Perspective & Purpose
It’s easy to fall into a possessed state of being where we become controlled by a tornado of thoughts that never seem to cease, removing us further from mental clarity and distorting our perspectives and relationships with the outer world. We’re also conditioned by societal expectations to find a “purpose” in life that generally entails doing something productive to build our wealth and social status.
In a severely capitalistic society, success is measured by monetary wealth and status from your job occupation. “Purpose” only means how you are contributing to society in a “productive” way that fuels the economy and earns you money. This form of thinking becomes engrained in our minds from an early age and though people can acknowledge this expectation and structure of society, they’re inevitably pressured by the strains of survival to live within this hyper productive mindset. On a day to day basis where everyone is trying to hustle for money and have themselves perceived as being hardworking and “successful”, we are carried further away from our inner selves and our true purpose.
It becomes difficult for us to define who we are because we rarely take time to remove ourselves from this mindset. But we are not our thoughts, we are not our feelings, and this is not our purpose. I’ve been asked that if we are not what we think and how we feel, then what are we? In the simplest way to put it, we are nothing on this life but observers and witnesses to the phenomenon of life and the world around us.
Our thoughts and feelings stem from our ego. Our ego projects itself into our thoughts and feelings and that is what attaches us to people and the outer world. When we are led solely by our thoughts and feelings our clarity is distorted, our perspectives are altered, and our desires and goals are placed outside of ourselves. Our egos are roped in, believing that things outside of ourselves belong to us and our feelings then get hurt, we become jealous, worried and can even feel entitled to what isn’t ours. We become weighed down by feeling as if we need to achieve something just for the sake of our reputations. We start to attach our feelings of happiness and satisfaction based on how much we accumulate, how much we are admired, and the job positions we have to define our status. But we are none of these things.
The only purpose we have in this world has already been fulfilled. By one in a million, we are the souls who have been given a chance to be on earth, and our only purpose is to observe, experience, and enjoy this phenomenon. But in order for us to separate ourselves from our thoughts and feelings, we must learn to practice awareness. We are all highly emotional people, but you have to re-mind yourself that you are much bigger than what you feel. You are quite literally, a fragment of god/universal consciousness, put on earth to experience life. By meditating and practicing awareness, you shift your energy, pulling all of your focus back within yourself. You will be able to learn to break your mindset and operate from a clearer level of awareness. You will be able to see things for what they truly are, not how you feel about them. With this mode of thinking, there are far less worries, feelings of dissatisfaction, and anxiety. I don’t mean for you to necessarily be numb and indifferent to everything around you. But this higher state of thinking can help alter your perspective and place your purpose back within yourself, allowing yourself to feel more gratitude and appreciation towards the world around you.
So, to recap: You are not your thoughts and your feelings. You are merely an observer in this world and your purpose and self-fulfillment should always stem from yourself and not be attached to anything around you. You are not here to conform to the collective mindset that society has taught you to think and behave, and your purpose and worth is not defined in terms of monetary gains. Your purpose is simply to enjoy the incredible wonders of this life you’re witnessing, and practicing this awareness by meditating, observing, and simply, being.
Everything you want, you already have. Look inwards.