My thanks to Soul II Soul’s “Get a Life” for the song lyric that inspired this essay.. It would seem that we’ve been asking this question since the dawn of time..
Jazzie B, the co-writer of the song has the following advice.. “elevate your mind, free your soul…”
But what are we put on this Earth to do? Do you know what your Life purpose is?
From Sanskrit times man has been recording stories that seem useful, in the hope of passing this Information on to future generations. We developed a way to set in aspic, our best ephemeral ideas.
By developing writing, we were able to capture our most important thoughts for all time, like a prehistoric wasp, caught in a drop of Amber, for all eternity.
We live our lives through stories. As Children we are taught by stories. Our Families carry and dispense the collected family wisdom stories. All through school, we learn the stories of famous people who might help guide our lives. We watch sports, and absorb the stories of the amazing sports people, we follow the lives of the rich and famous, and subconsciously ape their stories.
The stories we tell ourselves can push us to new and amazing heights, but that’s the thing about stories, they can bring you down, as well as lift you up.
The stories we have gathered over the years can make us very unwell too.
Your Story needs to be carefully curated.
Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle, Joe Dispenza, Gregg Braden, Bruce Lipton, Wayne Dwyer, Neale Donald Walsch to name a few, are all amazing Story Tellers, whom many of us highly value these days. These are modern thought leaders who seem to be guiding us in a conscious and safe manner. These people are currently carrying the good information for humanity.
What’s the point of you?
On a basic level, I would, in the past, have said.. “To reproduce myself” (and of course my partner..) Two parents, two children.. the line continues the number stays balanced..
It’s clear that some people have taken this task rather more seriously than others!
It was seen as a status symbol in the past to have many children, demonstrating male fertility, and the wealth to support this big family. (It’s also true to say, that until recently “redundancy” played a large part… we were killing off each other’s children at such a rate, it made sense to have an Heir and probably a few spares, just in case of war, famine and pestilence.)
As this becomes a little less relevant, our numbers are still burgeoning.
We now see the numbers of children levelling and shelving downwards in developed countries, we have to assume that this pattern will continue worldwide, until our colony reaches the correct balance; this seems to be about the 2 billion mark, where we were sustainable as a population in relation to the resources of our planet..
(Quite a bit of pruning to be done there – as predictions suggest a rush to 12 billion souls shortly! )
Never mind the bell-curve also suggests a peak, followed by a deepening trough.. something for our ancestors to look forward too!
These days and from my new Qigong perspective, I’d say our Life Purpose is to create, gather and filter Information.
Unlike any other species on Earth, we have developed this Information Processor called the Frontal Lobe of our brains. This is our unique ability.
Back to Our Sanskrit friends, storing information in Cuneiform script on clay tablets, to the Chinese, Hebrews, Egyptians and Aramaic collectors of Information.
We follow a steady line of advancement through the Middle East to the West and East, from six thousand years ago to now.
I’m able to read from the Vedas to Lao Tzu, and gather information from thousands of generations past, and then apply this in my story today.
I become a filter for that information and regurgitate it to my students, hopefully in a refined and enhanced way.
Each of us is equipped with this toolset to gather information.
There are several choices to be made.
Can you be bothered? Do you give a shit? Are you interested.. (Don’t worry, there’s plenty of redundancy built into the system, if you can’t be bothered, then somebody else will!)
If you can be bothered, what information interests you? Will you become an expert regarding Sports, Science, Religion, Medicine, Society, Law or maybe Cheese.. (Nobody cares.. It’s all information! Somebody will use it somewhere.)
I’m fascinated by what makes “News” these days…A new bacterial strain has been discovered in the armpit of a Koala, the scientists suggest that it might help Goldfish to retain memories a bit longer!
OK, so I made that up, but it is the kind of headline we see a lot these days.
As a species we love research.
As the pool of information gets bigger and bigger, our researchers have to become more and more “vertical” to find a space for themselves (and often justify a cosy job and a decent pay cheque..)
The smartest people in our society have long realised that controlling the flow of information was the real power..
From the Chinese Emperor who burned all encyclopaedias and shut the boarders of China for one hundred years, to the burning of the Library at Alexandria.
