and thinking i would not survive the emergency open heart surgery and when i did Infact not only LIVE but regain the ability to do all i had done physically , i had an epiphany of sort as i meditatedas i lie   awake and alive the first nite after  surgery . I awoke from the anesthesia and was all entubed and on monitors again i went to my faith and beliefs and asked NOW what am i supposed to do with the balance of my life and WHY was i one lucky enough to survive ?

That answer came to me to be a supportive , motivator who can pump up the sneakers of those i care about and others who MAy be in turmoil .

I am in no way. prostelytizing or critical of any who scoff at such notions or who are agnostic , we all have our core and those beliefs sustain us .. Those were mine and are very personal .

You're one solid dude Warp

Then again most hoop coaches are

TY CAmp, u too are one solid GOOD man in my book , then again aircraft carriers in the pAint  ARE  indeed special 😉