THE WORLD WE LIVE IN #LIVINGANDEXISTING

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN

#LIVINGANDEXISTING

30 year old Folarin was startled out of his sleep. Koyinsola, his neighbor’s 7^th daughter, had begun her daily herald with her tiny but piercing shriek that would wake up even her dead grandma from her eternal resting place in the courtyard. Folarin’s first thoughts were to quickly grab another couple of minutes sleep, but the foul stench of Iya Mosun’s herbal soup heating on the stove outside quickly put to bed those thoughts. As the first rays of dawn began to appear on the horizon, it dawned on Folarin that he was about to repeat the same sequence of activities that had characterized his life for the past 8 years; WAKE> BATH>BOARD A BUS> WORK>LUNCH>WORK>DINNER>BATH>SLEEP. He had lived in the same one room apartment for 8 years and repeated the same activities without fail from Monday to Saturday.

Folarin is the average Nigerian youth, he has a job he doesn’t like but can’t leave because it pays the bills, he has big dreams (that seem to be slowly fading away with each passing day), he attends church diligently on Sunday without fail, would gladly settle down and marry (just as soon as he can afford it and find a good woman as well). Folarin is me and you!

Ok so, your story is different, you are not 30, you don’t need a girl (you have the whole lot to pick from), you have a job that makes your friends green with envy, you attend church (sometimes) and are definitely set for a bright future and your name is definitely not Folarin.

Or your story maybe that you are pretty, in love with the man of your dreams (he just happens to be rich as well), you have a degree so no man can bully you or make you feel worthless, you are employed by a multinational and earn enough to put even your male colleagues to shame, to cap it all you have your own apartment already.

There are over 80 million permutations to this scenario in Nigeria, as every individual has a unique identity but what makes all these scenarios identical is the lack of purpose. Folarin and the other faceless Nigerians I described had lives that looked full on the outside but was really empty inside. They are busy with work, love or just life itself but there really isn’t any anchor or marker that can be used to define them.

Last week I asked for comments on Living and Existing, I got some really amazing responses and these are some of them. “Living is to do what’s right by God and man existing is to live without concern for others.”  “Living is being in the world trying all possible means to achieve one’s dreams, existing is when you are in a world of no definitions, no dreams to pursue.” “Living is fulfilling your God given purpose, Existing is living a life you are not called to live.” “Living is being here with a purpose, being a part of someone’s life, Existing is merely a self centered rush.”

I won’t over flog the issue because it is as plain as day; everyone that commented pointed out the same thing, Living is discovering purpose. It is finding meaning in a world full of clutters and junk, it is standing out without losing out. Living is for humans, as Existing is for animals.

My Father once said, “Son, A life without purpose is like a ship without a Captain, directions and a 

 compass, it would be driven by the wind until it is broken on a rock…”

How do you discover your life’s purpose and how do you go about achieving them?  Next week I would share some secrets I have garnered over the years on the issue of purpose. You can also drop your ideas on how one can achieve purpose in the comments box below….until next week have a wonderful week.  ff@hashtag_dz_pm for more insightful articles on sports, fashion, movies e.t.c