To live on a solid-gold island where the rivers flow with tequila.

November 17, 2007 7:09 AM

What is your one-sentence description of your life's purpose?

I'm going through the standard pre-midlife crisis "why am I on this hamster wheel and is it even the RIGHT hamster wheel" thing, and as part of that was trying to figure out the life's purpose part. And in doing so I realized that I don't have even the faintest clue of what something like that would even look like.

So, what's yours?

posted by TheManChild2000 to religion & philosophy (36 comments total)

"I shall spend every minute steadfastly watching AskMetafilter for chatfilter-type questions, then studiously flag them as soon as they crest the front page."
posted by onalark at 7:17 AM on November 17, 2007 [1 favorite]

To crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the lamentation of the women.
posted by NucleophilicAttack at 7:19 AM on November 17, 2007 [14 favorites]

To never do anything of which I cannot be proud.
posted by chrismear at 7:23 AM on November 17, 2007 [3 favorites]

To put people before things.
posted by mrmarley at 7:25 AM on November 17, 2007 [1 favorite]

So far, my life's purpose has been to discover my life's purpose.
posted by RussHy at 7:30 AM on November 17, 2007 [2 favorites]

To strive to eliminate scarcity.
posted by the dief at 7:32 AM on November 17, 2007 [1 favorite]

Make men seem like a good idea.
posted by dobbs at 7:32 AM on November 17, 2007

Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
--The Westminster Shorter Catechism
posted by Pater Aletheias at 7:35 AM on November 17, 2007

I'd like to improve the lives I touch, and make a positive difference in the amount of beauty and happiness and knowledge in the world.
posted by box at 7:36 AM on November 17, 2007 [2 favorites]

To be someone I'd be proud of.
posted by be11e at 7:43 AM on November 17, 2007 [1 favorite]

To be happy and to make the people around me happy.
posted by jbickers at 7:53 AM on November 17, 2007

there's no one sentence; as you age, as you gain experience and knowledge, your view on the world should evolve too. it's not about having a mantra from which to go; it's about having a life that's conducive to finding them everywhere.
posted by dflemingdotorg at 7:59 AM on November 17, 2007

To be able to look myself in the mirror at 40, 50, 60, 70, 80... and be able to like the person looking back at me. Which isn't always easy.

Some people can't look at themselves in the mirror at all, no matter what age.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:01 AM on November 17, 2007 [2 favorites]

Secondly, the solid gold island thing. But the rivers are cafe lattes, not tequila.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:02 AM on November 17, 2007

In my life, I would like to continuously love, learn, and teach; to work with compassion and humility; to remember to forgive myself and others; to embrace my own limitations when I don't measure up to those goals and to celebrate my own strengths when I do.
posted by occhiblu at 8:02 AM on November 17, 2007 [5 favorites]

To appreciate the beauty around me and be thankful for the opportunity to be here.
posted by MiffyCLB at 8:04 AM on November 17, 2007 [2 favorites]

Not mine, but a close friends: To make every woman, no matter how old or young, feel loved.
posted by sperose at 8:04 AM on November 17, 2007 [1 favorite]

To be at peace with myself when I die.
posted by brautigan at 8:05 AM on November 17, 2007 [1 favorite]

"Love all, trust a few, Do wrong to none"
posted by Widepath at 8:07 AM on November 17, 2007 [2 favorites]

chat filter be damned....

I attempt to always remember that life is a journey, not a destination. I spent way too much time trying to "get someplace" (literally or figuratively) and missed much on the way as my focus was miles down the road.
posted by HuronBob at 8:08 AM on November 17, 2007

my life's purpose is to gather enough material to write a damned good memoir at age 80.
posted by thinkingwoman at 8:11 AM on November 17, 2007

To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And to be a damned good engineer.
posted by jpdoane at 8:14 AM on November 17, 2007 [1 favorite]

half full, half empty ... dammit I just need a refill
posted by jannw at 8:15 AM on November 17, 2007

Be kind, useful, truthful, and funny, and don't do for money what I wouldn't do for free.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:18 AM on November 17, 2007 [1 favorite]

Is "pre midlife crisis" a euphemism for being 25 and not liking your first job out of college? Just askin, but the question reads a little that way.
posted by rhizome at 8:23 AM on November 17, 2007

My life doesn't have a clear-cut purpose, and I'm okay with that.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:30 AM on November 17, 2007

rhizome: No. 36, working myself hard, and trying to figure out why after the fact.

As to the chatfilter thing, this would just be the next chapter in a long history of NEVER being able to figure out exactly how to use this site correctly. Flag away; it seemed like a question to me, but I should probably just give up.
posted by TheManChild2000 at 8:39 AM on November 17, 2007

Enjoy as much as possible!

Scott Adams has a great quote about human beings as "organic pain collectors, racing toward oblivion." Why not joy collectors, I say!
posted by lizzicide at 8:42 AM on November 17, 2007 [3 favorites]

I have one life and one chance to make it count for something . . . I'm free to choose what that something is, and the something I've chosen is my faith. Now, my faith goes beyond theology and religion and requires considerable work and effort. My faith demands -- this is not optional -- my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference. ~Jimmy Carter
posted by Sassyfras at 8:42 AM on November 17, 2007 [1 favorite]

"Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible." Viktor Frankl
posted by forallmankind at 8:44 AM on November 17, 2007

Be magnificent.


And another for good measure:

Learn stuff in order to do stuff, learning more stuff by doing it, then apply that to other stuff, creating new stuff, and help other people with their stuff along the way.
:-)
posted by -harlequin- at 8:44 AM on November 17, 2007

Some people can't look at themselves in the mirror at all, no matter what age.

That is because they are vampires.
---
I've been spending a lot of time thinking about this question, since I've just gotten out of college and I'm trying to figure out which way I want to go.

A line from a song snagged in my head, and it seems to hold up pretty well: "Make myself somebody I like." (The line is from No More Excuses by Kill the Alarm)
posted by JDHarper at 8:55 AM on November 17, 2007

"There just isn't enough beer."
posted by baphomet at 8:56 AM on November 17, 2007

I don't think I have a purpose, but I want to play all the interesting games and experience a lot of catharsis.
posted by hjo3 at 9:01 AM on November 17, 2007 [1 favorite]

To raise my daughters to be courageous, compassionate, and honest women and alleviate suffering where I can.
posted by Argyle at 9:02 AM on November 17, 2007

Oh, and don't worry about onalark. In the comment thread of every great post is someone says "<nasal>I'm sorry, but you seem to have overlooked a rule.&lt/nasal>"
posted by JDHarper at 9:04 AM on November 17, 2007 [1 favorite]