greater purpose

[whiteravenfire]

I've always had a feeling that my life has some great purpose, something that I'm meant to do. I view all the challenges in my life (and there have been plenty) and experiences as lessons I need to learn.

I'm not sure what the purpose I'm referring to is, but the feeling is very strong. I've found stuff on "indigos" and I'm not really sure where I stand on that.

Really just wondering if other people have similar feelings.

[Darbla]

Many, many, many people feel that way. I have at times, and my friends with whom this subject has been broached have, but so far none of us seem to have done anything particularly eventful (though 2 people have told me I saved their lives). My husband, however, does not so it's not in everyone to feel this way. I've begun to think it's a common human craving for having a meaningful life so you don't feel you are just a cosmic accident.

Darbla

[Tranquility]

Yup, there are many people who feel like that. Freud said it's essentially the drive of the ego. The desire to be great, to have prestige, and to be known (Aka, someone great and respected). Maybe it is, or maybe some of us are destined for excellence. Who knows. Either way, I believe we can change what's in store for us.

[inkywitch]

I supose I do. I haven't quite thought about it extensively. I think people are born with natural talents which contribute to a 'purpose', but whether they choose to embarce that or not is their own choice, and I dont think choosing 'the way set out' is the only path to happiness in your life.

I think I was born to be a healer, and born with empathy to accompany those abilities. I practice this through massage and energetic healing, and in future perhaps homeopathic or herbal medicine. I have no plans to change the world, but I hope to ease others suffering and help them gain a better quality of life through my work. And I do get a great satisfaction from helping others, though I don't always get thanked for my efforts, I don't always mind. Though, I must admit, aknowledgement is nice!

Is this ego? Yeah, maybe. But that's not nessisarily a bad thing. Ego is a natural part of the human condition. Moderation/balance is the key.

ETA: I don't think it's so much a 'greater' purpose, so much as a purpose. I think everyone has a place in life to do something they are meant to do. Mine is no more greater than anyone elses, I just acknowledged mine conciously and strive for it. I think a lot of people do this subconciously.

[whiteravenfire]

I think that the world is becoming such an inhospitable place to live. Everything seems so complicated.

Perhaps the feelings of a higher purpose are divinity's way of helping people cope. To make us feel like we are of importance (which of course we are but sometimes forget).

I've recently started having visions, just small ones and about the people around me. I feel like I'm changing (in a good way) :)

[Xentor]

I've always had a feeling that my life has some great purpose, something that I'm meant to do. I view all the challenges in my life (and there have been plenty) and experiences as lessons I need to learn.

I'm not sure what the purpose I'm referring to is, but the feeling is very strong. I've found stuff on "indigos" and I'm not really sure where I stand on that.

Really just wondering if other people have similar feelings.

Of course not. No-one ever feels like there's something more to life than vegetating.

[Tanya]

I thought about this a lot in my late teens and early 20s when I was trying to descide what my life would be about. My conclusion...

you have to leave the world a better place than when you found it.
there may be no after life,
there may be no karma....
your name will be forgotten

all you can do then to serve some higher goal is GIVE. GIVE your time, GIVE yourself, make people smile, make the world kinder, braver, stronger, healthier by your life on it. then let higher purposes we can't know about sort themselves out.

this is why I chose my career...environmentalist/organic farmer.

good luck on your own search for meaning.

[Crysiira]

I believe most of us have a drive to do some greater good. I feel it often, and I feel useless in the position I am. So yeah, I feel like there has to be something more for me out there, something I can do to help people. It's a good feeling that too many people tend to squash in favor of selfishness. It's easier to be selfish and simply look out for yourself than to strive for that higher purpose and help people.
As for the "indigo" thing, sorry, but I think that's crap. No offense... or maybe a little. But this thread isn't about "indigo," it's about a higher purpose to life, which I most certainly do believe in. Keep searching for your purpose; it's a very hard thing to find sometimes!

[StarPhoenix]

I've always thought there was a greater purpose to life than just existing.

I've found out that, for me, it's being able to enrich the lives of the people that I encounter. Whether it's just me giving a smile to the girl at the checkout or being a sounding board for a dear friend I've known for years.

[Shaw]

I think some people have "larger" purpose than others. Whether they follow up on it is up to them. When I was 13 I picked out a book on Wicca, read it and the rest was history. I have used magick to heal in the mind and body, delay death so she could say goodbye and even cure a fellow witch of a old demonic family curse. Not trying to brag, I just want you to know what's possible. I have also had my share of problems because I interfere, getting noticed bye spirits and such. I think it's all about choosing to believe in yourself as much as magick or religion.

