Do you sometimes wonder what the purpose of life is? If you are not sure, you may be looking at life the wrong way. You may have a view of life as a path. However, there is another way to see life. Read on to find out what that way is.
Let’s first take a look at the conventional way to understand life as a path. Do you see your life as a path? That’s an image that is often used in the realm of spirituality personal growth. I’m guilty of it myself.
This implies that we are struggling towards a pinnacle. We overcome hardship and climb up and up towards…well, towards what, exactly? In the spiritual realm we might say that we climb towards enlightenment, wisdom, awakening, or…what? In the realm of personal growth we might imagine that we are climbing towards, success, wealth, personal fulfillment, or …what?
We are pulled through life by promises like a donkey by carrots. We are always moving towards that pinnacle. First we go to kindergarten and then we look forward to primary school. We are told how wonderful it will be when we finally go to college. And then to university. Finally, as good citizens we embark on a career, a relationship, maybe a family. It seems that we are at last approaching the pinnacle of our life. (One of our readers, Jonathan Meads, sent me a funny and enlightening cartoon clip that illustrates this. Do have a look at it here.)
What pinnacle? More often than not, the pinnacle turns out to be redundancy, or illness. And then – one day the sun goes behind a cloud – and we die. Just like that.
Now, tell me again – where was that pinnacle? Did I miss it?
The strange thing is that for a long time the pinnacle seems to be in the future. Just out of reach. Then, from one moment to the next, it seems to be in the past. You’re suddenly beyond it. You’re a ‘has-been’. And you can’t quite remember what the pinnacle should have been. All you know is that you’ve missed it.
That’s pretty depressing, isn’t it? But, stop! What if life isn’t a path?
What if life is a dot?
Yes, I said dot.
A dot doesn’t have dimension. There is no before and after. The dot is now. This moment. Now.
What if this moment right now is the pinnacle of our life? What if each moment is the pinnacle? That is, if we actually live it and don’t miss it through dreaming of the future.
What if the smell of fresh ground coffee is the pinnacle? What if the hug at the door as you go to work is the pinnacle?
It would change things, wouldn’t it?
We would focus on what we enjoy, and not on moving up in our career. We would surf more, and dance more, and sing more, and laugh more, and love more, and hug more.
We would feel the wind in our hair. We would watch the moon rise. We would bask in the sun. We would roll in the mud. We would play in the surf.
We would kick up our heels and feel free. Free to be a bit wild. Even zany. We would live with abandon.
We would enjoy that dot. The dot that is life.
Let’s have a conversation:
What do you think? How is your life? Are you on a path or on a dot?
Second photo by Jeff Kubina
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The purpose of life is to live life to the fullest, add value to the life of the world and love every minute of it.
If life was a dot I would still live to the fullest, add value…
We all live in the now, now, work is also part of the now, do you want to dance more, surf more and end up living on the streets with no food to eat. You can have all the fun you want now, work at a job you love and when it is time to dance and surf do it with gusto.
Life is about balance of everything, it is not all fun and game, don’t use “living in the now” as an excuse to forget about what living is.
-Tabs
Tabss last blog post..Get Organized – Habit of the Month
I always used to live like life was a path. Not in the do all the things expected of you and have no fun or adventure fashion, but still I was always striving for a point some time in the future when I would become myself and know why I was here and what I had to contribute.
Now I look back and am confused by that thinking. Was I not myself then and at what point did I think ME would kick in? And I am well and truly sick of striving for some future abstract point. These days I try to see life as a winding journey in that this trail I’m walking now is leading me somewhere, I have no idea where and the end point is not important because it’s the process of walking and living that is where I am. I am here. Writing to you. I am nowhere else.
I like the idea of life being a dot. I want mine to be a large hot pink dot with purple dragonflies painted on it. Just for a bit of extra luck.
Another great article, Mary.
Kelly
Kelly@SHE-POWERs last blog post..Bloggers Unite for Darfur and Launch TrainforHumanity.org
Hi Tabs!
