What is life and What is it for?

I have been thinking about this a lot recently. It's not a direct correlation to the fact my grandmother recently passed away and she was my last living grandparent. But it did help me think more through what I was already contemplating.

I know everyone always asks "What is the meaning of life". That is not exactly what I am getting at. I more so mean what is life for, why are we were and for what purpose are we breathing? I know we can get into religion and afterlife and having being brought up in a protestant home and went to private schools my whole education, I could definitely have that discussion but I rather not. Let's for just this article forget about religion and higher powers and God/gods.

Good versus Bad

Everyone one of us has the ability to be good or bad. Now those terms can be different for every person reading this article. What is bad to me might not be bad to you. But are we here to just be good humans or does it matter what so ever? (remember taking morals and religion out of the conversation) If I live my life as a "good" person does it matter at all in the grand scheme of things?

If I lie, steal and cheat my way through life does that matter? Me personally I have always felt that I should be the best I can be at any given time. Now sometimes the ends justify the means so good/bad is a moving scale. So to me being good or bad isn't really all that important.

Family

Are we supposed to carry on the human population? Have a family and raise our kids to be better than we are? I think to a certain degree yes. Not everyone needs to have kids to live a great life but if you do have kids I think it's a great way to better yourself. I say that because as a parent it's your job to teach your kids right from wrong and what is okay and not. We teach our kids to judge or be accepting, to be nice or deceptive. They learn from our actions so in turn we have to become better people if we want our kids to be better.

That is a win win situation and I love my 2 kids and they have definitely made me a better person. I have gotten into genealogy and it is interesting to see my family over the centuries and where they were born, died and lived.

Legacy

This is really where I have been getting stuck on. What is it to leave a legacy? Or what is it to BE a legacy? I have really dove into this specifically as of late. I say that because when my body is gone and turned into dust what is left of me here on earth? Unless you create or leave a legacy there will only be stories and memories but those die out.

I want to create something more lasting then memories for the people who are still around when I am gone. In many ways legacy is effecting who I am now and what I do. I love writing and getting my thoughts out. I have always been told that when I retell a story I give the longest more complication explanation possible. In English classes in High School and College I always impressed the teachers with my ability to give a backdrop to a story and tell it in great detail. It was those feedbacks that got my mind on wanting to write a book. I know anybody can write a book and be an "author". But I wanted to write a book that people would actually read and talk about and maybe even one day be made into a movie. You know something that would last past me.

I also love that my house is a total rehab from top to bottom. It lets me 'create' something that too will hopefully last past me. Sure I didn't build the house, but when you take it down to the stubs and rebuild everything you have a sense of accomplishment and achievement.

It is also half the reason I started my NFT collection. I wanted to create something that people could own. Sure they aren't worth a lot but maybe I can touch more people and they will remember the first ever NFT they got was from this one random writer on Publish0x or Read.Cash and it was fun.

The world is too serious and I want to live my best life. I am not a millionaire and can't travel the world and do whatever I please. BUT I can still do things that I want and that bring my joy and give this world something tangible that will outlive me.

Impact

Some people in this world leave an impact, even when they are already alive. Think of Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, or even Greta Thunberg. They are people who took a stand to go against the flow to make a impact to better our lives. I don't ever see myself in their shoes and making that big of an impact but that is definitely a way to make it into the history books.

I guess you can sum it up as I am somebody that just wants more. I was fortunate and blessed to be born into a white middle class family in the United States. I am so blessed and fortunate and lucky. I understand that and accept that but that doesn't mean I don't want more for my life. I want to be great and not for everyone to think of me as a great person, but based on metrics I have put up for myself I want to do better. I want to be somebody and not just nobody. I want to make a impact and make a difference.

We all are going to die. We all are going to leave this earth one way or another. I am not afraid of that time. What I am afraid of is that I won't do what I wanted to before that happens. That is what drives me to do what I do. It sounds stupid but it is what drives me to make NFT's for people here, it is what drives me to write my book or plants trees in my yard or just generally be nice to people I meet.