[Windsmith]

The only purpose anyone's life has is the purpose they give it. You can't get much greater than that.

[Tabbykitty]

I've always had a feeling that my life has some great purpose, something that I'm meant to do. .....

I'm not sure what the purpose I'm referring to is, but the feeling is very strong. I've found stuff on "indigos" and I'm not really sure where I stand on that.

actually I kinda reel back in horror when someone tells me that they feel that there is some great purpose they are supposed to accomplish.

Everyone who has ever said that to me has to date, NOT accomplished anything great. What's worse, several have either become literal bums, stagnated or gone into some kind of illicit or dubious activity. Or have made bad life choices that left them without options to backtrack on their decision or caused them to become disappointed.

Seriously, a lot of people who wanna do something significant in their lives seldom ask WHY they have a driving need to "do something great". After all, I agree with Windsmith that "The only purpose anyone's life has is the purpose they give it"......

Also, I have learned that the passage of time wears away all things. Whatever great deeds were done in time past will eventually be forgotten by those that come after..... all names eventually will fade... MOREOVER, after standing on a hilltop and staring out at a vast sea of stars, I kinda realise that well... we are all just very small creatures in an enormous universe.... the chance that some higher intelligence.... or divine will has ordained a person or two on this rock to do something of vast significance... must come close to a trillion trillion to 1 probability..... :P

Not trying to put ya down or anything, just trying to express my viewpoint and experience regarding this matter.

[whiteravenfire]

Wow "reel back in horror".:lol:

I don't think feeling, or even wanting, to accomplish something more with my life is a bad thing.

I'm certainly not a bum, and I have accomplished things with my life. I'm a teacher (and I've been told a good one) who cares about the children I work with. I've touched the lives, maybe in the tiniest of ways, of more than a hundred children. The children I work with are challenging, for every 1 child who has really appreciated the things I have done for them there are another 4 who don't.

Recently I've been exploring my artistic side. I've started an art club for the children at the school where I teach. Its proven so popular that I've had to split the group and hold two sessions. The art they are producing is wonderful and I'm getting so much pleasure from helping them develop such an under-appreciated skill in UK education.

It could be that this is the greater purpose I've been looking for. Would other people see this as a great purpose? ... maybe not but whose to say what great is!

[Darbla]

Whiteravenfire, I've been listening to a book on CD, "The Joy Diet", and yesterday the narrator read a passage about how we are born with an innate knowledge of what we are meant to do, and people's feeling what you're describing is a result of that knowledge and yearning to fulfill it. She never described it as a 'great' purpose, but that could still be what you're talking about. It was on the 2nd CD so was early in the book, if you want to try to find it. And you might enjoy the book anyway.

Darbla

[morningstar2651]

"Indigo" is a load of crap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forer_effect).

Everyone thinks they're special. Few people do anything more than boast about it.

[Willow Rosette]

Wow "reel back in horror".:lol:

I don't think feeling, or even wanting, to accomplish something more with my life is a bad thing.

I'm certainly not a bum, and I have accomplished things with my life. I'm a teacher (and I've been told a good one) who cares about the children I work with. I've touched the lives, maybe in the tiniest of ways, of more than a hundred children. The children I work with are challenging, for every 1 child who has really appreciated the things I have done for them there are another 4 who don't.

Recently I've been exploring my artistic side. I've started an art club for the children at the school where I teach. Its proven so popular that I've had to split the group and hold two sessions. The art they are producing is wonderful and I'm getting so much pleasure from helping them develop such an under-appreciated skill in UK education.

It could be that this is the greater purpose I've been looking for. Would other people see this as a great purpose? ... maybe not but whose to say what great is!

Oh honey as a parent Id say there is no better good that you could do or a higher higher purpose than our children. Id say you have a true calling (I sure know I couldnt do it...)

[morningstar2651]

Here we go:

Some important facts (http://www.selectsmart.com/twyman.html) to know about "Indigo".

Now I've established that is more than just an opinion that "indigo" is crap.

[Philosophia]

The only purpose anyone's life has is the purpose they give it. You can't get much greater than that.

I agree. For me, life isn't for anything. It just is. As a human, I'm just a single speck in natures cycle.

About indigo's, I don't believe in them. The people I have met and communicated with use the "indigo" title as some sort of superiority complex. They also use it as an excuse to insult and degrade others.