Of course, life is not only fun. It includes tears, and hardship, and heartbreak – as well as love, and laughter, and dancing.
The amazing thing about ‘now’ is that when we immerse ourselves in this dot now – whether we’re surfing or grieving – life is suddenly full to the brim. And there is a joy in that.
Hi Kelly!
A hot pink dot with purple dragonflies on it?? Oh wise one – that must truly be the purpose of life!
Laughter is good, isn’t it, Kelly? We should all laugh a lot more, instead of being so fatuously serious. I love the title of your blog: Life in the Fun Lane!
What a load of egocentric bullshit. If you just walk around doing what you feel like all the time, you will screw up your life. The key is to praise the moment, and learn to be grateful and happy about every part of your life. No matter what happens, or what you need to sacrifice to make a good home for you and your family.
Hi Batman!
Without love and kindness all life is empty of meaning. Enjoying life doesn’t mean forgetting our responsibilities to others, it means embracing each moment fully instead of waiting for fulfillment in the future.
For me I still see life as a path, if only because time passes by and we cannot return to moments that have been: “The present is past in the future”. The point is that we so easily confuse the purpose of this path with it’s destination or end point. Once upon a time I found the phrase “life is lethal”. It stuck with me because it is at the same time both very correct and very wrong. I couldn’t live my life that way as it would lead to a lethally cynical attitude.
Life can only be lived in the present, not in the future. So yes, I think you’ve addressed the core issue when you asked “What if this moment right now is the pinnacle of our life?”. I think it’s the only way one can truly live. The purpose of life can not be found in the end of it nor even in the near future. Love, gratefulness, growth, joy or whatever your core values are can only be realised in this very moment. I am sure that my path of life has purpose as a whole, but this overall purpose is something that only a remote observer (in time) can assess. It is not something I can grasp for myself, even less use it as a guide for my life. When we keep our focus on realising our core values in this every moment, moment after moment, we will stay true to our purpose as good as we are able to.
The following song gives words to this that I could not find myself:
> Lost and alone on some forgotten highway, traveled by many, remembered by few.
> Looking for something that I can believe in,
> looking for something that I’d like to do with my life.
> There’s nothing behind me and nothing that ties me to
> something that might have been true yesterday.
> Tomorrow is open, right now it seems to be more than enough
> To just be here today, and I don’t know what the future is holding in store,
> I don’t know where I’m going, I’m not sure where I’ve been.
> There’s a spirit that guides me, a light that shines for me,
> my life is worth the living, I don’t need to see the end.
(John Denver – Sweet surrender)
Every line in this song has it’s own precious depth of meaning to me. “There is a spirit that guides me, a light that shines for me” marks the spiritual journey my life is. I have found both in the Holy Bible. Discovering ever more of this spirit and light is like giving roots to my core values, its the way to the source of these values and of the overall purpose of my life.
Warm regards,
Rick Veenstra
“Tomorrow is open, right now its seems to be more than enough to just be here today…”
Hi Rick!
I love your line: “When we keep our focus on realising our core values in this every moment, moment after moment, we will stay true to our purpose as good as we are able to.”
That’s beautiful! I meet so many people who have a vague unhappiness, a sense that their purpose in life is somehow eluding them. Re-focusing on one’s core values is a good way to touch firm ground again when life seems shaky.
Like you, Mary, I am a Buddhist. My chosen lineage is that of Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen Master. Though I am a layperson. I like your comparison of life being a dot. This is mindfulness very well described, thank you! _/|\_
Porillions last blog post..Meditating Away Pain (Part 3)
Without thinking about it previously, Mary, I must see life as a dot.
Like you, I have developed an attitude where I relish every moment and aim to make the most of every hour.
Of course, often this attitude is tested by the trials of life.
But, I can honestly say that each time I have gone through a negative experience, this attitude to life has grown quietly stronger.
I’m sure that you know of the often quoted Mark Twain philosophy on life:
“Sing like no one’s listening, love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like nobody’s watching, and live like its heaven on earth.”
