in⋅ten⋅tion⋅al [in-ten-shuh-nl]
-adjective
"Done on purpose"
from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intentional> on Sun 15 Mar 09 16:44
pur⋅pose [pur-puhs]
-noun
"Desired result; end; aim; goal"
from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/purpose> on Sun 15 Mar 09 16:46
From the stance that we have to take responsibility for our actions, I suppose that everything we do, we do on purpose, to some degree. But I can't help feeling that there's a big difference between the "getting through the day" kind of purpose, and the "what I want to do with my life" kind of purpose.
And I can't help thinking that the majority of my choices in the course of an average day are driven by a much smaller vision than my longer term dreams.
Maybe that's partly why heroic historic figures who have persevered and triumphed are so inspirational: because in the retelling of their stories, so much attention is given to the choices they made for the bigger dream, and it seems they had some supernatural ability to keep their focus on the higher vision?
I often hear the words, "I don't want to get to the end of my life and find...", and I think them myself. I also see people who appear to be floundering in our materialistic culture, with no real fire for living, and no apparent direction.
My single greatest fear is that I might get distracted from what I'm really aiming for, and realise that I've been making poor decisions, and I've wasted precious life.
Why is it so often that we fail to live up to our greatest desires?
Is it poor concentration? Is it lack of vision? Is it the fickleness of selfish ambition?
A famous anonymous quotation goes, "a person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it". What is it we're aiming for?
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