Why matters.

The question ”why?” lies  at the core of modern mans evolution. It lies in the minds of all children as they come to realise more about the mysterious world in which they find themselves. It lies at the front of the minds of all the greatest thinkers and scientists of our time. Humans are the only species on this blue planet, orbiting the sun, capable of realising their own mortality. This realisation often causes us at certain times, to turn the question why to our own lives – why do we do what we do?

For some people, the awareness of their own mortality scares them to such a degree that it sits dormant, deep in their subconscious, where it stays for the majority of their life. These people would rather distract themselves from such thoughts; rather than face the sheer magnitude of the thoughts and questions that come from thinking of where the drop of your existence falls in the sea of life. It’s as though they constantly distract themselves with the shallow thoughts and activities that are woven into the social fabric of our society in abundance. TV, social media, clubs, nights out, all serve as distractions for some. It’s not that there is anything wrong with these things, it’s more-so an issue when they make up the whole of your being. These things serve some people as more as a putty that fills in the gaps of their existence and less of a celebration of life (which is how I see them).

They could also find religion which provides a nice little packaged up answer to the question of what happens after death and an answer to the ”why are we here?”.  Or, they just entertain a the notion or a vague belief in an afterlife and the existence of a God (you can tell that these people haven’t really gave the question much thought at all). These people have no real sureness to their beliefs or justification for them. It’s more that they have been inconveniently forced to form an opinion on the topic and have slapped together an answer that to some degree satiates the testing question lying at the core of their existence.  As long as they’re happy though, right? I mean, that is the goal of life is to be happy?

There is no universal goal or meaning to life, that I am sure of. We don’t live this life to please a deity that put us on this crazy fucking world as some strange test of adherence and faith – that to me seems to demean life and it almost seems sleazy. I mean who would want the soul reason of our existence to be about pleasing a deity that cares more about adherence than morality. A deity that gives us a foreskin and tells us to cut it off. A deity with infinite wisdom who designed a world so flawed, that even I, a human with mediocre intelligence can see major flaws in.

Then there’s that happy thing too. Life’s soul purpose is to be happy, rright? To a degree I think that is true, but happiness is such a hard state to describe. When we are talking about the whole expanse of a lifetime and applying the word happy to it, things get very murky. When you say you are happy, you are really saying that at this current junction of time, you are fulfilling certain fundamental needs you have as a human and the emotional average of this would equal something you’d describe as a ”happy’ state. Because there are two forms of happiness, are there not? There’s the happiness that comes from living, seeking and fulfilling the things that comprise the very fabric of your being. Then there’s the other form of happiness which is almost a ”pseudo happiness” which really makes true the old mantra of ”ignorance is bliss”, because for some that really is the case. It’s easier to numb out the things your soul craves. Like answers to why you get up everyday and live the life you live and face the fact that your life is finite and one day it might not even be remembered. It’s easier to get totally immersed in all the bullshit, the social hierarchy, the dick measuring contests, the Instagram celebrity, the social-media validation – the list goes on. Sometimes it really is easier to be ignorant. But the ignorant person is as much happy, as the man with a freshly broken limb, morphine’d up to the eye balls, is pain free.  These people ignore their most deep-seeded needs as an individual and choose to be numb.

Then there’s those other type of humans. The ones that look the question why right in the face every-morning when they wake up. They ask themselves if what they are about to do today contributes in anyway, to fulfilling the needs that make up the nature of their being. These people have a clearly defined why, a sense of purpose and duty. They have a why that can stand up to the rigours of strenuous questioning. They dig deep within themselves in order to answer the most ominous question’s lodged deep in the brain of a conscious, modern, man.

That’s it really. You should be capable of digging deep within yourself and forming a solid ”why” to live your life by. Why is it important to have a why? Well what are you really without one. Your existence will have no hope of representing the epitome of man-kinds greatest qualities. You will have nothing clearly defined to stand for and represent. You will leave no definitive impact on the world you leave behind. You will have no hope of ever changing it either. You will slip quickly into the past. Another causality of fearing a why.

All I have in this life is my nurture, my nature, my senses that I use to perceive the world, my experiences, my brain and a finite time to live my life. That’s all you have too. You have your morality and all your greatest humanly traits – that’s all we all have. Interests, morals, ethics all shaped from our experience and the path we have carved out for ourselves in life thus far. These things shape us. They make us who we are. Use these to form a why. Why you live the life the way you do, why you have your beliefs, your opinions are what they are and stand firm. We are all mortal and the greatest hope you have of living forever and the only immortality formula you have is leaving a lasting impression on the world you leave behind. The best way of doing this is having a clearly defined why. People are drawn to this. They sense the clarity in your vision and actions as it is navigated by something greater, a why.

When you have a clearly defined why, people are drawn to it. Whether it be in business, being an activist for various causes, music, art and everything in between. People sense it and they follow. And when people buy your immortality formula, your why, you live forever.

Stand for something or die for nothing. As cliche as that is, it really reigns true. People don’t buy what you do they buy why you do it. Leaders lead from their why and if you fail to have one, well then you’re cementing your own fate to be just another line in the field of time.