That sums up my approach to life entirely.
I guess you could say it’s life-dot-com!
This is quite a point and very hard to grasp, a dimensionless dot.
It brings a beautifull painting of René Margritte into my memory, which I think to be illustrating this dot-perpective: The False Mirror
amazingmesss last blog post..guinea fowl
Mary,
I completely agree with the view that life is not a path.
One book that I read recently about living the moment, and that you might like is The Practicing Mind.
Luciano Passuellos last blog post..How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci
Hi Porillion!
Thanks for your comment. Yes, you spotted it: This article is about mindfulness. But most people won’t get that, I think.
Nice to meet you!
Hi Scott!
“Life – dot- com” that made me laugh out loud!
I find it interesting that you mention negative experiences. I think some of my readers think that this post is just about having a fun time and ‘to hell with everyone else’. But, no, that’s far from my mind.
Life-dot-com means living every moment fully, even the difficult ones!
Thanks for reminding me that you can’t live for tomorrow at the expense of today. If I don’t appreciate my life at this moment and keep waiting till I arrive at my destination, when will I have time to enjoy myself?
Martins last blog post..What are we Here For?
Hi Amazingmess!
Thank you so much for the link to the Magritte painting. It’s fit the theme of this article beautifully. Spot on!
Hi Luciano!
Thanks for the book suggestion. I look forward to reading it!
BTH I was thinking of you yesterday when i was dancing Samba Gafiera (like no-one was watching…)
Hi Martin!
Yes – you got my point- erm, I mean, my dot!
Many people work hard to ‘get somewhere’ and put fun aside as something trivial which they will enjoy once the have got there. It’s depressing to watch their dawning realization that whatever there was to get has passed them by and the ‘great reward’ isn’t going to head their way. And all these years they haven’t had much pleasure out of life. Sad, eh?
As a perfectionist, I have long since been unsatisfied with the now. I’m learning to embrace the now much more fully, and yet I love the metaphor of the path as well.
SpaceAgeSages last blog post..An interesting query for my readers …
I always wonder how to find the balance. As a recovering overplanner, I am trying to live happliy in the now (love the ‘dot’ analogy vs the elusive ‘path’ one!) but I am having issues deciding what is actually important to plan and what is never necessary to plan.
Hi Spaceagesage!
In this post I’m gunning for the ‘dot’ view. But there are also times when the ‘path’ view works well. For example, if we set goals.
Hi Foreverstudent!
I grew up in Germany so I’m definitely a planner! I think planning is important. Goal setting is important.
However, there is a difference between setting goals, and getting hooked into a view that is only forward oriented. The ‘dot’ view cures that!
Mary, reading this gave me goosebumps! It fits in so well with where I’m at right now. For most of my adult life I think I’ve seen myself stuck at the start of the path, impatient to get going – waiting for Mr Right, someone to share a mortgage and kids and life and growing old with. But, now, at 36 and single again (sigh!), I realise that with that approach, life will pass me by. Life is now – I can live it and enjoy it without any of that stuff.
This makes me think of one of my favourite quotes, the Sanskrit proverb
“Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow only a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day, for it is life, the very life of life”.
PS Of course I would still like it if Mr Right came along….
Hi Glee Girl!
Thank you for the beautiful proverb. ‘The very life of life’- that’s the dot!
For me Life is about accepting love and relinquishing fear….
our true purpose is to find and accept love within ourselves and in those around us.
Love is our ultimate reality and the true essence of our existance!
Keep Living, Keep Loving
Amits last blog post..Be Free…Be You!
Hi Amit!
That’s beautiful: “our true purpose is to find and accept love within ourselves and in those around us.”
Thank you for making an important point, Amit.
Glee Girl,
I understand, living for now can sometimes be hard and its a continuous process of learning….keep the faith!
Do you have the actual sanskrit proverb handy?
Amits last blog post..Be Free…Be You!
