My purpose is to understand reality and respond to it appropriately so I can live a happy and meaningful life
“I want to continuously deepen my understanding and familiarity of the geography of life, which consists of reality, myself, others, and my relationship with them, so that I may respond to life and others appropriately moment by moment and by doing so live a happy and meaningful life.”
“I want” — I choose to live and not give up on life. I accept life’s challenges and face them with grace.
“continuously deepen my understanding” — I want to live a philosophical life.
“so that I may respond to life and others appropriately” — The purpose of living life philosophically is to act better and appropriately.
“happy” — I want to achieve self-actualization. I want to savor life, feel that my days are longer, make the most out of every moment, and feel healthy and loved.
“meaning” — I want to deepen my sense of existence, engage with deep truth, make the mundane sacred, and most importantly, be relevant to the lives of people I care deeply about.
A different way to express my purpose is “to self-actualize and transcend.” Happiness is closer to what self-actualization generates, while meaning is what transcendence is all about.
This came from a line of thinking I detailed in My quest.