Knowing Life's purpose
Knowing life's purpose would invest everything one did with meaning, Whether reading a book, performing a task, or caring for one's health, one would feel deep commitment and satisfaction. Even if one were suffering from a dreadful disease, enmeshed in a family quarrel, or stung by a humiliating defeat, the power to live-the determination to overcome any obstacle in order to fulfill life's great purpose—would always come flooding back. In his On the Genealogy of Morals, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) effectively underscored the importance of meaning in life when he wrote that man desires suffering and even seeks it out, provided that he has been shown a meaning for it, a reason for suffering. The road stretching ahead may be long, but face the right direction and any forward motion will bring one that much closer to the goal, with no waste of energy. Whatever it costs in time or strength or money to realize the purpose of life will certainly be rewarded in full. No experience is ever thrown away or lost. Even those engulfed in wave after wave of sorrow are sure to find their reward, once they know the ulti mate purpose of living Some declare life to be wonderful and fulfilling, while others decry it as empty and meaningless. What makes the difference? Simply knowing life's true purpose.