Hi Mary,
You are asking two big questions here – of life in general and individual existence. Both answers are interwoven. There are an infinite number of responses. Whether any of them are correct or not depends on the point of view. Words are far too simplistic to contain the meaning to these questions. Its good to not get to hung-up on trying to find answers to questions that can’t be answered and enjoy it for what it is. Is.
Dan Morelles last blog post..Do You Know Jack?
Hi Dan!
Yes, they are big questions.
When a question is big, it’s power lies in the fact that there is no answer. There is no idea that will stop up the mouth of a huge question.
I think big questions invite us to be curious, and to shift our habitual way of thinking.
In the interest of writing a thought-provoking piece, I sharpened the theme away from the habitual view of the ‘path’, and towards the different view of the ‘dot’.
However, I think it’s important to let go of fixed ideas and let the huge question work on us. Then we can maybe catch a glimpse of the dot as a path, and the path as a dot. Then we can enjoy it as it is. Is.
That feels good. Off the journey treadmill and into a dot, knowing that the dot is the moment to be in now, and will be succeeded by the next dot, the next moment to be in once it arrives, without any effort on my part. For who can plan what the next moment will bring? Maybe the phone will ring to change my plan, or maybe the cat will crash a bottle of milk all over the floor… Nice to be able to think of that as a pinnacle next time it happens!
Michaels last blog post..Sports Gear and a Coffee Break – Serendipity!
Hi Michael!
Good point about the next dot arriving without any effort. When we switch from path mode to dot mode, we move from effort to effortless and from grim to amused.
Next dot…SMASH!
What an interesting way of putting life as – a dot! I would have sworn that our life looked more like a path than anything else before but I see what you mean. I like the idea of living life with abandon and the focus of Now!
Thanks!! Beautiful post! Stumbled!
Evelyn
Hi Evelyn!
Thanks for the stumble!
I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
I must say that i was completely amazed when i came across your blog, and this article in particular. You are the first person other than myself that made the analogy of the ‘Dot’. The Dot came to me while on a peyote fueled ‘vision quest’, and the universe came to me and all around me (including myself) was reduced to a single point. The implications didn’t hit until later when i was using the calculator on my Mac and noticed the decimal point. The lil dot that makes our language of mathematics even possible, and math is our best means of describing the universe — at least the physicality of it that we perceive. thanks…
Wonderful, Mary!
Thank you.
You have reached fulfillment when your path and your goal become one.—Strike a Chord of Silence
peace and wonder,
CG
CG Walterss last blog post..Serialization of Sacred Vow: Liz (continued)
Wow.
This blog entry really put what I am feeling into something quite tangible.
Thanks
Hi CG Walters!
I like that ‘chord of silence’!
Hi K Park!
Your comment is very interesting.
Sometimes we can sense something – but we can’t put it into words. And then – when we read or hear something – it all begins to make sense. It’s as if our own understanding has suddenly been given a voice.
I never thought of it that way… A few years ago I had a relationship with an older abusive boyfriend which I regret immensely now. Ever since I ended it I’ve been trying to run away from it, walking in a “path” to become a different person and I believe I did the right thing. But right now, with all the good things in my life I can start to think of my life as a dot, perhaps a dot that continually grows as I experience new things and feel increasingly happier :]
Great post, congratulations!
my post is when there are 42 shown, the exact meaning of life identified by Douglas Adams, author of ‘The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy’. While that might seem trite Douglas actually got it right, it’s less profound and more simple, the meaning of life is now.
We are the result of a scientific process. All life on this planet eminated from one molecule that “learned” how to replicate itself. Just as a dandelion has no purpose or meaning to life, so it is with us. It is the height of hubris to imagine that just becasue we are endowed with a reasoning brain that we are somehow more special than any other non-human living thing, even though we have figured out how to kill them for our own sustanence. We were conceived by accident, born as long as our mothers permitted it, raised in a paradigm created by our environment, live a short or a long life as the case may be, and die, returning to dust. No heaven (and no ruler of it), no hell, no ever-lasting soul (what would you really want to do forever anyway), and no need for religion, too. We just are, with no purpose and no meaning. Until we are no more. Poof.