Information has always been seen as the double-edged sword that it is.
As I stated earlier, it can make you well, or it can make you sick..
(Take as an example ideological works such as Mein Kampf, Das Kapital or The Little Red Book..)
If you control the flow of Information, then you can control the uber-story of Mankind’s path..
We look at the most powerful men of our day.
Elon Musk, why would he want to buy Twitter – now known as “X”?
Well we all know that “X” marks the spot, as old pirate maps used to say.. This is where you’ll find the treasure..
Elon Musk instantly gained control of three hundred to five hundred million people’s news feed, in one stroke.
Rupert Murdoch, purchased News organisations all over the world, giving him access to billions of people’s daily Information flow.
The biggest business on out planet is IT. Information Technology!
The Technology to process huge amounts of information, much larger and more boring Information, than our minds are capable of, or care to try to juggle..
Information has become the currency of our world, way after the Oil boom has gone, Steam power is finished, coal power is over.. Information will rule our world.
What about you then?
Your purpose in life is to be an Information processor.
Are you giving out NO information – no worries if so, not everybody has too, you can consume as much as you like and head to your grave having made no contribution to the overall, without any judgement from me!
Are you giving out “Bad” information? Do you spend all day moaning about how rubbish your life is? Do you only like to hate politicians or sports people, or people who look different to you? OK – Up to you – but it’s good for you to understand that the more you damage others, the more damage you reflect back to yourself.
If you’ve read this far, we can probably assume that you are giving or hoping to give out more “good” information.
The reason that Alan Watts, Joe Dispenza et al, have become so popular on our information channels such as Youtube, is that they have gathered a lifetime of information, and package it up for you to consume in a friendly and open way.
They are peddling stories that make us feel better.
They help point us in the direction of making the Information gathering task (I.e. what we call “Life”) better and more meaningful. (And I hope to a small extend so do I)
This is indeed my Life’s Purpose. I have gathered over thirty years of Qigong Information, I blend it with all the “Spiritual” searching I have engaged in during this time.
Add to this mix, some life lessons, and other assorted science knowledge: the result is a blended and filtered subset of Information that I hope will help you.
It’s clear that people follow the teachers that they need in their lives.
We see in others, people who mirror our life experience, and have the desire to see what their take on the subject is, to help shine a light into the darker corners of our lives.
When we experience challenges, we look to others for solutions.
This then brings “Meaning” to something on the face of it, that can look pretty meaningless at times..
You have Information that somebody else can benefit from…
No matter how niche, crazy or bizarre you might think it is..it will still have benefit to somebody.
Many years ago, when I started PositiveTV.tv with a friend, I declared that if only ONE person found “change” through watching each of our TV shows, then that was mission achieved..
If you can improve the life of one other person – perhaps a person who’s more or less decided that they can’t add to the benefit of human-kind, or they can’t see the point, or can’t find the way through.. then I would think that as a job well done, a life well lived..
Scale that ambition up a bit, Help ten or twenty fellow souls, maybe one hundred..why stop there!
That’s really the meaning to life..
If you feel a wee bit lost today, I hope this helps point you in the right direction.
If I were to add a practical tip.
First thing in the morning, NO Phone, NO computer, don’t even speak to anybody.
Swing your legs over the side of the bed. Sit for a moment, gather your thoughts, set some positive intentions for your day. Allow your blood to start flowing through the brain… (helping to avoid a Stroke!)
Smile to yourself. Perhaps you even want to say a few positive affirmations?
Give yourself fifteen minutes before anything.. (You may need a quick loo break before starting! That’s acceptable!)
Spend time stretching and bending, with a quiet mind. Do a few Qigong exercises!
Then with a quiet mind, and a stretched body, blood and Qi flowing well, you can enter your day in a calm and serene way.
(If you have little kids, get up before them!
Yes, I know you treasure sleep, but this will help you be a better parent in the long run!)
I love you all, my family, my friends, my friends I haven’t yet met..
My you have a beautiful and profitable life!
Hao La.. (Chinese for “Everything is good already…”)