Living

First a quote: "The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." -Jack London. I know that it is at the top of my page, but some of you may not have noticed that I changed the quote up there, along with the name, so I thought I would throw it in here. Next I pose some questions, along with some thoughts on them:

What is the point in this whole thing called life? Is it truly to just eat, drink, and be merry? Living for that seems to be such an empty life. Or are you supposed to focus more on family and friends? That seems like perhaps a more meaningful life, but it still seems all for naught. Am I supposed to help people or just look after my own interests? Should I care that there are thousands of people dying each day of starvation and malnutrition while I throw away excess food? Should I care that there are thousands of people being raped and murdered everyday, should I try to do anything about it, or should I just ignore it so long as such things don’t interfere with me? Should I care that men women and children are kept at subsistence and made to work in inhumane conditions so that I can clothe my self and furnish my apartment more cheaply? I suppose if I knew why I was here I would be able to find answers to these questions.

Also, if I knew such a thing I might be able to have some idea as to what I might be doing with this thing I call my life. As it stands my calendar has on it my graduation in June and then my death at some point in the future. If I am on this earth simply to have a good time then I certainly would feel a lot better about not having a plan because you can have a great time through life without having a plan. However, I can’t seem to shake the feeling that I was put here, we all were put here, for something more. That perhaps we are supposed to do something with these lives of ours. Although if there is a purpose I don’t know what it is, nor where it would come from.

I shall end with a quote for no other reason than I was reminded of it while typing this: "All your life an unattainable ecstasy has hovered just beyond the grasp of you consciousness. The day is coming when you will wake to find, beyond all hope, that you have attained it, or else, that it was within your reach and you have lost it forever."
-C. S. Lewis, from The Problem of Pain