Love this post. There is definitely a specific style of (for want of a better term) “personal development” thinking becoming prominent in the world right now. I have linked my name to a short post I wrote about this. I wonder if your readers would agree with what I have to say about this there? If they feel a part of this movement also?
I think is very hard to stay on the dot alone.
A dot = Enjoy every current moment.
= Forget about Past and Future.
A journey = have a destination.
= not yet achieved.
= filled with desire/want.
##################
# Dot VS Journey #
##################
IF our meaning of life is too focus on the destination, example we define SUCCESS as destination, or getting RICH as destination. THEN we end up not enjoy every moment of life. We live in future. We always looking forward, anticipating, hoping, too much anticipate become worry. We care too much, plan for every step/action we take.
ON THE OTHER HAND, IF absolutely just dot only. We enjoy the every moment of life, without worrying much. We care nothing about the past, the future, We do not planning, as planning is for future. Your life can be very enjoying, virtually not worrying about anything. Just plain enjoy only.
My Conclusion: MOST important thing, BALANCE of life.
Life BALANCE
= Do Planning, But not until paranoid.
= Do Enjoy, But make sure have money for living.
= Harmony of Balance
= Etc, Etc..
Regards,
Alan Khoo
http://lifewisdomblog.blogspot.com
Life Wisdom Blogs last blog post..Analogy and Comparison Persuasive Technique
I stumbled upon this site and this entry caught my attention. Strangely enough i have recently learned that life is a dot. I have tried living my life either in the past or preparing for the future, but in the recent turn of event in my life i realized i shouldn’t worry about what i have no clue of. All i have is now and i enjoy it as is. And definitely, it was made my life better and me happier. After all a line is composed of infinite dots…so is a path. A path will never exist without a dot, hence its more important we live out our dots.
I agreed at first with the dot analogy, but After thinking about it, I’m starting to think that the analogy is flawed. For example, if , while living in the dot, you cheat on your wife, and you feel bad about that, then all the experiences you have after that one will be tainted with your guilt, thus lessening all future experiences. On the other hand, if you lived on a path, the other analogy, then you would see that you can’t just have great moments over and over, you need to work for them.
Living on the dot can also be seen as trying to recreate past enjoyable experiences, as I don’t think you can just have a “GOOD” experience, it is something that has to be worked to. (http://chaosfarmer.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/recreating-a-feeling-a-thought-or-a-mood/)
And most good things in life don’t come all at once. When learning new things, the process of learning could takes years, and while the sense of accomplishment at the end feels good and could be called a dot, you could never have that sense of accomplishment unless you spent the time to get there. Living from moment to moment could actually lead to a shallow life, as you never build up your foundation.
matts last blog post..Recreating a feeling, a thought, or a mood.
Hi Alan Khoo!
I love your exposition of dot versus path! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Hi Gene!
You say: “A line is composed of infinite dots…so is a path.” That’s a lovely way of harmonizing the idea of the dot and the path!
Hey I referenced this posting on my blog! http://www.runmeditation.blogspot.com Such shameless self promotion.
Kevins last blog post..Dot
Hi Kevin!
Thank you for the link. I don’t mind a bit of self promotion
According to a statistics, there are 430 million English speaking internet users. Are they enough to answer the biggest question? What would happen if all of them visited this website and wrote a sentence? Would we find the ultimate answer? I don’t think so, but who knows…
Our only goal is to collect as many of these sentences as possible.
What about you? Have you ever thought about the reason of life? Do you have a minute to do that now?
We just need a sentence! It can be funny or serious, happy or sad, philosophical or casual. It can be your own thought or a quote from your favourite writer or just from the grocer around the corner.
It has to meet just one requirement! It should be one of the endless possible answers to the question:
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?
http://www.imeanlife.com