A Question of Finding Purpose

 

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Do you agree or disagree with the statement "You have to give up something to get something."? Can you provide an example or explain your position?

No. If somebody “gifts” you something, for instance, at a birthday party, you have given up nothing in receiving it.

Is a person who does something good because they expect a reward, not a good person?

Hard to say. If they don’t get the reward will they still do it? Maybe, maybe not. If they don’t, it says more about them, and it defines who they are, better than my answer will.

How do I formulate a question I have? Can someone help me?

If you need help you’re going to have to tell us what the question is. If you can do that, you’ve formulated the question. Just ask it. If readers need clarification or more information, they’ll ask.

“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present, you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day.”

-- Rainer Maria Rilke

What can't I get if you don't look up to me?

My recognition and respect.

A team player is defined as someone who cares more about helping a group succeed than about his or her individual success. In what circumstances is being a team player the way to go, and in what circumstances should individual needs be paramount?

The individual needs to be paramount in striving for personal success. This becomes difficult when you’re part of a team and your personal success depends on teamwork bringing home the blue-ribbon. Football is a great example of this. The only “glory hog” you see in football is the quarterback, and even he relies on teamwork, more than his personal glory, to win the game.

How do you turn your inner critic into an inner supporter?

My “inner critic” is my support. By critiquing myself I can correct faults, grow, and become a better person.

“Turn down the volume of your negative inner voice and create a nurturing inner voice to take it’s place. When you make a mistake, forgive yourself, learn from it, and move on instead of obsessing about it. Equally important, don’t allow anyone else to dwell on your mistakes or shortcomings or to expect perfection from you.”

-- Beverly Engel

Is it nuts to want to retire when you are 40 years old?

Not if you have what it takes for you to do it. I managed to do it at 55, and even then I was going nuts with nothing to occupy my day. Better to retire, if you can, and fill your day working at what you love, not at what brings home the bacon. But, if you do work for money, it will be more enjoyable knowing you’re doing it because you want to, not because you have to. 

What decision CAN be made lightly?

Beer or bourbon?

What do you do when you can't find your purpose in life?

For the time being, finding your purpose in life becomes your temporary purpose in life. When you discover what you think is your purpose in life, you will work at it and might find another, more fulfilling, purpose in life. You may actually die never discovering a purpose in life that totally satisfied you, but, take heart, there are many more lifetimes to search.

"To begin to think with purpose is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment."

-- James Allen

What can't I get if society disapproves of me?

True acceptance and respect?

What will happen to me if you look down upon me, what can't I get if you look down upon me?

Nothing will happen, because what I think has no bearing on you. If you’ve done something so vile as to make me look down upon you, then whatever I have you wouldn’t want, except, maybe, a good spanking.

What habit you don't have that you would like to have?

Eating the right foods and physical conditioning. Yep, chubby retiree, here.

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,

Your thoughts become your words,

Your words become your actions,

Your actions become your habits,

Your habits become your values,

Your values become your destiny.”

-- Gandhi

What job do you think you could know nothing about and yet succeed at?

Any basic labor job. Trash pickup, window washer, yard maintenance, etc.

I have lost all motivation to work. I would quite literally be happy to scrape by and feel at ease, then work another day earning some more money. What advice can you give?

Being homeless isn’t all they say it is, and you’ll probably be homeless in the end. Try your idea for a month or two and see how you feel about it then.

What is the most powerful thing you can give people?

Life.

“Because you have been blessed with the gift of life, it is your duty to help others. We are all responsible for one another.”

-- Kamand Kojouri

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as a chaplain at the regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony:  tolerantpastor@gmail.com