Finding a Purpose

• "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. " (Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV)

• “As we said before, any attempt to restore a man’s inner strength in the camp had first to succeed in showing him some future goal. Nietzsche’s words, “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how,” could be the guiding motto for all psychotherapeutic and psychohygienic efforts regarding prisoners.
• Whenever there was an opportunity for it, one had to give them a why — an aim — for their lives, in order to strengthen them to bear the terrible how of their existence. Woe to him who saw no more sense in his life, no aim, no purpose, and therefore no point in carrying on. He was soon lost. The typical reply with which such a man rejected all encouraging arguments was, “I have nothing to expect from life any more.” What sort of answer can one give to that? (Man's Search for Meaning, 1946)

(December 2025) No matter what your personal goals and purpose may be, achieving them will always be easier in the long run if you also align with the spiritual powers of existence (the nature virtues). As discussed elsewhere these are the nature virtues of balance, growth, and connection.

The question you have to ask yourself is what will make you motivated to get out of bed every morning? Or ask yourself what you will miss when you are in the last few years of your life?

These questions are hard to answer for a young person with limited life experiences. So for the first years of adulthood gain as many experiences as you can. See what works for you and what doesn't then go from there.