The journey to self discovery

 Purpose

As a human, an individual, we're always seeking for a higher purpose, a reason for being. We as humans cannot just accept that we are alive merely just to live. That is why we tend to devote ourselves to something. It could be our work, other times it could be to a perceived higher being referred to as God, might be psychoactive substances such as drugs or could also be an obsession with a person. Sometimes, they can be progressive and healthy devotions, other times it could be self-destructing, but we all want to have a reason to be alive, we are just wired that way.

Perception

When we are born, we do not immediately know what our purpose may be, the notion can almost always boil down to growing and learning. As we grow, as we are taught our fundamental life skills, like holding a fork and feeding the fork into your mouth, responsibilities - such as packing away your toy, what is right and wrong - maybe you went to school and tried to snatch another person's toy and your parents speak to your teacher and they discipline you, these are all the lessons that we are taught as a kid. These foundation then continues to be layered by values, tradition and culture, to name a few which then forms an undeniable quest in ourselves to discover what our purpose is. Who are we? - oftentimes where we travel to, through the self-searching journey, some through books and experiences of others, some through travelling to different countries - either in search of oneself or something and others may have other ways of doing that through other means, not all being known.

Fundamental

Fundamentally, there is supposedly no right or wrong way of doing it, but as mentioned in the beginning of my passage, some of us may stumble through a dangerous addiction first, some of us find ourselves through alcoholism, drug addiction or maybe even violence. We are all wired differently, finding out what makes the clock tick, what makes it go off and what cuts it short in its tracks is vital for us to gain control of our actions and achieve a sense of direction.

Discovery

How do you find this sense of purpose? Is there a right way? Do we all need a sense of purpose?

There is really no one easy way of saying this or packaging it in the right words as a one stop center for excellence here.

But, what does assist to make the unknown digestible is to ask ourselves a series of question over the course of our lifetime and through going through different phases, stages and milestones in life. 

Let me first provide a sense of clarity to the 3 items I have listed:

Phase: A period of transition, self-discovery, may not be the nirvana that we are looking for, most of us transition out of this page after discovering its unsuitability to our personality or outlook in life

Stage: We transition through this period smoothly, usually it feels like the right journey, it could be that there is a goal, achievement to be sought after

Milestone: We reach this point where we then decide whether to continue forward with the journey, you have reached a period where you have achieved your goals and you're now looking for either other goals or to push it to the finish line. Other times, these milestone could be defined by a life-changing event, it could be contributed by the death of a loved one or maybe even a break up from a toxic relationship

Each time we're in a state, we should always check with ourselves on the following:

M - Mental

E - Emotional

R - Relationship

P - Physical

S - Spiritual

These are instant indicators to help you on your journey, to figure out how your are doing in the 5 areas and how you are affected by certain situations or people. It can help to unravel critical thought processes which we as human try to avoid, conflict.

It is also substantially variable from person to person as our goals, desires and needs are different.

We discover our driving factor through a series of trial and errors, but what does make us realise that it may be a true calling for us is the continuous fire in us to keep going referred to as passion.

The Journey

Over the time, I have found that reading books, watching movies, listening to others and having discussions have been most advantageous in my journey.

Some of my recommendations for books:

How to make friends and influence people - Dale Carnegie

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey

The Monk who sold his Ferrari - Robin Sharma

The Chimp Paradox - Steve Peters

Some of my recommendations for movies:

Inception (2010)

Avatar (2009)

Shutter Island (2010)

American Psycho (2000)

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Black Mirror - Netflix series (2011 - present)

Eat, Pray, Love (2010)

Remember however, that the journey never ends. Some even say that it continues on in the spiritual world, other say that it continues until you assume the next lifeform, may know it as reincarnation, or others may not believe at all.

P/S: Thoughts and musings from someone on the journey towards self-discovery.

Till my next post. xx