The Who and The Why

Isn't it amazing, yet standard practice, for us to question our existence? At birth, while having our first encounter with the breath of life, I'm sure we asked ourselves "Where am I?"  Then we started noticing things like fingers, toes, our surroundings and other people, and we begin to wonder what purpose they serve in regard to us. As time goes by, and we go from infant to toddler to child, we begin to interact with our new found discoveries and begin to understand their relationship to us. It is then that we develop a desire to move forward, to experience new things, and to find out what other possibilities are available to us because we want to know all there is to know about our existence. We're like the kindergartener whose grandfather picked him up and asked him "So how was your first day of school grandson? "It was fine grandpa..." he answered, "...but how much longer do I have to do this?"

Well that was his first encounter with the world outside of his comfort zone and, like all of us, this young guy was not yet fully satisfied with where he was at this juncture in his life. He was looking for that one thing... that one person... that one place that would give him a sense of fulfillment. Yes he had unawaringly reached that juncture in time where his major objective became finding the answer to that timeless two part question, that perpetually pops up at different phases in all of our lives..."Who am I, and why am I here?" We go from one place to the next, from one escapade to  another. We learn from our experiences, we attempt to expand our horizons, yet that elusive question, "Who am I, and why am I here?", follows and finds us no matter where we go.

What I've decided is that we approach this question from where we are right now. We answer the first part of it by identifying ourselves as a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew,  a child of the universe or whatever spiritual foundation we might be working from, and use it as the response to that part of the question that asks "Who am I?" As for the "Why am I here?" part, we respond from the premise of I'm giving of myself for the benefit of others. Now how to we employ that practice? We ask ourselves what would I enjoy doing right now? We make the answer to that question a criteria for choosing the course of action, always purposing in our mind a means by which our choice can benefit another.

What does that look like. Well here's a few examples:

"I want to go to the show, so I'm going to take my friend so that the two of us we can enjoy the movie together." or..."I'm going to enroll in this Syncopated Ladies Boot Camp, and brush up on my tap dancing skills so I can share my joy of dance with someone else." or..." I'm going back to school so I can get more knowledge, make more money, and better my chances of being able to send my young daughter to college." or even..." I'm going to walk along the beach and speak to at least one person while doing so." It's simple...Be who you are, do what you enjoy doing, and think of someone else in the process.

It's a 'WE' thang ya'll, and until we all free ourselves of feeling of little or no value, until we liberate ourselves from a sense of having no real purpose, no one of us can be truly free to fulfill our collaborative purpose for being here...to help one another. We're all in this together. and it don't take much to make it work. Let's do this ya'll.

I'll holla...


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