TOW: Singularity of Purpose

I have been thinking a lot about one or two things lately, and I have most recently picked up from the library The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.  So far it's proving an interesting read, and it reminds me of, and is having a similar effect on me as the book The Alchemist did.  Both The Alchemist and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari are based on the premise that society, especially Western society, has a sickness that needs curing, and can be cured by looking inwards, person by person.  And that cure comes in the form of a singularity and productivity of purpose.

If you were to read them in the order I have, it's almost like The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is a sequel to The Alchemist.  The Alchemist tries to deliver the message to a young boy that the universe wants you succeed in life, but not without trying.  And the monk learned the same thing when he gave up all his possessions.  Goodness, and true life greatness, comes with a a heavy price.  Unless we are willing to give up certain things, we cannot achieve new things, have new patterns, and lead a new life.  As the monk says, "How can I fill your cup with fresh tea when your cup is already full?"

Not only can we only focus on one task, but we can only ever really focus on one attitude in life.  We can either be inherently negative, or we can be inherently positive.  I think we all know people that seem to never stop being gloomy, never stop being petty, and never stop grandstanding.  These people live most of their lives in a way that makes themselves and others unhappy.  They have made their singular purpose about being unhappy and about judging other.  Often, it's a sign of something missing in people's live is why this happens.  They haven't found, or want to ignore, things in their own lives that need changing, and focus on other people's problems.

The only way we can fix our own problems, according to these two books, is to learn what it is in our lives that is a truly good and productive for us, and to pursue those things.  And our dreams don't have to be big.  One of the characters was janitor who swept up the temple every day, but he was content in his life, and he liked his life.  The point was that he was productive and he gave his own life meaning and that meaning gave him happiness and made him content and at peace.   

True productivity comes from enjoying the moments we are in, and focusing on goals we have for the future.  We don't need to be productive in the sense that we produce more than other people, that we do more than other people.  We need to know that every task we do, and do right, deserves our full attention, and we have a duty to ourselves and to others to give our attention to the present moment, every day, as much as we can. Because it's a sad life to live that focuses on dreams that could never exist, instead of focusing on dreams that should exist in our lives, and trying to bring them to fulfillment.  



The point being, we are all called to some kind of higher purpose.