Dear Brothers and Sisters,

“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” This intriguing sentence is from author and novelist Robert Burne. Seems to be circular reasoning. But deep.

What is your purpose of life? Are you looking for your life purpose?

Many people think about their life purpose as something determined by the Law of Cause and Effect as in Buddhism and some branch of Hinduism, or by God as in many God-based religions, or by Fate as in some fatalistic traditions… In sum, the searchers believe that they were born for a pre-determined purpose, and they have to find that purpose eventually.

So, they don’t have a purpose yet; they are living a purposeless life, still searching.

But that is the wrong way of thinking. You determine what your life purpose is, here and now. You are a free entity. No one will tell you what your life purpose is. You determine it for yourself.

You want to have a life purpose, then live your life with a purpose, here and now, be it doctoring or painting or dancing or cooking.

Give your life a purpose, here and now. Real living is living here and now – not searching for something in the future.

And you are free to change your life purpose once in a while. There is no rule that you have to stick with one life purpose all you life.

You are free to change your purpose, because all purposes are equally good, or equally bad.

“Good” means beneficial to others – such as doctoring, garbage picking, teaching, soccer playing, cooking, singing…

“Bad” means harmful to others – such as steeling, robbing, or doctoring while demanding envelopes from the patients, or serving the government while passing lots of envelopes under the table.

You are in charge of your life. If you want your life to have a purpose, then give your life a purpose, here and now.

And, if you will, when you hear the call of God and the arrival of Cause and Effect, you always can change you life purpose to suit your will. Just don’t live a purposeless way in waiting.

You will not find your life purpose by searching for it, because your life purpose is your mind and heart, not something outside you.

With compassion,

Hoành

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Trần Đình Hoành
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