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having a purpose in life

 Now, this is an easy question to ask yourself or someone, but it's very hard to answer.

Of course you can give standard textbook answers, those which are socially acceptable, easy for others to understand, maybe as a way to deflect the pressure and reality away from yourself so you can go back to going about your daily hustle.

But when you reach a certain age, having achieved several major milestones in your life : courtship, married, career, kids...

Plus as you age, you start to see and experience in real life 生老病死 , your perspective will definitely change. Of course there are people who somehow can live for long time without experience all of these, but I wouldn't want that for myself. Life is a journey to be savoured.

So why is it important to have a purpose in life?

this importance didn't show up to me until recent years. Before that, my mind was consumed by hustling, dealing with work and family commitments. It's only when I started to slow down, due to both age, as well as stability in work, family and finances, that I started to have more contemplative thoughts about my life and my purpose. 

TBH, I don't really know my purpose yet, but I think I could be close. 

What's important to me is that I can be a good provider to those I loved, including myself. I think I am doing ok there. 

Next, I cherish freedom a lot. Freedom from chores, freedom from routines that don't make sense to me. 

But in that case, what is my purpose? Just to provide food, lodging, education? lol

For now, I think I can say my purpose in life is to live my life fully while I am well. Yes, it's lame perhaps, but don't laugh, it's quite a good purpose IMHO. Maybe yours is to fix the world, cure cancer, eradicate aging, go to Mars to set up base. But I don't have such noble or specific purpose (yet), so I'll do what's best next, which is to live my life with intent, savour the beauty of things around me, the company of people I love, the smell and touch of my lovely partner. Even simple task like folding laundry, I do it properly now, with some OCD to ensure everything is folded nicely and not in a mess or in sloppy manner. It may seem trivial, but it gives me a sense of satisfaction too.

What is your purpose in life?

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