We were meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves?
Have you read a book called The Alchemist? It's very inspirational.
It's all about finding your destiny, pursuing that one great thing in the world that you are set out to do. The book takes a fairly neutral standpoint between Free Will and Determinism, suggesting that although each of us has a predetermined ideal role in the world, we have the choice whether or not to accept it. However, if we choose to accept our destiny and do whatever it takes to pursue it, we will reap the rewards at the end and lead a much happier and more fruitful life than if we abandon it.
This makes logical sense. Each of us has different strengths and weaknesses. One might argue that we choose what hobbies and interests and skills to pursue as a child, but some "natural talents" are likely engrained in our genes, and that we have no control over. Furthermore, the parents we have and the way they groom us when we are young tends to make us more suited to certain types of lifestyles than others. Although it is not impossible for us to change paths in adulthood and pursue something completely different (i.e. me becoming a visual arts major), it would be very difficult to work against that many years of development and have to start from scratch and so life is naturally not as easy and fruitful as if you chose to pursue the thing you were good at.
In the book, most people in the world are unhappy, either because they never realized what their destiny was, or because they just gave up on it and settled for something else they found along the way - they got distracted and strayed from the path. The book argues that finding our destinies is not easy and not cut out for most people, but that if you choose to accept it and give everything to make it happen, it will be well worth it in the end.
I don't know if this can be taken literally or if it's just a metaphor for perseverance. How does a person figure out what their destiny is? Or does that even matter? Can we just arbitrarily pick something, and so long as we are fully convinced that it is our destiny, we will pursue it as such and make it our destiny? In this case, all the book is really saying is that hard work and perseverance pays off.
It would be so beautiful to believe that we each have a predestined role in the world waiting for us to assume it so that it can reward us with prosperity and happiness. It would mean that everyone has a purpose, a reason for being, a reason for enduring the hardships of life.
I want to find my destiny. I don't know if it's waiting for me out there or not, but it can't hurt to look.
It's all about finding your destiny, pursuing that one great thing in the world that you are set out to do. The book takes a fairly neutral standpoint between Free Will and Determinism, suggesting that although each of us has a predetermined ideal role in the world, we have the choice whether or not to accept it. However, if we choose to accept our destiny and do whatever it takes to pursue it, we will reap the rewards at the end and lead a much happier and more fruitful life than if we abandon it.
This makes logical sense. Each of us has different strengths and weaknesses. One might argue that we choose what hobbies and interests and skills to pursue as a child, but some "natural talents" are likely engrained in our genes, and that we have no control over. Furthermore, the parents we have and the way they groom us when we are young tends to make us more suited to certain types of lifestyles than others. Although it is not impossible for us to change paths in adulthood and pursue something completely different (i.e. me becoming a visual arts major), it would be very difficult to work against that many years of development and have to start from scratch and so life is naturally not as easy and fruitful as if you chose to pursue the thing you were good at.
In the book, most people in the world are unhappy, either because they never realized what their destiny was, or because they just gave up on it and settled for something else they found along the way - they got distracted and strayed from the path. The book argues that finding our destinies is not easy and not cut out for most people, but that if you choose to accept it and give everything to make it happen, it will be well worth it in the end.
I don't know if this can be taken literally or if it's just a metaphor for perseverance. How does a person figure out what their destiny is? Or does that even matter? Can we just arbitrarily pick something, and so long as we are fully convinced that it is our destiny, we will pursue it as such and make it our destiny? In this case, all the book is really saying is that hard work and perseverance pays off.
It would be so beautiful to believe that we each have a predestined role in the world waiting for us to assume it so that it can reward us with prosperity and happiness. It would mean that everyone has a purpose, a reason for being, a reason for enduring the hardships of life.
I want to find my destiny. I don't know if it's waiting for me out there or not, but it can't hurt to look.