What makes you feel important?

chicago said:

What gives you a sense of purpose? What keeps you getting out of bed in the morning?
What makes your life significant?

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Chicago posted this in the Silly Stuff Forum and it got mostly silly answers there. Here, I would like to take these questions seriously.

What gives you a sense of purpose?

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My love for Goddess Shelly gives me a sense of purpose.

What keeps you getting out of bed in the morning?

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The thought of breakfast and the need to piss.

What makes your life significant?

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It hasn't been very significant except to a few of the brighter students that I taught.
That is alright. There is nothing wrong with living an ordinary life.
http://www.ticklingforum.com/entry.php?6574-Reflections-on-an-Ordinary-Life

Thanks for doing this Mils I look forward to reading everyone's answers <3

First, let me say that this is the best topic idea I have seen in a long time ! Thank you Milagros and Chicago

What gives you a sense of purpose?

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Culture, in the largest possible sense of the word: art, literature, civilization. Without it, we are basically animals who are mindlessly feeding and reproducing. I love culture with a passion, and this love drives my whole life.

What keeps you getting out of bed in the morning?

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An Iron Discipline®, lol. I am a very regular person, so I like to get out of bed roughly at the same hour and sleep also at a fixed time. It got harder after I met my wife because she can be very random in that department, but I still manage to keep my schedule, more or less.

Also, my wife's needs. Since she tends to oversleep and I on the other hand get up around 05:30am there is nothing I like to do more in the morning than get up and take care of whatever needs to be done. Breakfast naturally, but also tidying up if needed, help her pack up her laptop for work, etc... I like her smile when she realizes that things get taken care of for her.

What makes your life significant?

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Work. Family. Homeland. In no particular order.

What gives you a sense of purpose?

The tasks to be done in my calendar.

What keeps you getting out of bed in the morning?

To continue my fond activities.

What makes your life significant?

Family/loved ones, every finished productivity and my life's (bizarre) journey.

Thanks for the responses, especially those that went into some depth. Its helpful.

I apologize for my lack of formatting skills but:

What gives you a sense of purpose?
- Probably a tie between my profession (I'm a teacher) and some friends I've made. The line that goes through both of those however is just how I am able to help others in various ways.

What keeps you getting out of bed in the morning?
- I mean honestly work. I usually lay in bed a lot longer on weekends, hah. But really: work, helping others, and a bit of taking care of myself.

What makes your life significant?
- That I have been able to touch many lives and help others with various things. I think to at least some moments where I've been able to see the impact I've made in small and large ways, some I wasn't even aware of, and it makes so much worth it.

I've struggled with this question my entire life. Given my username, this should surprise no one. I try to tell myself everyday that my life has meaning but it is a battle. Some days I win and others I lose. I have more confidence in the meaning of everyone else's lives than I do my own. I don't have the most positive attitude towards myself and that certainly doesn't help.

But my current answer to this question is music. Everything about it. Listening, performing, practicing, studying, composing and teaching.

If it weren't for music I may very well have left this world a long time ago.

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." - Dead Poets Society (1989)

What gives you a sense of purpose?
My family and my job (I work for a tech company that assists people with disabilities).

What keeps you getting out of bed in the morning?
Every day is another chance to prove I'm a better person than I used to be. Several jobs ago, I was a cop; I was good at it, but I wasn't a very good person. My family bore the weight of that, and stuck with me anyway. Every day is my chance to be worthy of them.

What makes your life significant?
The people who love me, and the people I help. I don't have the need for any significance beyond that.

In my dark journey through life I've been through some pretty unimaginable things -- I've actually come to the point that I've pretty much stopped telling people about my life entirely simply because a lot of it is so extreme most people can't even grasp that my experiences could possibly even be true -- my life has left me to become very nihilistic.

Because of this, I don't view "purpose" in the conventional sense -- I have this really zoomed out view where, when you look far enough in any direction, ultimately, there really is no conceivable purpose to anything -- you push a domino to push a domino to push a domino for an outcome which will either end when you end, or create a wave which will disperse and inevitably lose it's form over time and return to the "ocean" from which it came.

Ironically, this nihilism has made me a much better person, made my intentions much more pure, and my actions more sincere -- I understand now that any purpose which I adopt will have no "reward" for me, and this emptiness allows me to be truly selfless in any "purposeful" act, as it is done devoid of any ego.

There is a quote that I can't quite remember verbatim that states something to the effect of, "the best form of suicide is to serve others," meaning, you free yourself of your own ego and pain when you minister healing to someone else, so, the only purpose I find is to "be here, now" and affect those I come into contact with in the moment, to give peace or justice for the sake of whatever temporary satiation it may serve another.

What gets me out of bed in the morning? The realization that, many of my "best days" are already behind me, and the fear of not making the most of the few I have left.

What makes my life "significant?" Ultimately, in the big picture and grand scheme of things? I don't believe it is significant. But in spite of that, I can say, that despite how temporary or small a part we play in this world, I know that no one will ever be me. No one will have in them, what I have in me, or ever have what it takes. So if there is any "significance" to be found, it is in the authenticity, and diversity, of our unique being.

lostphilosopher said:

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." - Dead Poets Society (1989)

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Just to echo! Glad to come across the beautiful quote... Thank you.

Bohemianne said:

Just to echo! Glad to come across the beautiful quote... Thank you.

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One of my favorite movies starring one of my favorite actors. Everyone should watch it at least once, especially if they're an artistic/creative type.

lostphilosopher said:

One of my favorite movies starring one of my favorite actors. Everyone should watch it at least once, especially if they're an artistic/creative type.

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I cry every time

What gives you a sense of purpose?

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Building upon my passions and working towards the profession I aim for. Improving in my crafts and expanding my knowledge is significant to me.

What keeps you getting out of bed in the morning?

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The need to complete my daily tasks and doing what I enjoy.

What makes your life significant?

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The people I've met, learned about, and the differences I have made in other people's lives. I know my impacts are small in the grand scheme of things, but making any sort of them is enough for me.

What gives you a sense of purpose?
-helping my siblings and boyfriend, volunteering, my fur babies


What keeps you getting out of bed in the morning?
-mornings are my favorite part of the day. everything is quiet, people are still asleep, and it's easier for me to get shit done lol

What makes your life significant?
-i've done a lot, seen a lot, lived a lot, loved a lot