Linna Amanda
(1405185 / 5A)
Ever wonder why we were born in this
world, the same routines repeated over and over again, and we find ourselves in
a maddening boredom? It is probably because we do not have a purpose in life,
and rather reaching for short term goals. We could not choose to be born in
this world, but we can choose how to live this life of ours. For sometimes the
melancholy struck in the middle of the night, and makes us wonder why we were born in the first place. This phenomenon
happens mostly for people who are going through ‘young adult’ phase; for those
who try to find a place in this enormous world. When the time we feel like we
have no idea of this life, to search and to have purposes is the basic way to
make our way to the future. Why and how? In this guidance essay, there are
three basic elaborations of the importance of having life’s purposes: to not take anything for granted, to
know our worth as an individual, and to end our life meaningfully.
First
thing first, we cannot take anything
for granted. Quoting Mark Manson on his article, 7 Strange Questions That Help You Find Your Life Purpose (2014), “When People say, ‘What Should I do with my life?’ or
‘What
is my life purpose?’
what they are actually asking is: ‘What
can I do with my time that is important?”
The time that we were born, is the time that we have purposes, indirectly. We
can reflect by looking back how our parents raised us and take nothing for
granted as well. It sounds like a burden, but that is how we live our life: not
only for the sake of ourselves, but also others. By this, we already get one
purpose in life: to be kind and useful for others, rather than being a sleazy
loser who rants about every little thing, start thinking to repay others’
kindness. Remembering that this world needs more kindness, and it is always
circulating in life, we may even start from our inner circles.
The
second thing is that we, as humans, have to be useful and contribute something
to society, by knowing our worth. The quote, “Everyone is a snowflake; which differs from one another” is
the most cliché thing, but everyone differs for a great reason. Imagine if
everyone a fisherman, there will be
no
variety in the local food market, but when some people choose to develop a crab
farm and another people are
interested in oysters, for example, we can taste many things even in a seafood
market. In the bigger picture, we have to applicate what we can do, and study
to specialize it, and dedicate ourselves in that area. As what an anonymous
quote says, “When someone knows their worth, no one can make them feel
worthless”, is actually also helps us in being optimistic, and does better. It
is true that there will always be someone who is better than us, but there is
no wrong in helping others, because every good deeds leads to a change for a
better world.
Last
thing and most importantly, is that we have to work for our future. The time
slowly march us into the inevitable death, so we better have to give the best
out of us. Everyone expects a happy ending, admit it, but how can we be happy
without even trying? As Celestine Chua, stated in her article, Why Have a Life Purpose? 5 Reasons We Should
Have a Purpose, “Life purpose is the starting point of life”. To get rid of
daily-routines-boredom, we have to set goals. The most easy thing is to find
what we like and go for it, whether it is to be a rich and successful
career-oriented person, or to be successful emotionally with a marriage, go for
it. When we find that hope, take nothing for granted, and lose ourselves to it.
Still on the same article, Chua stated that clear daily action aims for clear
long-term goals and finally clear purpose. On the other hand, hazy random daily
actions tends to be hazy random goals and leads to hazy purpose or no purpose
at all. It is harder to actually find one, so we can start by doing little
things for better habits, which eventually leads to a good end.
To
sum up, to make our time counts, it can be started with realizing and doing
good things and deed, even from the smallest details around us. To take
everything kindly, to be useful, and to work for a better tomorrow; are the
basic things that we need to realize so that we can start living out of
boredom. When we finally live not only for today, but most importantly for the
future, is when we can
truly live. As Tom Thiss, an American writer, quotes that “Having a
purpose is the difference between making a living and making a life.”
References:
Chua, Celestine. (2014). Why have a life purpose? 5 reasons we should have a
purpose. Retrieved from https://personalexcellence.co/blog/why-have-a-life-purpose/
Maisel, Eric. (2014). Do humans have a need for meaning
and life purpose. Retrieved from www.innerself.com/content/personal/happiness-and-self-help/life-purpose/10063-existensial-maturity.html
Manson, Mark. (2014). 7 Strange questions that help you find
your life purpose. Retrieved from https://markmanson.net/life-purpose
Being persuasive is not easy, to my own
self and to others as well. That was what I thought at first, since I could not
think of any positive thing that I like to do. So, I tried to think of
something that will benefit not only my friends but also my very own self. Apparently,
the depression inside me helped and the idea of having a purpose in life came.
I did some research, and the theme actually fit for young adult life, thus I
believed it can be elaborated into a persuasive essay.
Writing this persuasive essay was not
that hard, because there were many articles and research about having a purpose
in life. I considered this as important, because having evidence is the point
in being persuasive. About eight hours of writing process went by, and at the
end I felt a sense of relief, remembering that it would be the last type of
essay for this semester’s writing class. But, overall I was not sure whether I
was being persuasive enough or not.
When my friends read my essay, the thing
that they always point out was grammar. Apparently it was one thing that I have
not overcome, so it meant that I have to work harder. Aside from that, no one
really commented on my topic, so I was not sure whether I was writing the right
thing or not.
When I saw my friends’ essays, I was
amazed that they have many concerned things such as health and education
issues. Most importantly, the way they wrote it rather convincing, then it
means that they did many research and did well. It became my thoughts that I
have to work hard too, in terms of writing.
Actually, there were some
disappointments when my essay was discussed with the instructor. The most
important thing was about my topic, which was basically the same thing with my
friends. Even though everyone said that my writing style and skeleton could be
considered enough to be a persuasive essay, I was still not that sure.
To sum up, it was not easy for being
persuasive. But, after all the worries, I had tried the suggestion from my
essay to myself, and the most important thing was it worked. It would be a
waste to just let my writing on the shelves, so I am going to put it on my blog
so it could help anyone who needs it.
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