[Willow Rosette]

About indigo's, I don't believe in them. The people I have met and communicated with use the "indigo" title as some sort of superiority complex. They also use it as an excuse to insult and degrade others.

From that thread morningstar posted it sure does seem that way.

[Tabbykitty]

Wow "reel back in horror".:lol:

I don't think feeling, or even wanting, to accomplish something more with my life is a bad thing.

Actually it seems that you have a very good life where you are accomplishing quite a good deal with the kids you work with. Its a good thing you have there.


It could be that this is the greater purpose I've been looking for. Would other people see this as a great purpose? ... maybe not but whose to say what great is!

Personally I feel that if someone is able to find out what their true calling and true passion in life is, and is able to live their dream, that would already be a great accomplishment. Fact of the matter is, very few people are able to truly live their dream.

When I said I reel in horror, it is mostly because the people I meet feel that they are somehow "destined" to do something great in life. Problem with the whole viewpoint is that they are so caught up in trying to achieve something "great" or "significant" they go chasing after the big stuff that they are often not ready for or ill-suited for..... they forget that oftentimes, the ones that do significant things are those who pursue their dream and do the work that they love at without regard for fame or significance.

True, as you have said, there is nothing bad with wanting to achieve more in your life,..... however, its always a good idea to occasionally ask ourselves why we are doing something.... Is what I am doing giving me joy and benefiting others?

Or am I chasing a greater purpose solely for the sake of significance, of "leaving something of me behind so people can remember me by"?..... this is an innocent enough desire, but one I have the unfortunate luck of seeing people become obsessed with.....to their ultimate ruin.


I apologise if I am too frank. I have tried various ways of paraphrasing this, but Im not able to express the idea better in other words..... :P this is just my viewpoint, feel free to disagree.

[Willow Rosette]

Personally I feel that if someone is able to find out what their true calling and true passion in life is, and is able to live their dream, that would already be a great accomplishment. Fact of the matter is, very few people are able to truly live their dream.

I just wanted this statment to be seen again because it is so very true.

[Tabbykitty]

About indigo's, I don't believe in them. The people I have met and communicated with use the "indigo" title as some sort of superiority complex. They also use it as an excuse to insult and degrade others.

I am SO GLAD to see that there are people here who don't believe this whole "indigo" nonsense......:P No one in my country's new age community would dare raise a word against the whole indigo idea. Last time I did that in public, I got a lot of hostile stares.......

Honestly, when I compare individuals who are allegedly "indigo" they don't seem any different from the other people I have met.

SOmetimes it seems to me that "indigo" is just a label people use to try an excuse issues which they see in themselves and their kids..... you cannot imagine the amount of parents Ive met who use this whole indigo idea to try to explain away the reason for why their kids are anti-social, have behavioural problems and do badly in school ....:P I mean, they dont even try to think about more... down to earth causes....:P

Personally Im sick of this whole idea... I kinda wish someone would write a book logically examining IF there is ANY creedence for this idea.

[Sequoia]

A lot of people, especially Pagans (that I've noticed) seem to have this feeling. Perhaps a sense of personal control or power is what draws them into paganism in the first place. Of course, you could say the same thing about a lot of Christians, so... :p

Your speciality is in being you. Whomever or whatever put you here on this earth, put you here to be you. Do what you feel driven to do, like the art club you spoke of. Don't *look* for a higher purpose - be that higher purpose.

Someone, I think either Buddha or Ghandi, said, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world."

[Tranquility]

I'm a firm believer that a person can pursue his dreams, however realistic or unrealistic they may be. I tell all the people I meet that the difference between me and the rest of the world is the fact that my dreams aren't just dreams. They ARE the reality. I've been saying I wanted to travel the world and learn about indigenous culture. In two weeks I'm going to India, this summer I'll be in New Zealand, and next year I'll be in some other country for at least half a year. WHY is this? I failed horribly first semester. Then I found this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, "The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams". Below it, I tacked "And believing in your dreams means doing what it takes to make them come true". Well, the next two semester I got almost perfect grades, and that summer busted my ass to earn money. Soon I'll be on three new continents, living my dream.

Many argue that these things aren't possible b/c of money, family etc.. But I think if you want something bad enough you can get it.

[inkywitch]

Many argue that these things aren't possible b/c of money, family etc.. But I think if you want something bad enough you can get it.

Yes, yes, yes. :hahugh: