There are plenty of examples where success has failed to secure happiness. I think PURPOSE is more important. Specifically, a purpose that makes the inevitable suffering of life worth bearing. Then the question becomes: how do I create purpose? That’s where all those unsexy basics—discipline, attention to detail, being honest with yourself—become relevant. I believe all those basics help clear the perception by mitigating cravings and dispelling outdated beliefs, which in turn paves the way for the unburdened mind to intuit a worthwhile purpose.
Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha 
Purpose can also be a pure and native calling for something. I must believe in something wholeheartedly before I can dedicate sincere discipline and tolerate suffering 😛
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👍
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Well said!😊
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Thank You! 😀
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😊
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What do you feel your purpose is Buddha? I’m just curious
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Macro: Do whatever is fulfilling. Micro translations: be ethical, challenge myself, be healthy, take care of practical concerns and dedicate time to greater, more improbable goals.
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Yes oh yes .. a purpose gives identity and identity gives value and self worth.
Without these, we are mere empty crisp bags wafting about in the breeze …
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I like your guys way of saying potato chips better! “Crisps!” 🙂
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Interesting … we learn what we learn don’t we. But potato chips is actually very accurate with more information!! (Damn, now i’ve got to open a bag as that’s made me hungry – all your fault 😀
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Mwahaha! 😀 NOMNOMNOM!
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Sometimes success is dumb luck or accidental. Or, it’s from pure unappreciated talent. You know the artist “suffering for their art,” bla bla bla. They seem to glide through effortlessly at that one thing but it’s not what really turns them on. Purpose is the focus that gets it all together, the drive, the thing that makes you want to wake up in the morning. Sometimes success and purpose aren’t the same thing.
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Interesting post as always! For me personally, I think it was actually attaining the “success” I thought I wanted and realizing that it’s not everything it was made up to be that made me realize the things that truly matter to me and sparked the purpose the drives me today. It reminds me of a quote by Fred (Mister) Rogers: “One of the greatest paradoxes about omnipotence is that we need to feel it early in life, and lose it early in life, in order to achieve a healthy, realistic, yet exciting sense of potency later on.” Would love to hear your thoughts!
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I agree! Kind of like the statement from certain Buddhists that “Enlightenment is the ultimate disappointment.” If you accept the premise we are omnipotent beings at our core, then accept the premise that we shucked our omnipotence in order to experience the many wonders of being limited, then being “Enlightened” or re-realizing your omnipotence WOULD be disappointing, because you’d realize that the whole point of being limited was to enjoy it—not to worry about achieving omnipotence, which you are, by default, in a state of at all times! 😉
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Thats so interesting! And a beautiful way to think about it, thanks for sharing that, I’ll be pondering about that one for a while lol 🙂
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Phrases I liked: “the unburdened mind” and “discipline, attention to detail, being honest with yourself—become relevant.”
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Thank You TMH! 🙂
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